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Can Biel
Manuel Joaquim Raspall i Mayol
House between partition walls, with a ground floor and two landings. The building is divided into two bodies: an access one that protrudes from the plane of the façade and ends in a pediment with a geometric structure, and a lower one that is crowned by a large cornice supported by panels. It must be said that the windows are of different typology. The façade, especially regarding the entrance, has been renovated in recent years by the architect J. Valls. It belongs to the Noucentista and academic stage of M.J. Raspall. It is located in the old part of the city, in the urban centre of the Middle Ages.1928
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Formosa House
Magnificent country house between partitions with two floors. It has recently been completely remodeled by "La Caixa" and only the façade has been saved. It is embroidered with sgraffitos representing Sant Jordi, the balconies have terracotta railings and the entrance halls are of the same material. This façade gives a great category to the main street of Sant Sadurní. -
Puig i Gairalt House
Tower located in the neighbourhood of Sarrià, next to Plaça de Borràs, between Via Augusta and Ronda de Dalt. It has a quadrangular plan, with a ground floor, a floor, and an attic, with an attached rectangular tower that has one more floor. On the main façade, taking up the central space of the ground floor, there is a polygonal tribune that protrudes as if it were an added body; in this tribune large rectangular windows open and are framed by stepped mouldings, above which there are large sculptural reliefs, and the body is crowned by a large molding that imitates the shapes of a capital. The rest of the openings on this floor are similar, decorated with stepped moulding. On the first floor there is a balcony with a stone base and iron railing, a large window in the centre with three sculptural reliefs above, and another rectangular window on the other side. In the main body, this level is topped off by a moulding that imitates a classical capital supported by pilasters that follow the wall; this same decoration is found in the tower but one floor higher. The attic openings are two portholes and a quadrangular window, while in the tower there is a slightly larger window. The main body is topped by a large cornice in the shape of a capital. Two small square windows open on the top floor of the tower and the upper finish is similar to that of the main body. All openings, including portholes, are framed by a stepped moulding. The sculptural reliefs on the façade and a sculpture of a Venus in the Garden are the work of Rafael Solanic. On the ground floor, in the tribune, there is a music hall with a dome decorated with paintings by Francesc d’Assís Galí, with allegories of child musicians and goddesses. This house was built to be the residence of Ramon Puig i Gairalt and his brother Antoni, also an architect. The works, started in 1925, continued until the Civil War and the death of the architect in 1937, leaving the tower unfinished, which was completed later. -
1928 - 1929
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Sales Municipals
Un passatge/vestíbul, del passeig al riu, articula les dues sales del programa de biblioteca municipal implantat en substitució de les casetes comercials de Fèlix de Azúa (1870). Una crugia en testa destinada a despatxos delimita el programa i la composició. La duplicitat entre un pòrtic principal ben inserit i l’accés monumentalitzat de testa resulta dubtosa. El vessant més classicitzant del noucentisme va esdevenir útil a la pulsió monumentalista de l’obra pública durant el règim autoritari del període 1923-29. Un cop descartat l’aixecament d’una planta lleugera per ampliar el programa (Fuses/Viader, 1985), el conjunt es va segmentar entre sales d’exposició i oficina de turisme. -
Casa Sarrà
Tardana mostra d’un tipus entre mitgeres vigent durant el primer terç del s. xx: l’habitatge del propietari ocupa dues plantes o deixa les superiors per a renda, i el principal exhibeix àmplia tribuna i balconada. Ja lluny de la seva edulcorada obra anterior, Esteve tracta la façana —molt plana— com un tapís, barrejant-hi rajol i esgrafiats florals, i introdueix unes vagues sèrlies a la planta baixa. Hi persisteix la tribuna, però la sobrietat de balustres i cornisa així com la teranyina art déco de les baranes denoten nous corrents. -
1928 - 1930
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Vallhonrat Dwellings
The Joaquima Vendrell house is located on the corner of Carrer Vallhonrat and Passatge Prunera. It is a block of flats between partitions consisting of a ground floor, a mezzanine, six floors and a rooftop. There are five flats per floor, of about 76 m2, with an uneven distribution. The façade is articulated from the corner, rounded and symmetrical. On the ground floor, the openings follow a regular rhythm and have the jambs marked by a plain moulding that ends in a rectangular piece in the form of corbels that support the lintel. The main door, located in Vallhonrat street, has a broken frame. This level has a stone slab facing, unlike the upper levels, which are plastered and painted. From the first floor onwards, the façade folds into a triangular shape following two longitudinal axes on Carrer Vallhonrat, and another two on the Passatge Prunera. On these two façades, all the openings, which follow a regular rhythm, are lintelled, and on the first and fourth floors there is a continuous balcony that follows the triangular shapes. This fourth floor is crowned by a cornice and from this level onwards, the plane of the façade recedes diagonally, which means that from the top floor only the triangular bodies are visible from the street and, as they do not recede like the rest of the wall, they remain in the form of a tower. The rounded corner has a tribune protruding from the mezzanine and acts as a balcony on the first floor. On the first, second and third floors there is a projecting cubic volume, the upper one less than the other two, and here there are windows. On the second and fourth floors there are balconies running around the corner, while on the third floor there are two balconies and the corner is left free. The fifth floor has no balcony, but is crowned by a cornice. The top floor is left as if it were a tower, as are the triangular bodies of the other two façades. The facing is painted white except for the triangular bodies, balconies, the tribune and cornices, which are painted red. This play of volumes, emphasised by the use of colour, shows the influence of expressionism and cubism in the construction of the building. -
Bloc d'Habitatges Pla Cargol
Un refinat exercici compositiu del noucentisme més culte i menys populista, com correspon a la personalitat de l’intel·lectual i empresari promotor. La parcel·la, regular i simètrica, acull habitatges de grans dimensions i fracassa en encaixar-ne tres per replà als nivells superiors. El classicisme compositiu s’allunya de tota exageració i desplega recursos més elegants que expressius en un pany de façana eficaçment continu. -
