In 1888, Eusebi Güell converted the palace that bears his name, and the signature of Antoni Gaudí, a family residence and a cultural and social meeting place for the Barcelona bourgeoisie of the time. But in the estate, a landmark of modernism and the brilliant architect of Reus, a space was reserved for the business of the wealthy businessman: office, library, waiting room and offices to manage the production and sale of the wine produced in Garraf. stays now closed to the public and that the Barcelona Provincial Council, owner of Palau Guell, will incorporate the museum tour before 2026, date given for the completion of the works to be carried out to adapt the spaces to visits. The planned investment is 5 million euros, plus the 6 for the purchase of the two adjoining buildings of the palace, Jordan’s house and the annex to Fradera house, where the necessary services will be located to manage the monumental complex -world heritage by UNESCO since 1984- and which are now housed in the rooms where Eusebi Güell once worked.
2,500 square meters
The works, with a budget of 5 million, will be finished in 2026 and will not force the palace to be closed to visits
The operation has been in the making for some time with the intention of to protect the palace, located on Nou de la Rambla street, shielding it with the two buildings that flank it; do it more accessible, with a new entrance for the public and improving spaces for people with reduced mobility; equip it with auditorium and exhibition hall, now non-existent or very small; and increase the visiting space, which will go from 2,000 to 2,500 meters squares. To this end, in 2014 the council acquired Casa Jordà, a four-storey building with an underground level built in 1844 by the Indian Joan Jordà after the previous building was demolished in 1842, when General Espartero ordered Barcelona to be bombed from Montjuïc to quell a revolt popular. Both buildings will be joined by the courtyard they share, and the Jordà house will be adapted to accommodate, among other things, an elevator and office spaces. It remains to be decided whether the new exhibition halls and the auditorium will be located here or in the annex of the Fradera house. There is no doubt that Casa Jordà will maintain its façade, and it will be done for two reasons: because it is protected and because Gaudí designed the Palau Güell so that both would be in harmony.
missing mural
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The acquisition of the annex of the Fradera house has not yet been completely closed, but there is nothing to suggest that it will not be closed. Both this and the Jordà house were already on Eusebi Güell’s radar when he commissioned the palace. He wanted to buy them to ensure the respectability of future potential neighbors, but he was unsuccessful. He did reach an agreement with Llorenç Fradera according to which he could not build on the annex of the building of the same name, which only has one floor, and Güell, moreover, was left with the power to use the party wall, where for years wore a mural with the figure of Hercules, now disappeared, painted by Aleix Clapés, the artist who decorated the Saló Central and the doors of the main floor of the Palau Güell with his brush. The new spaces that will be added to the tour are not the most spectacular of the complex, the palm of the hand goes to the magnificent Saló Central, nor do they maintain the original furniture, but they do have outstanding elements such as the Marble floors checkered with circles of yellow and red stone, and the polished gray Garraf stone ceilings. Eusebi Güell’s office is also decorated with a gray stone fireplace with red floral inlays attributed to the architect Camil Oliveras, who was in charge of restoring the Palau Fonollar for the businessman before Gaudí did the same with the Palau Güell.
Headquarters of a police station
The Nou de la Rambla space passed into the hands of the council in 1945 after an agreement with Mercè Güell, the youngest of Eusebi’s children and the last tenant of the palace. Before, during the civil war, it was confiscated and then turned into a police station. Later it was the headquarters of the Institut del Teatre and Museu d’Art Escènic. Until in 2011 it was opened with its original appearance after a deep and long restoration. Two million visitors have passed since then, most of them foreign tourists, and, despite bearing Gaudí’s signature, it is a work unknown to a large part of Barcelona.