Barcelona Around Passeig De Gràcia

When Ildefons Cerdà drew up his designs for L’Eixample, he envisioned utopic, green, and well-ventilated city blocks where people from all social classes would live free of the congestion that plagued epidemic-prone old Barcelona. While he succeeded, to an extent—L’Eixample’s avenues are indeed tree-lined and sunlit—the neighborhood has never quite realized Cerdà’s vision of socio-economic integration (it was, and remains, posh). As Barcelona’s bourgeoisie have increasingly moved uptown, the once-residential districts around Pg. de Gràcia have filled with offices and shops. Both in this zone and farther away, Cerdà’s interminable blocks and wide-open plaças are broken up by architectural landmarks from every subsequent era. Make sure to look through the avenues’ leafy ceilings; glimpses of Modernista casas and Torre Agbar, Jean Nouvel’s spaceship-like, blue- and red-lit glass tower, will be your reward for doing so. Because l’Eixample is so large, the sights and museums in this neighborhood are grouped into three more manageable areas: l’Eixample Dreta, Pg. de Gràcia, and l’Eixample Esquerra.

Casa Milà (La Pedrera). Although innovative, Gaudí’s unusual designs for Casa Milà were unpopular 100 years ago, and the name, La Pedrera (which means stone quarry in Spanish), came about as a result of popular jokes, critiques, and caricatures. The building’s namesake, wealthy businessman Pere Milà, hired Gaudí because he liked his work on neighboring Casa Batlló. But as the project progressed between 1906 and 1910, Milà’s wife, Rosario Segimon, became increasingly unhappy with the appearance and refused to pay the excessive building costs. Gaudí eventually filed a lawsuit against the couple over his fees (he won and promptly gave all of the money to the poor), and the Casa Milà ended up being the only residence he designed where he didn’t also craft the furniture. Today, visitors have access to the main floor, the attic, the terrace, and a sample apartment equipped with period furniture. The rest of Casa Milà is inhabited by the lucky (read: wealthy) people who sat on the 20-year waiting list for an apartment as well as several offices of Caixa Catalunya, which acquired the building in 1986 (hence all the pamphlets that read “La Pedrera de Caixa Catalunya”). The attic, deemed the Espai Gaudí, is filled with displays about the construction of this and other Gaudí works, calling attention to the way Gaudí interpreted and expressed natural forms. Casa Milà in particular is built around two central courtyards, with an underground park in the basement and not a single flat wall in the entire space. For a great photo-op, climb to the roof of Casa Milà to get a picture of La Sagrada Família framed by an arch. The summer concert series, La Nit de Pedrera, transforms the roof into a jazz cabaret on weekend nights. (Pg. de Gràcia, 92. ☎902 40 09 73; www.lapedreraeducacio.org. Open daily Mar.-Oct. 9am-8pm, last admission 7:30pm; Nov.-Feb. 9am-6:30pm. €9.50, students and seniors €5.50. Free audio tour. Concerts last weekend of June-July F-Sa 9pm-midnight. €12, glass of cava included.)

According to Greek myth, a piece of fruit was responsible for the Trojan War: the goddess of Discord created a golden apple as a prize for the most beautiful, and divine disharmony ensued. Barcelona has its own competition for the golden apple on the block of Pg. de Gràcia between C. Consell de Cent and C. Aragó, where trademark houses by the three most important architects of Modernism stand side-by-side in proud competition: the Casa Lleó Morera by Domènech i Montaner, the Casa Amatller by Puig i Cadafalch, and the Casa Batlló by Gaudí. Even the most ardent Catalanists haven’t wanted to give up the pun in the old name la manzana, which in Castilian means both “block” and “apple.” The name “Block of Discord” is especially indicative of the contrast (and clash) between the styles and aesthetics of the three houses. All of these creations are renovations of older, pre-existing edifices. To see the architectural contrast most clearly, take a look from across the street.

