Casa Vicens - Gaudi's First House
Casa Vicens was built as a summer retreat for the Vicens family. A masterpiece of Antoni Gaudí, the house served as the beginning of a very successful career. Casa Vicens served as a private residence until recently. It was made accessible to the public in November 2017. A comprehensive restoration project was undertaken, to return the building to its original state.
By incorporating several architectural styles and materials such as iron, glass, concrete and ceramic tiles, Antoni Gaudí set himself apart from his contemporaries. Geometric masses, abstract brick ornamentation, and exquisite metalwork can be seen throughout the house.
The temporary exhibitions show some of the single houses designed by Antoni Gaudí’s contemporaries from across the world, such as America, Europe and exponents of the Art Nouveau style.
What makes Casa Vicens unique is that the museum project aims at meticulously restoring Gaudí’s designs to their original state. The goal is to ensure that the whole world can discover the extraordinary world of Gaudí. It focuses on long-term sustainability and integrating the different sections for the enjoyment of its visitors.
Your Experience
The meeting point is outside the attraction itself. Since your tickets have the skip the line feature, you can bypass the queues outside the monument.
An example of Modernisme, Casa Vicens primarily use materials in their original states, such as brick, stone, wrought iron, and wood. The basement initially housed the coal cellar. Presently, the La Capell specialty store is housed here, and you can buy souvenirs to remember your visit to Casa Vicens. The ground floor consists of a smoking room, where occupants could relax and have fun, and a dining room. In the dining room, you can see the original wooden furniture of the house, designed by Gaudí himself. The collection of 32 paintings by Torrescasana provide a view into the spectacular art style of this era. The first floor houses the private rooms. Two bedrooms, a sitting room, and a bathroom are present here. The sitting room has a false dome, made of gold, with a trompe-l’oeil depicting birds and vines.
On the second floor of this house, you can see the permanent collection. Here, the 130 year history of Casa Vicens and the genius of Antoni Gaudí can be seen. An audiovisual projection will depict Barcelona when Casa Vicens was constructed. This will help you understand the social, cultural and artistic context of this structure. You will also learn about the background of Antoni Gaudí. His influences, philosophies, and inspiration during his studies, in addition to his projects prior to building Casa Vicens, such as school projects and buildings in the city will be detailed. The permanent collection also includes documents of Casa Vicens and a reproduction of the Reus manuscript.
