1.
Barcelona
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Founded as a Roman city, in the Middle Ages Barcelona became the capital of the County of Barcelona. Barcelona has a cultural heritage and is today an important cultural centre. Particularly renowned are the works of Antoni Gaudí and Lluís Domènech i Montaner. The headquarters of the Union for the Mediterranean is located in Barcelona, the city is known for hosting the 1992 Summer Olympics as well as world-class conferences and expositions and also many international sport tournaments. It is a cultural and economic centre in southwestern Europe, 24th in the world. In 2008 it was the fourth most economically powerful city by GDP in the European Union, in 2012 Barcelona had a GDP of $170 billion, it is leading Spain in both employment rate and GDP per capita change. In 2009 the city was ranked Europes third and one of the worlds most successful as a city brand, since 2011 Barcelona has been a leading smart city in Europe. During the Middle Ages, the city was known as Barchinona, Barçalona, Barchelonaa. Internationally, Barcelonas name is abbreviated to Barça. However, this refers only to FC Barcelona, the football club. The common abbreviated form used by locals is Barna, another common abbreviation is BCN, which is also the IATA airport code of the Barcelona-El Prat Airport. The city is referred to as the Ciutat Comtal in Catalan. The origin of the earliest settlement at the site of present-day Barcelona is unclear, the ruins of an early settlement have been excavated in the El Raval neighbourhood, including different tombs and dwellings dating to earlier than 5000 BC. The founding of Barcelona is the subject of two different legends, the first attributes the founding of the city to the mythological Hercules. In about 15 BC, the Romans redrew the town as a castrum centred on the Mons Taber, under the Romans, it was a colony with the surname of Faventia, or, in full, Colonia Faventia Julia Augusta Pia Barcino or Colonia Julia Augusta Faventia Paterna Barcino. It enjoyed immunity from imperial burdens, the city minted its own coins, some from the era of Galba survive. Some remaining fragments of the Roman walls have incorporated into the cathedral. The cathedral, also known as the Basilica La Seu, is said to have founded in 343
2.
Spain
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By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. Spains capital and largest city is Madrid, other urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao. Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago, in the Middle Ages, the area was conquered by Germanic tribes and later by the Moors. Spain is a democracy organised in the form of a government under a constitutional monarchy. It is a power and a major developed country with the worlds fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP. Jesús Luis Cunchillos argues that the root of the span is the Phoenician word spy. Therefore, i-spn-ya would mean the land where metals are forged, two 15th-century Spanish Jewish scholars, Don Isaac Abravanel and Solomon ibn Verga, gave an explanation now considered folkloric. Both men wrote in two different published works that the first Jews to reach Spain were brought by ship by Phiros who was confederate with the king of Babylon when he laid siege to Jerusalem. This man was a Grecian by birth, but who had given a kingdom in Spain. He became related by marriage to Espan, the nephew of king Heracles, Heracles later renounced his throne in preference for his native Greece, leaving his kingdom to his nephew, Espan, from whom the country of España took its name. Based upon their testimonies, this eponym would have already been in use in Spain by c.350 BCE, Iberia enters written records as a land populated largely by the Iberians, Basques and Celts. Early on its coastal areas were settled by Phoenicians who founded Western Europe´s most ancient cities Cadiz, Phoenician influence expanded as much of the Peninsula was eventually incorporated into the Carthaginian Empire, becoming a major theater of the Punic Wars against the expanding Roman Empire. After an arduous conquest, the peninsula came fully under Roman Rule, during the early Middle Ages it came under Germanic rule but later, much of it was conquered by Moorish invaders from North Africa. In a process took centuries, the small Christian kingdoms in the north gradually regained control of the peninsula. The last Moorish kingdom fell in the same year Columbus reached the Americas, a global empire began which saw Spain become the strongest kingdom in Europe, the leading world power for a century and a half, and the largest overseas empire for three centuries. Continued wars and other problems led to a diminished status. The Napoleonic invasions of Spain led to chaos, triggering independence movements that tore apart most of the empire, eventually democracy was peacefully restored in the form of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Spain joined the European Union, experiencing a renaissance and steady economic growth
3.
