If we think about Spain and modernism, probably the first thing that will come to mind will be Antoni Gaudí. And, indeed, the Catalan architect was the greatest exponent of a style, Art Noveau, which in Spanish territory acquired very specific characteristics that differentiated it from other modernism, which was being done in leading cities such as Vienna or Brussels. .
If you like modernism, in Spain you have many monuments to see that will fascinate you. Most of them are found in Catalonia (and, specifically, in the Barcelona area), but we also find other modernist gems in Cantabria, Valencia and even Melilla, the city that, after Barcelona, has the most modernist examples in Spain. Today we bring you some of the most important Spanish Art Noveau buildings. Enjoy them!
For a start,What do we call modernism? It is an artistic movement that appeared in Europe at the end of the 19th century and encompasses various artistic disciplines. In the French-speaking area it was called Art Noveau (“new art”), in Vienna and other German-speaking cities it was called Jugendstil (“young or youthful style”), and, in Italy, it was known as Liberty style ( “the style of freedom”).
As we can see, and despite the notable stylistic differences of this movement depending on the territory, they all share a common denominator: the desire for liberation (attributed, especially, to young artists) from the corset of academic art, as well as the desire to escape. of the growing industrial fever, which was forgetting “genuine” art.
How to get it? Through a return to the “national” past, from where the style takes inspiration, as well as from fantasy; also through the observation of oriental art and, above all, through the imitation of the undulating forms of nature, the beginning of everything.
In Spain, this style was called modernism and took root especially in the eastern area; specifically, in Catalonia. However, throughout Spain we find many examples of modernist buildings. Next, we review the 10 essential modernist monuments in Spain.
It is one of the first works of Antoni Gaudí (1852-1926), which he carried out in parallel to the famous Casa Vicens in Barcelona and which shares precisely with it the orientalizing style so characteristic of this first stage of the Catalan architect.
The mansion was commissioned by the Indian Máximo Díaz de Quijano (1838-1885), brother-in-law of the famous Marquis of Comillas, in 1883. The magnificent construction takes us to dreamy oriental worlds, in an exceptional Cantabrian setting.
2. The Lis House (Salamanca)
At the end of the 19th century, Miguel de Lis, a very wealthy owner of a tanning factory, bought a plot of land in the city of Salamanca to build a house that would be ostentatious enough to show his status. The person in charge of carrying it out was Joaquín de Vargas y Aguirre (1857-1935), who found himself faced with an arduous task, as the terrain was very irregular, close to the wall and, in addition, with a strong slope on its southern side.
The solution that the architect found was sublime: he saved the unevenness through terraces and a beautiful grotto with rockery, while he designed the façade of the house in the purest industrial style (an ode to its owner), all with iron and glass. Currently, the building is the headquarters of the Art Noveau and Art Deco Museum of Salamanca.
3. The Palau de la Música Catalana (Barcelona)
Declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, it is undoubtedly one of the milestones of Spanish and, specifically, Catalan modernism, in addition to the undisputed masterpiece of its architect, Lluís Domènech i Montaner (1849-1923). Its spectacular beauty makes this building, concert hall and headquarters of the Orfeó Català, a must-see in the city of Barcelona.
Its famous inverted dome, made of colored glass, lets natural light into the concert hall. The stage is completely covered with mosaic, from which the figures of the muses stand out in round busts, carrying instruments from different parts of the world, in a worldwide musical communion.
4. Casa Navàs (Reus, Catalonia)
This house, located in one of the most important squares of Reus (where you can also taste its famous aperitifs), is another of the magnum opuses of Lluís Domènech i Montaner; an apotheosis of Catalan modernist fantasy. The house was commissioned by the couple Joaquim Navàs Padró and Josepa Blasco Roura. Navàs had, by the way, been a playmate of a very young Antoni Gaudí, when the architect still lived in Reus.
The value of the Casa Navàs, in addition to bringing together all the characteristic elements of Art Noveau in Catalonia (mosaics, colored stained glass, furniture and sculpture of Gothic inspiration, all constricted in an authentic horror vacui), also lies in the fact that it is the only modernist monument of the world that still preserves almost all the elements as they were left when the works were completed.
5. Casa Tortosa (Melilla)
Melilla is one of the great forgotten cities, but in reality it is a city that is well worth a visit for its great heritage. Specifically, it is the second city with the most modernist buildings in Spain after Barcelona. Surprised?
Casa Tortosa is a beautiful example of this. Located in the heart of Modernist Ensanche and conceived first as a military commissary, it was completely restored by the architect Enric Nieto (1880-1954) in 1914. The result is a modernism closer to the Viennese Jugendstil, with more sober and straight lines.
6. Central Market (Valencia)
This impressive complex, designed by the architects Alexandre Soler and Francesc Guardia Vial (collaborators, by the way, of Lluís Domènech i Montaner) is one of the milestones of Valencian modernism. The final result is the work of Enrique Viedma Vidal and Ángel Romaní Verdeguer, and differs somewhat from the original plans.
The colossal metal and glass structure, supported by towering columns, is reminiscent of Gothic cathedrals, not only because of its height, but also because of its luminosity. The spectacular central dome is one of the monument’s greatest attractions, one of the essentials in Valencia.
7. The Sagrada Familia (Barcelona)
It is impossible not to mention the Expiatory Temple of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona in a list of the best modernist monuments in Spain. It is the only monument that is unfinished and constitutes the aesthetic and vital testament of Antoni Gaudí, who dedicated the last years of his life to it.
The Sagrada Familia belongs to the architect’s naturalist stage (in fact, for many, it is his culmination), in which Gaudí finally leaned towards the organic forms of nature, which he would also use in other masterpieces such as Casa Batlló and La Pedrera, also located in Barcelona and which we talk about below.
Belonging, like the Sagrada Familia, to Gaudí’s naturalist period, Casa Batlló represents the quintessence of organic forms intended for a private home. Its famous façade covered in mosaic and with balconies that resemble bones, as well as its roof that imitates the scales of a fish or reptile, has been interpreted as the body of the Sant Jordi dragon after being killed by the knight.
Inside, Gaudí takes us to an aquatic environment of great beauty, where the shapes seem to be blurred by the effect of the water. It is undoubtedly an essential part of modernism in Spain and, of course, in Barcelona.
9. Casa Milà or La Pedrera (Barcelona)
Popularly known as La pedrera (in Catalan, the quarry), Casa Milà is another of Antoni Gaudí’s landmarks in Barcelona. Its sinuous stone façade is, once again, a reminder of the organic forms of nature, and impresses with its strength and originality.
Its roof is famous for its labyrinthine shape and its chimneys, in which popular culture has wanted to see Star Wars characters. Jokes aside, the building, built at the beginning of the 20th century, is one of the last masterpieces of the architect from Reus. Commissioned by the Milà family, it had some problems with the monumental figure of the Virgin that Gaudí had planned for its façade; figure that, with the advent of the Tragic Week (1909) and its violence against religion, it was considered better not to include.
10. The Longoria Palace (Madrid)
We finish this tour of modernist Spain in its capital, Madrid; Specifically, we enter the current headquarters of the SGAE, the beautiful Longoria Palace, the work of the Catalan architect José Grases Riera (1850-1919).
Commissioned as a home by Javier González-Longoria, this building presents a very clear influence of Art Noveau from the Nordic latitudes; specifically, French and Belgian modernism. Its spectacular imperial-style staircase is crowned by a colored glass dome, the work of the Maumejean house (one of the most important of the time in this field). The Longoria Palace is the most notable example of Madrid modernism, which is worth visiting.