Casa Batllò. The most fantastical member of the Block of Discord, Gaudí’s Casa Batlló sees the most visitors. Gaudí was 52 when he reconstructed this house—one of his first works and completely “Gaudían” in style—after years of developing it. Shimmering and curving in shades of blue and green, the house looks slightly different at every hour of the day. Many see the building as a depiction of the legend of St. Jordi and the D dragon. This interpretation incorporates all the major facets of the facade. The tall pinnacle on the left symbolizes the knight’s lance after it has pierced the dragon’s scaly back, which is represented by the warped, multi-colored, ceramic roof. The stairway supposedly represents the winding dragon’s tail or the curves of his vertebrae, the outside balconies skulls, and the molded columns the bones of his unfortunate victims. Others see the house as having an underwater theme; walls and stained-glass windows are fluid and wavelike, and many of the ceilings spiral as if in a whirlpool. Particularly interesting is the way he tiled the central inner patio, dark blue on the top and lighter on the bottom, in order to distribute the light from above as evenly as possible. Of the many aspects of the building accessible by the tour, highlights include the mushroom-shaped fireplace, the house’s dining room with two puzzlingly spaced pillars (only a few inches apart), the back porch decorated with colorful mosaics, and the roof, which allows for a closer look at the facade’s scaly tiling as well as a decent view of the city. As you leave be sure to pay your respects to the Gaudí hologram, who salutes as you leave the upper level. (Pg. de Gràcia, 43. ☎932 16 03 06; www.casabatllo.cat. Open daily 9am-8pm. €17, students, BCN card €13. Cash only. Call for group discounts for more than 20 people. Free multilingual audio tour.)

Casa Lleó I Morera. In 1902, textile tycoon Albert Lleó Morera hired Domènech i Montaner to add some pizzazz to his boring 1864 home on the corner of Pg. de Gràcia and C. Consell de Cent. Montaner responded by creating one of the most lavish examples of decorative architecture in Barcelona, for which he won the Ajuntament’s annual prize for Best Building of the Year in 1905. Much of the street-level exterior was destroyed by the Loewe leather shop that now occupies the entry, but if you look up at the second-floor balconies on either side of the corner tribune, you can see two nymphs on each balcony, holding (from left to right) a gramophone, an electric light bulb, a telephone, and a camera, symbols of the new leisure technology available to the bourgeoisie of the early 1900s. There are carved lions on the balcony above the tribune. Mulberry leaves lace around the tops of the tribune’s vertical columns. Together these refer to the family name: lleó in Catalan means “lion,” and morera means “mulberry tree.”

The mezzanine level of the interior, unfortunately closed to the public, boasts a stunning dining room with glimmering stained-glass windows and detailed ceramic mosaics of the Lleó Morera family picnicking outdoors. The famous furniture that Gaspar Homar originally designed for this room is permanently on display at the Museu d’Art Modern. (Pg. de Gràcia, 35. Entrance not permitted.)

Casa Amatller. Chocolate mogul Antoni Amatller planted the first seed for La Manzana de la Discordia in 1898, when he commissioned Puig i Cadafalch to redo the facade of his prominent home. Cadafalch turned out a mix of Catalan, neo-Gothic, Islamic, and Dutch architecture best known for its stylized, geometric, and multicolored upper facade. The lower exterior of the house also has character; look carefully and you can see the owner’s personality inscribed in sculpture. Above the main door, the prominent carving of Catalan hero St. Jordi battling the D dragon demonstrates Amatller’s Catalan nationalism and the four figures engaged in painting, sculpture, architecture, and music represent Amatller’s broad cultural interests. On either side of the main second-floor windows, there are caricatures of Amatller’s favorite pastimes. On the left, small monkeys and rabbits busily mold iron (the main Catalan industry of Amatller’s time), and a donkey with glasses reads while another plays with a camera; on the right side, frogs and pigs hold glass vases and pottery, a reference to Amatller’s passion for vase-collecting. A huge “A” for Amatller adorns the outside of the entrance, intertwined with almond leaves ( amatller means “almond” in Catalan). The long, single balcony with many doorways is also a traditional element of Catalan architecture.