Ricardo Bofill
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Ricardo Bofill Leví is a Spanish architect, who, since 1963, continues to lead the international architectural and urban design practice Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura. Ricardo Bofill was born into a family of builders in 1939 in Barcelona and he studied at the Barcelona University School of Architecture and graduated from the School of Geneva. At the age of 17, Ricardo Bofill designed his first project, a home in Ibiza. Over fifty years later, Bofill still leads Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura, Bofill was raised in a Catalan bourgeois family. His father, named Emilio Bofill, was a builder and developer, Bando Republican, and liberal, Ricardo’s mother, Maria Levi, was an Italian Jew who functioned as the matriarchal pillar of the family. During his adolescence, Ricardo Bofill studied at the Lycée Français de Barcelone and he spent much of his youth traveling throughout Spain, spending a significant amount of time in Andalusia where he discovered Spanish vernacular architecture. In 1957, he attended the Barcelona School of Architecture, while there, like many students of the time, he began developing strong Marxist ideals. During a demonstration, he was arrested and expelled from the university, Ricardo Bofill fled Barcelona in 1958 for Geneva, where he attended the Université de Beaux-Arts Genève to complete his education. In 1963, Ricardo Bofill joined his business, forming a multidisciplinary, multitalented team consisting of architects, engineers, planners, sociologist, writers. Bofill revived the characteristic craftsmanship of traditional Catalan architecture, later on, he began to deal with local urban-planning problems within the Spanish political and social level. The necessity to approach large- scale projects led Bofill’s team to conceive a ridged yet organic methodology based on the formation of elements in space. Such was developed in a manner with the project The City in Space. The factory lies directly next to Walden 7, in Sant Just Desvern, above the Cathedral lie Ricardo’s residence, green roofs and terraces. The entire complex was planted with gardens to create the effect of an oasis within the industrial area. The renovation project, which began in 1973, incorporates various architectural languages, Catalan Civic Gothic style, as a result of the economic crisis and the tense political situation in Spain, Ricardo began focusing elsewhere. In 1971, Ricardo formed a team in Paris, in response to the demands of various projects for the French “New Towns”. During this phase, Bofill introduced in his proposals symbolic elements directly related to the French monumental architecture, La Petite Cathédrale and La Maison d’Abraxas are examples of these inhabited monuments. In France, Ricardo Bofill’s name is associated with the project of Les Halles
4.
Catalonia
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Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, located on the northeastern extremity of the Iberian Peninsula. It is designated as a nationality by its Statute of Autonomy, Catalonia consists of four provinces, Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. The capital and largest city is Barcelona, the second-most populated municipality in Spain, Catalonia comprises most of the territory of the former Principality of Catalonia. It is bordered by France and Andorra to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the east, the official languages are Catalan, Spanish, and the Aranese dialect of Occitan. The eastern counties of these marches were united under the rule of the Frankish vassal the Count of Barcelona, in the later Middle Ages Catalan literature flourished. Between 1469 and 1516, the King of Aragon and the Queen of Castile married and ruled their kingdoms together, retaining all their distinct institutions, Courts, and constitutions. During the Franco-Spanish War, Catalonia revolted against a large and burdensome presence of the Royal army in its territory, within a brief period France took full control of Catalonia, at a high economic cost for Catalonia, until it was largely reconquered by the Spanish army. In the nineteenth century, Catalonia was severely affected by the Napoleonic, in the second half of the century Catalonia experienced industrialisation. As wealth from the industrial expansion grew, Catalonia saw a cultural renaissance coupled with incipient nationalism while several workers movements appeared. In 1914, the four Catalan provinces formed a Commonwealth, and with the return of democracy during the Second Spanish Republic, after the Spanish Civil War, the Francoist dictatorship enacted repressive measures, abolishing Catalan institutions and banning the official use of the Catalan language again. Since the Spanish transition to democracy, Catalonia has regained some political and cultural autonomy and is now one of the most economically dynamic communities of Spain, the origin of the name Catalunya is subject to diverse interpretations because of a lack of evidence. During the Middle Ages, Byzantine chroniclers claimed that Catalania derives from the medley of Goths with Alans. Other less plausible theories suggest, Catalunya derives from the land of castles, having evolved from the term castlà or castlan. This theory therefore suggests that the names Catalunya and Castile have a common root, the source is of Celtic origin, meaning chiefs of battle. Although the area is not known to have been occupied by Celts, the Lacetani, an Iberian tribe that lived in the area and whose name, due to the Roman influence, could have evolved by metathesis to Katelans and then Catalans. In English, Catalonia is pronounced /kætəˈloʊniə/, the native name, Catalunya, is pronounced in Central Catalan, the most widely spoken variety whose pronunciation is considered standard. The Spanish name is Cataluña, and the Aranese name is Catalonha, the first known human settlements in what is now Catalonia were at the beginning of the Middle Palaeolithic. From the next era, the Epipaleolithic or Mesolithic, important remains survive
5.
