VISITING THE MODERNISM PARTY IN THE COLÒNIA GÜELL

Castellers de Sants & The Grandma

Today, The Grandma has had an intensive day. In the morning, she has visited some old friends who are members of Castellers de Sants, a human towers group which celebrates its 25th anniversary.

In the afternoon, The Grandma has gone to Colònia Güell to visit the Modernism party. She has been with Claire Fontaine and Tonyi Tamaki and they have spent a nice afternoon talking with an old friend, Cristina Poppins. She has realized that she has done in 2018 the same travel that Eusebi Güell did in 1890, from Sants to Santa Coloma de Cervelló.

During the travel from Sants to the Colònia Güell, The Grandma has studied a new lesson of her First Certificate Language Practice manual (Vocabulary 17).

More information: Feelings and opinions

Colònia Güell (Güell's Colony) is a population center located in the Baix Llobregat region. Belongs to the municipality of Santa Coloma de Cervelló. It stands out to be one of the largest colonies of the Llobregat, due to its architectural quality and because it is exclusively driven by steam power in its origins, compared to other colonies, mainly driven by hydraulic energy.

The construction maker Francesc Berenguer i Mestres and the architect Joan Rubió i Bellver took part in the construction. Antoni Gaudí projected the church, in which Berenguer, Rubió and Canaleta also worked.

The Grandma in the Colònia Güell

It has been declared a Cultural Good of National Interest, in the category of Historic Ensemble in 1991. The church, otherwise called the crypt of Gaudí, has been declared World Heritage by UNESCO in 2005.

More information: UNESCO

The Church of Colònia Güell is an unfinished work by Antoni Gaudí. It was built as a place of worship for the people in a manufacturing suburb in Santa Coloma de Cervelló, near Barcelona. Colònia Güell was the brainchild of Count Eusebi de Güell; however, with Güell losing profits from his business, the money was depleted and only the crypt was completed.

More information: Colònia Güell

Eusebi Güell i Bacigalupi, 1st Count of Güell (15 December 1846-8 July 1918) was a Catalan entrepreneur who profited greatly from the industrial revolution in Catalonia in the late 19th century. He married Luisa Isabel Lopez y Bru, a daughter of Antonio López y López first Marquis of Comillas, in 1871 and the couple had ten children. One of Güell's daughters, Isabel Güell i López, became a noted composer.

Güell was born in Barcelona and was the son of Joan Güell i Ferrer, a wealthy industrialist from Torredembarra who had amassed considerable riches during his stay in Cuba and thanks to the numerous activities established at his return in Barcelona. His mother, Francesca Bacigalupi i Dolcer, was a member of an ancient merchant family from Genoa who had moved to Catalonia in the late 18th century.

The Grandma & Eusebi Güell in the Colònia Güell

Güell took over his father's business, which was predominantly in textiles, and added to the family's wealth.  

Güell met the young architect, Antoni Gaudí, following a visit to the World Fair held in Paris in 1878, where he had seen Gaudí's work at the Spanish Pavilion. The pair become lifelong friends and associates and found that they had mutual interests, including religion, both were devout Catholics. 

Güell became a Mediciesque patron to architect Antoni Gaudí. Their many collaborations began at the start of Gaudí's career, when Güell saw Gaudí as the man who could provide him with uniquely designed buildings.

Among Güell's early commissions for the aspiring architect were the Bodega Güell, winery, at Garraf, the Pavellons Güell and Park Güell which was originally the Güell family home and only later bequeathed to the state.

Download Colònia Güell Guide

In 1890, Güell moved his textile factory from Sants to Santa Coloma de Cervelló, north of Barcelona. There he established a worker's colony along the lines of the British worker's colonies which had been built in the late nineteenth century. The colony or village at Santa Coloma, now known as Colònia Güell, was built with high socialist ideals; homes with larger than average rooms, wide windows and good ventilation so that the textile workers and their families could enjoy comfortable living conditions. 

Old memories in the Colònia Güell

The village was to be relatively self-contained and included shops, cafes, a theatre, library and a school, only for boys. In 1890, Gaudí was commissioned to build a church and crypt on the hill overlooking the village.

However, Güell ran into financial difficulties and the project was eventually abandoned. In spite of its unfinished status, the work is a masterpiece and demonstrates many of Gaudí's signature architectural devices including catenary arches and tessellated finishes. The village, which is still fully operational boasts many fine examples of modernist architecture.

Reportedly on one occasion Gaudí said to Güell, Sometimes I think we are the only people who like this architecture. Güell replied, I don't like your architecture, I respect it.

in 1900, Güell bought land in Gràcia, Barcelona and employed Gaudí to build an estate for the rich. At that time, the area was considered to be remote and the project failed to realize commercial success. Only two houses were built. In 1923, the Güell family gave the land to the city, as Park Güell.

King Alfonso XIII ennobled Eusebi Güell as count in 1908. He died in his house in Park Güell in 1918.

More information: The Culture Trip

Anything created by human beings 

is already in the great book of nature.

Antoni Gaudí