Inside, the entrance foyer has original iron-and-glass lamps, bright, decorative tiles, and a stained-glass skylight just to the right of the main hallway. The small temporary art exhibit in the back room features various projects relevant to Modernist architecture—for example, miniature architectural models, stained-glass exhibitions, and collections of photographs from that period. Buy some Amatller chocolate to see for yourself whether he deserved his fortune. The apartment where the millionaire lived with his daughter is now home to the Institut Amatller d’Art Hispànic, open to students of the institute.

The Joieria Bagués, which holds a well-known collection of Modernist pieces from the Masriera tradition, occupies the right side of the entrance level. The mseum offers a tour of the store’s sparkling dragonflies, nymphs, and flowers. (Pg. de Gracià, 41. ☎934 877 217. House closed for renovations, expected to reopen 2012. Tours of film and temporary exhibition weekdays at noon, €5. More tours may be offered as renovations continue: call ahead.)

Other Sights On Passeig De Gràcia

If you want to prolong the magical mystery tour of Modernisme, a jaunt down the Pg. de Gràcia will acquaint you with equally interesting, though less famous, facades. Start at Catalunya and make your way up the Pg. de Gràcia. On the right at street level (no. 18), you’ll see the Joieria Roca, a boxy building with a glass-brick exterior matched with pink. This curving building was way ahead of its time in 1934, so much so that architect Josep Lluís Sert sparked a serious conservative backlash with his unconventional design for the facade. Casa Olano, at no. 60, was used as headquarters for the Basque government during the Spanish Civil War; this is commemorated by a plaque above the doorway. The building earned its nickname “Pirate House” from the rendition of sailor and first circumnavigator Juan Sebastian Elcano (he completed the famous voyage after Magellan kicked the bucket in the Phillipines), who glares menacingly down at passersby. Up a little farther, at no. 66, is one of the most attractive corner facades on the Pg. de Gràcia, part of the Casa Vidua Marfà, built by Manual Comas Thos in 1905. Today it houses Barcelona’s School of Tourism, and though you can’t walk through the entire building, you can still walk into the entrance foyer and look up at the multi-colored skylight.

A few blocks up and one block over, at the intersection of Diagonal and Rambla de Catalunya (no. 126), the literally two-faced Can Serra is worth a look as well. The original turreted pink-and-peach stone building, constructed in French Gothic style, was completed by Puig i Cadafalch in 1908 and is adorned with a sculpture by Eusebi Arnau of St. Jordi, the D dragon, the princess, and some strangely entangled centaurs. The bulk of the house was razed in 1981, and now the old Gothic facade wraps around a smooth, black, glossy structure home to the Disputació of Barcelona.

Still want more? Then go back to Pl. de Catalunya and walk up the Pg. de Gràcia only one block to C. Casp. Turn right and continue for a few blocks to no. 48, Casa Calvet (☎93 412 40 12), Gaudí’s first apartment building. It was also the only design he ever won an award for during his lifetime: the Ajuntament’s first annual prize for Best Building of the Year, given out in 1900. Now the building houses an upscale restaurant with a gorgeous interior colored by stained glass. From Casa Calvet, backtrack half a block to C. Roger de Llúria, turn right, and walk down 2½ blocks. On your right, at no. 56, will be a small passageway leading to the Torre de les Aigües, the water tower built by Josep Oriol Mestres in 1879 to supply water to the first houses of l’Eixample. Today it overlooks a small summertime pool for neighborhood children. A half-block farther up, at the intersection of C. Roger de Llúria and C. Consell de Cent, you will see the neatly adorned and painted exteriors of the oldest houses in l’Eixample, built in 1864. Four houses were actually built here at once, one on each corner, for landowner Josep Cerdà (not to be confused with Ildefons Cerdà, the architect who planned l’Eixample), but only this one remains today.