Postmodern architecture
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The movement was given a doctrine by the architect and architectural theorist Robert Venturi in his 1966 book Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture. The style flourished from the 1980s through the 1990s, particularly in the work of Venturi, Philip Johnson, Charles Moore, in the late 1990s it divided into a multitude of new tendencies, including high-tech architecture, neo-classicism and deconstructivism. The architect and architectural historian Robert Venturi led the attack in 1966 in his book, Complexity, … I welcome the problems and exploit the uncertainties. … I like elements which are rather than pure, compromising rather than clean. … I am for messy vitality over obvious unity, … I prefer both-and to either-or, black and white, and sometimes gray, to black or white. … An architecture of complexity and contradiction must embody the difficult unity of inclusion rather than the easy unity of exclusion, Venturis second book, Learning from Las Vegas, co-authored with his wife, Denise Scott Brown, and Steven Izenour, further developed his argument against modernism. He urged architects take into consideration and to celebrate the architecture in a place. He argued that ornamental and decorative elements accommodate existing needs for variety, Rossi insisted that cities be rebuilt in ways that preserved their historical fabric and local traditions. Similar ideas were and projects were put forward at the Venice Biennale in 1980, the call for a post-modern style was joined by Christian de Portzamparc in France and Ricardo Bofill in Spain, and in Japan by Arata Isozaki. Robert Venturi was both a prominent theorist of postmodernism and an architect who buildings illustrated his ideas, after studying at the American Academy in Rome, he worked in the offices of the modernists Eero Saarinen Louis Kahn until 1958, and then became a professor architecture at Yale University. One of his first buildings was the Guild House in Philadelphia and these two houses became symbols of the postmodern movement. He went on to design, in the 1960s and 1970s, Michael Graves designed two of the most prominent buildings in the postmodern style, the Portland Building and the Denver Public Library. The building has since added to the National Register of Historic Places. The most famous work of architect Charles Moore is the Piazza dItalia in New Orleans, drawing upon the Spanish Revival architecture of the city hall, Moore designed the Beverly Hills Civic Center in a mixture of Spanish Revival, Art Deco and Post-Modern styles. It includes courtyards, colonnades, promenades, and buildings, with open and semi-enclosed spaces, stairways and balconies. Philip Johnson began his career as a pure modernist, in 1935 he co-authored the famous catalog of the Museum of Modern Art exposition on the International Style, and studied with Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer at Harvard. His Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut, inspired b a similar house by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe became an icon of the modernist movement and he worked with Mies on another iconic modernist project, the Seagrams Building in New York City. However, his buildings in the 1970, such as IDS Center in Minneapolis and Pennzoil Place in Houston were massive, sober
6.
Royal National Theatre
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The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdoms three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. Internationally, it is known as the National Theatre of Great Britain, from its foundation in 1963 until 1976, the company was based at the Old Vic theatre in Waterloo. The current building is located next to the Thames in the South Bank area of central London, in addition to performances at the National Theatre building, the National Theatre company tours productions at theatres across the United Kingdom. Since 1988, the theatre has been permitted to call itself the Royal National Theatre, the theatre presents a varied programme, including Shakespeare and other international classic drama, and new plays by contemporary playwrights. Each auditorium in the theatre can run up to three shows in repertoire, thus widening the number of plays which can be put on during any one season. In June 2009, the theatre began National Theatre Live, a programme of simulcasts of live productions to cinemas, first in the United Kingdom, the programme began with a production of Phèdre, starring Helen Mirren, which was screened live in 70 cinemas across the UK. NT Live productions