On Barcelona’s representative Passeig de Gràcia avenue, you can find architectural icons of Catalan modernism. For example, the famous Casa Batlló and Casa Milà are two outstanding designs by the brilliant Antoni Gaudí. However, a few dozen metres away, behind a diagonal avenue, hides a somewhat lesser-known pearl of Art Nouveau. Casa Comalat is a building with two, distinct faces and a surreal interior that spills out into fairytale forms. Built in 1911. Casa Comalat deserves a place in the pantheon of Barcelona’s Art Nouveau architecture.
New City
The transformation of Barcelona’s compact buildings into a geometric hippodamean layout was dictated by the desire to improve transport and hygiene in the city. The entire centre of the modern city consists of hundreds of blocks of square-shaped buildings with truncated vertices. However, the need to create large diagonal arteries has created blocks that break out of this rule. It is in the interlocking block on Avenida Diagonal that one of the most interesting Gaudian buildings has been created, which is not at all the work of a famous architect from Barcelona.
Salvador Valeri i Pupurull, who was an important but lesser-known architect of Catalan Art Nouveau, designed Casa Comalat for textile factory owner Joan Comalat. Interestingly, the architect made no secret of his inspiration from the style of Gaudi, who designed the nearby Casa Batlló. However, Pupurulla’s design is no copy but a creative display. In turn, you can read about Gaudi’s first work HERE.
Two faces
The main façade, located on the grand avenue, is distinguished by its facade of local Montjuïc sandstone. Interestingly, the same material was used for the façade of the Sagrada Familia. Art Nouveau ornamentation in the form of volutes, festoons and corbels has been superimposed on the beige stone. The flowing ornaments also allude to the floral motifs adored by the style, with leaves, flowers and fruit ‘overgrowing’ the space above the windows and below the main bay window. It is worth noting that the windows, enclosed by stalactite mullions, are a direct reference to Casa Batlló. At the top are two female figures and the obligatory sculptures of dragons. These mythical creatures are scattered throughout the city, making them a symbol of Barcelona. In turn, the dark green roof is somewhat reminiscent of dragon scales.
The face of Casa Comalat on the side of the small Carrer de Còrsega seems to contradict the main facade. The façade of the rear wall bulges out towards the street with a huge wood bay window. The shuttered balconies are reminiscent of a large Arabian mahrabiya. However, the most interesting element of the rear façade is the mosaic decoration on the walls. The coloured glass elements were arranged in flowing patterns by Barcelona’s most important mosaic artist, Lluís Bru i Salelles. The lower part of the façade is similar in appearance to the Art Nouveau forms of the front wall, but its colour scheme is much more vibrant.
Daydream
The interior of the building is striking with its dissolving wall decoration. The entrance hallway is lined with dark swirling wood, polychromes and cast ceramic elements whose abstract shapes resemble alien life forms. Among the quirky Art Nouveau decorations, there was room for classical paintings and simple, yet marble steps. However, the rest of the décor is the architect’s colourful madness. The rooms are dominated by stained-glass windows, as well as parabolic and plain shapes. The multitude of abstract and floral ornamentation of Art Nouveau equals Baroque splendour.
Pupurulla’s hidden masterpiece was renovated in the 1990s, and the townhouse is now privately owned, making it impossible to visit its interiors. Casa Comalat is the dream of an artist who combined all areas of art to create a pinnacle example of the then-ending era of Barcelona architecture. The 1920s broke with Catalan Art Nouveau, and the era of the synthesis of the arts evolved into later styles such as art déco. Although Casa Comalat stood in the shadow of Gaudi’s buildings for years, it could be said that the Pupurulla townhouse trumps some of the works of Barcelona’s most famous architect.
Source: BCN Magica
Also read: Architecture | Curiosities | Tenement | Art Nouveau | Barcelona | Spain | whiteMAD on Instagram