Myrurgia Factory
The building is located in a block of houses on Barcelona's Dreta de l’Eixample, framed by Provença, Sicília, Mallorca and Nàpols Streets. Built on a polygonal plot, it has three façades open to 238 Nàpols Street and 351 Mallorca Street. These roads create the angle of the building, with the most relevant hinge that, projected in a chamfer, houses the main access to the building. This industrial building with offices is one of the best examples of Catalan architectural production of the 20s and 30s of the 20th century, not linked to the orthodoxy of the GATCPAC. It is characterised by its functionalist aesthetics of symmetrical shapes and marked horizontality, particularly representative in the case of the windows. The building is designed from a structure of metal pillars and girders that allow the creation of a free plan where space and transparency predominate and to which the skylights on the roofs contribute. It consists of two levels where the marked horizontality of the façades is particularly striking, accentuated by the body of curved windows developed on the two floors of the building. The windows respond to a model of serially manufactured metal openings that are joined to each other through "T" shaped profiles and to the building structure with other "L" shaped profiles. This system gives rise to the large wall locks that give unity to the whole and allow uniform lighting inside. These windows are configured as a curved element that rotates in the chamfer, while being interrupted in this front, where the large entrance portal to the building is located. The chamfer is configured as an element of structural relevance within the set, not only because of the differentiated treatment of the openings, but because of the greater height it presents. Thus, the ground floor is reserved for the entrance, with a triple door that gives access to a double-height hall, which also receives light from the windows arranged on the first floor of this chamfered front. Above this body of windows is the top floor, where an elongated bay window opens that goes from side to side of the wall. Currently, the building is quite modified. Towards the side of Nàpols Street, a hotel has recently been built (2010) - "Illa Myrurgia" - which takes up part of the original plot of the old factory. The chamfer side has also undergone renovations, and today houses the offices of the Puig company, which has owned the property since 2000. The ground floor of this area is now presented as a very open space which is accessed through a reception area located at the back of the main lobby. This area, in the form of a glass box, has two levels where the worktables of the Puig staff are distributed and which are connected by a new factory staircase. As already mentioned, one of the most relevant spaces in the complex - and apparently the only one preserved from the original project - is the lobby. Access to this space is through a door with three openings that is finished with three bronze panels with reliefs depicting classical themed scenes and below which the sign "Fábrica Myrurgia" is preserved. We must also highlight the iron fence of the door which, with very purist geometric lines, contributes to creating a simple decoration, non-existent in the rest of the façade. Once through the door, you enter the hall, which is configured as an independent, double-height space, with a careful art déco design and monumental intent. This monumentality is made visible through the double-section marble staircase that leads to the offices on the first floor. Currently, two catenaries block access to the staircase. The use of noble and high-quality materials such as marble stands out, which is combined with the brass railings and the wood of the handrails located on each side of the staircase. These elements, arranged at an angle, have a door and a bench - also wooden - attached to the structure, which are finished at the top with a window and a panel where you can read "Myrurgia Perfumes" in déco style letters. The factory was built between 1927 and 1930 with a project by Antoni Puig i Gairalt; this work anticipates the modern and rationalist language through the organisation of spaces, the treatment of light, signage and furniture. The sculptor Esteve Monegal Prat was the one who commissioned the project, and it was he who founded the company Myrurgia in 1916, destined to the production of perfumes and cosmetic products. The art deco sculpture made by Monegal, president and founder of the firm Myrurgia, which originally presided over the lobby should be noted. In 1929, the building received the Architecture Award of the Industrial and Commercial Buildings Competition for being equipped with some of the most modern facilities. In 2000, the company was acquired by the Puig Group, which since then has installed its offices in the building. In 1996, residents and neighbourhood organisations mobilised against the project to build a gas station and a private elite sports centre on the grounds of the former Myrurgia factory. In 2010, the block where the estate is located was plunged into controversy over the construction of the building that occupies part of the factory's original plot. In those days, on the corner of Nàpols and Provença Streets, a building was built that was originally intended as a residence for athletes and which eventually became a four-star hotel ("Illa Myrurgia") and a gym. -
Convent de les Germanes Josefines
Es tracta d'un edifici de tres plantes que, seguint els cànons tradicionals dels convents, organitza les dependències entorn a un claustre: l'església que dona al carrer amb accés públic, el refetor, els dormitoris, la capella interior i els serveis. Pericas fa servir en aquest convent una sèrie de recursos historicistes habituals en ell però que són intel·ligentment interpretats i redibuixats: el romànic en la portalada de l'església, amb arquivoltes i sense esculpir, sinó amb els extradossos perfilats per sanefes d'esgrafiats; o l'arqueria del claustre, d'arcs peraltats i capitells no figuratius, que evoca l'arquitectura nassarita; o el portal de la capella superior, amb esgrafiats que omplen els carcanyols de l'arc i que ens remet a l'art mudèjar. Tot, fins a l'últim detall, i amb especial cura la fusteria i el mobiliari, els terres i els vitralls, són d'un disseny exquisit, sense deixar de banda la multiplicitat de formats d'obertures que se succeeixen en els murs, sense perdre el sentit de la simetria. El projecte és de l'any 1928, però la construcció de l'edifici conventual de les germanes Josefines es va allargar en el temps a causa de la seva complexitat, riquesa material i ornamental, i sobretot, l'estancament que va suposar el període bèl·lic de 1936-1939. -
1928 - 1932