have since been broadcast to over 1,000 venues in 35 countries around the world, the NT had an annual turnover of approximately £87 million in 2012–13, of which earned income made up 80%. Support from Arts Council England provided 20% of income, and the remaining 7% came from a mixture of companies, individuals, trusts, in 1847, a critic using the pseudonym Dramaticus published a pamphlet describing the parlous state of British theatre. Production of serious plays was restricted to the patent theatres, at the same time, there was a burgeoning theatre sector featuring a diet of low melodrama and musical burlesque, but critics described British theatre as driven by commercialism and a star system. There was a demand to commemorate serious theatre, with the Shakespeare Committee purchasing the playwrights birthplace for the nation demonstrating a recognition of the importance of serious drama, the following year saw more pamphlets on a demand for a National Theatre from London publisher Effingham William Wilson. The situation continued, with a renewed call every decade for a National Theatre, attention was aroused in 1879 when the Comédie-Française took a residency at the Gaiety Theatre, described in The Times as representing the highest aristocracy of the theatre. This still left the capital without a national theatre and this work was interrupted by World War I. The play was part of the campaign to build a National Theatre. Still, the Government tried to apply unacceptable conditions to save money, attempting to force the amalgamation of the publicly supported companies. In July 1962, with agreements reached, a board was set up to supervise construction. The National Theatre Company opened on 22 October 1963 with Hamlet, the current building was designed by architects Sir Denys Lasdun and Peter Softley and structural engineers Flint & Neill and contains three stages, which opened individually between 1976 and 1977. The construction work was carried out by Sir Robert McAlpine, the Company was to remain at the Old Vic until 1977, when construction of the Olivier was complete. The National Theatre building houses three separate auditoria, additionally, a temporary structure was added in April 2013 and closed in May 2016
7.
Ancient synagogue (Barcelona)
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The Ancient Synagogue of Barcelona is believed to be an ancient synagogue located in the centre of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It has been described as one of the oldest synagogues in Europe, after many centuries of use for other purposes, the building re-opened as a synagogue and museum in 2002. No congregation prays regularly at the Sinagoga Major, but it is used for festive occasions, archaeological investigations show that the original structure of the building was built in the third or fourth century, whether this structure was the synagogue cannot be said with certainty. The building was expanded during the 13th century. Medieval Barcelona is known to have had several synagogues, and the synagogue was certainly in the immediate area. King James I visited the synagogue in 1263 at the conclusion of the Barcelona Disputation, shlomo ben Aderet served as the rabbi of the Sinagoga Major for 50 years. The Jews of Barcelona were massacred in 1391, the building was used for many purposes and its original use was forgotten. Over the centuries, additional stories were added to the building, in 1987, Jaume Riera y Sans began researching the location of the Sinagoga Major. His research was based on a reconstruction of the route followed by a tax collector that ended at the Sinagoga Major. Rieras work led Miguel Iaffa to examine the exterior of the building, Iaffa noted that the structure had been built in compliance with religious requirements that the building should face Jerusalem and that it should have two windows. In fact, the orientation of the building broke with the northwest/southeast alignment of the streets in its neighborhood. Iaffa purchased the building in 1995 when its owner put it up for sale, the Call Association of Barcelona, led by Iaffa, undertook the recovery and restoration of the synagogue. The Sinagoga Major was opened to the public in 2002, in 2003, two Canadians became the first couple to be married at the Sinagoga Major in more than 600 years. A New York attorney donated a 500-year-old sefer Torah to the synagogue in 2006, in January 2009, a right-wing extremist affiliated with the Republican Social Movement attacked the Sinagoga Major. The attacker was detained by police, oldest synagogues in the world Lazar, Marilyn. Barcelona home to one of Europes oldest shuls
8.
