La Casa Calvet of Antoni Gaudí

Casa Calvet - Gaudi - Barcelona

The Casa Calvet, built as a dwelling and offices for the textile manufacturer Pere Calvet, is the first and least imaginative of the three houses Gaudí designed for Barcelona's Eixample (Extension).

The interest of the Casa Calvet centres on the imaginative resolution of the rear façade, the decoration of the hallway, and the design of the furniture, purely organic and breaking with everything before it.

What most calls attention on the façade are the symbolic elements. Over the door, the owner's initial, C; and supporting the main gallery, a cypress, symbol of hospitality. On the main storey, the relieves represent mushrooms, because Pere Calvet was a mycologist. Above the gallery, the horn of plenty. The three heads of the crown represent Saint Peter the martyr (Pere Calvet's patron), Saint Genesius of Arles and Saint Genesius of Rome, patrons of Vilassar, in el Maresme, where the family came from.

You can not visit the Casa Calvet in Barcelona but you can discover the very good restaurant Casa Calvet inside the building.