Avinguda Diagonal
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Avinguda Diagonal is the name of one of Barcelonas broadest and most important avenues. It cuts the city in two, diagonally from west to east, hence the name, both would meet at Plaça de les Glòries Catalanes, which Cerdà envisioned as the new city centre. Avinguda Diagonal remains to this day a much-transited avenue and many companies and hotels use it as a privileged location, the avenue starts in the Les Corts district on the western edge of the city and runs to the Sant Martí district on the eastern edge. To its west, it connects with the Lleida-Madrid highway and Ronda de Dalt in the municipality of Esplugues de Llobregat. To its east, it meets the Ronda del Litoral on the border with the municipality of Sant Adrià de Besòs and it is consistently 50 metres wide and about 11 kilometres long. The different regimes that held power in Catalonia and Spain during the 20th century sought to change the street names. It has been known under the names, Gran Via Diagonal – original name which Ildefons Cerdà. Avinguda de la Nacionalitat Catalana –1922, during Miguel Primo de Riveras dictatorship, named after King Alfonso XIII. Avinguda del Catorze dAbril –1931, Gran Vía Diagonal –1939, provisional name imposed the day after the Fascist capture of Barcelona as an attempt to eliminate references to the Republic. Avenida del Generalísimo Francisco Franco –1939, during the authoritarian regime of Francisco Franco. Avinguda Diagonal – Its current name, adopted following the restoration of democracy in 1979, however, it should be noted that the name Diagonal has always prevailed in popular usage. Ildefons Cerdàs so-called Pla Cerdà was not totally successful in transforming Barcelonas urban reality, the city council of Barcelona had previously requested the approval of Antoni Rovira i Triass alternative project instead, which had been rejected. Francesc Cambó, leader of Lliga Regionalista proposed the construction of a new palace for the then monarch Alfonso XIII in 1919, Avinguda Diagonal suffered several attacks by the Basque separatist organisation ETA in 2000. On 2 November, a car bomb exploded injuring a security officer, a few days later, on 21 November, a car used by the killers of Enerst Lluch exploded in the middle of the avenue. On 20 December a municipal officer was shot dead, four venues in the area hosted competitions for the 1992 Summer Olympics. During 2010, Diagonal reform proposals were on the headlines, as the Barcelona city council had plans to make the cross the whole avenue. A popular consultation was scheduled for May 2010 between two reform proposals, the so-called rambla or boulevard and it resulted in a big political failure for the city mayor, Jordi Hereu. There was a participation of 12% of potential voters
9.
Barcelona Cathedral
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The cathedral was constructed from the 13th to 15th centuries, with the principal work done in the 14th century. The cloister, which encloses the Well of the Geese was completed in 1448, in the late 19th century, the neo-Gothic façade was constructed over the nondescript exterior that was common to Catalan churches. The roof is notable for its gargoyles, featuring a range of animals. It is a pseudobasilica, vaulted over five aisles, the two divided into chapels. The east end is a chevet of nine radiating chapels connected by an ambulatory, the high altar is raised, allowing a clear view into the crypt. The cathedral is dedicated to Eulalia of Barcelona, co-patron saint of Barcelona, one story says that she was exposed naked in the public square and a miraculous snowfall in mid-spring covered her nudity. The enraged Romans put her into a barrel with knives stuck into it, the body of Saint Eulalia is entombed in the cathedrals crypt. The choir stalls retain the coats-of-arms of the knights of the Order of the Golden Fleece, in his first trip into Spain, Charles, the future Holy Roman Emperor, selected Barcelona as the site of a chapter of his Order. In 1518 the Orders herald, Thomas Isaac, and its treasurer, juan de Borgonya executed the painted decoration of the sanctuary. The church was named after Barcelonas patron saint Eulalia, its official name - Catedral de la Santa Creu i Santa Eulalia - is Catalan for Cathedral of the Holy Cross, the commonly used name La Seu refers to the status of the church as the seat of the diocese. The side Chapel of the Holy Sacrament and of the Holy Christ of Lepanto contains a cross said to date from the time of the Battle of Lepanto. The cathedral has a secluded Gothic cloister where 13 white geese are kept, a program of cleaning and restoration of the cathedral was carried out from 1968-72. Reportedly, this Visigothic chapel was dedicated to Saint James, and was the church of the Viscounts of Barcelona. However, in a document from the Second Council of Barcelona in 599 and this church was severely damaged by al-Mansur during his attack on Barcelona in 985. In 1046, Count Ramon Berenguer I and his wife Almodis, together with Bishop Guislabert, began construction of a Romanesque cathedral at the site, the cathedral was constructed over the crypt of the former church. It has been reported that a Viscount of Barcelona, Mir Geribert, sold the site to Bishop Guislebert in 1058, however this date does not coincide with the reported start of construction. The present Gothic cathedral was begun on the foundations of the churches on 1 May 1298, James II the Just was King of Aragon at the time. The church was built from the east end towards the west end, the cloister was completed in 1448, making the total duration of construction 150 years
10.
Barcelona Pavilion
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The Barcelona Pavilion, designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, was the German Pavilion for the 1929 International Exposition in Barcelona, Spain. This building was used for the opening of the German section of the exhibition. It is an important building in the history of architecture, known for its simple form and its spectacular use of extravagant materials, such as marble, red onyx. The same features of minimalism and spectacular can be applied to the prestigious furniture specifically designed for the building, among which the iconic Barcelona chair and it has inspired many important modernist buildings, including Michael Mansers Capel Manor House in Kent. Mies was offered the commission of building in 1928 after his successful administration of the 1927 Werkbund exhibition in Stuttgart. However, Mies had severe time constraints—he had to design the Barcelona Pavilion in less than a year—and was also dealing with economic conditions. In the years following World War I, Germany started to turn around, the economy started to recover after the 1924 Dawes Plan. The Commissioner, Georg von Schnitzler said it should give voice to the spirit of a new era and this concept was carried out with the realization of the Free plan and the Floating roof. Miess response to the proposal by von Schnitzler was radical, the pavilion was to be bare, with no exhibits, leaving only the structure accompanying a single sculpture and specially-designed furniture. This lack of accommodation enabled Mies to treat the Pavilion as a continuous space, the design was predicated on an absolute distinction between structure and enclosure—a regular grid of cruciform steel columns interspersed by freely spaced planes. However, the structure was more of a style, some of these planes also acted as supports. The floor plan is very simple, the entire building rests on a plinth of travertine. A southern U-shaped enclosure, also of travertine, helps form a service annex, the floor slabs of the pavilion project out and over the pool—once again connecting inside and out. Another U-shaped wall on the side of the site also forms a smaller water basin. This is where the statue by Georg Kolbe sits, the roof plates, relatively small, are supported by the chrome-clad, cruciform columns. This gives the impression of a hovering roof, robin Evans said that the reflective columns appear to be struggling to hold the floating roof plane down, not to be bearing its weight. Mies wanted this building to become an ideal zone of tranquillity for the weary visitor, since the pavilion lacked a real exhibition space, the building itself was to become the exhibit. The pavilion was designed to block any passage through the site, rather, visitors would enter by going up a few stairs, and due to the slightly sloped site, would leave at ground level in the direction of the Poble Espanyol
11.
Bellesguard
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Bellesguard, also known as Casa Figueres, is a modernist manor house designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí, which was constructed between 1900 and 1909. It is located at the Sarrià-Sant Gervasi district of Barcelona in Catalonia, the ground on which Bellesguard stands on had been the site of a country residence belonging to Martin, king of Aragon and count of Barcelona. Gaudí was assisted by Joan Rubio whilst Domènec Sugrañes i Gras created the mosaics that adorn the house. Gaudí drew inspiration for Casa Figueras from the castle that once stood on the same site. When King Aragon died without an heir in 1410, his widow, Margaret of Prades, following her death, the castle fell into decline and was passed from hand to hand over centuries until Jaume Figueres purchased the estate in 1900. When Jaume Figueres and his wife María Sagues Molíns commissioned Gaudí for the project in 1900, all that remained of the structure were a few walls. As always, Gaudí sought to blend the construction with its natural surroundings, Gaudí designed the home in a period where he himself was still developing his unique style. Gaudí was given free rein to design and construct what was intended as a home for the Jaume family. The house changed hands for years until the Guilera family purchased the home in 1944 and has continued to own it for over 70 years. The building continued to serve medical purposes following Lluis’ death in 1969 when his son, Lluís Guilera Soler, several Barcelona citizens were born in Casa Figueres until 1974 when the site of the hospital relocated to a more accessible area better suited to medical needs. From that point on, the building has served the purpose that Gaudí always intended—a private home. For the past 30 years, the Guilera family has left the gates open permitting guests to stroll the gardens, over the years, they received countless requests from visitors to explore inside the home and enjoy Gaudí’s more modernist interior detailing. Both due to the demand from visitors as well as the family’s realization that restoration was necessary. The family officially began inviting tours in September 2013, offering access to the interior accompanied by explanations of the history, Casa Figueres is constructed mainly of stone and brick. The general structure measures a square base of 15 ×15 m and is 19.5 m high, the exterior façade is more neogothic, as Gaudí intended to pay tribute to the original medieval castle that once stood at the site. As is such, Gaudí used more straight lines, seldom seen in his usual work, the iconic tower, Torre Bellesguard, juts out from a corner of a base, adding to the vertical alignment of the structure created by the straight, vertical lines in his design. Torre Bellesguard is perhaps what the building is most recognized for, displaying Gaudí’s typical cross of four arms decorated with red and yellow mosaics to mimic the Catalan flag. At the base of the one can also see what appears to be a crown wrapped around the circumference
