All the Gaudi Chairs
ANTONI GAUDI FURNITURE DESIGN
During the Modernisme times (late 1800’s – early 1900’s), it wasn’t unusual that architects would design themselves certain pieces of the furniture that would go inside their buildings, even if for the rest of the furnishings they’d use the services of the very best carpenters and craftsmen. Often the furniture made by the architects would be shaped to remind you of the outside of the building.
Antoni Gaudi was a prolific furniture designer, even if this side of his career stays often in the shade of the spectacularism of his architecture. He designed cabinets, dressers, a variety of objects for religious use including altars, and of course, tables and many different types of seats: chairs, chaise-longues, sofas… In today’s post we’ll be focusing on Gaudi chairs.
1
Gaudi chairs for Casa Calvet
Casa Calvet was Antoni Gaudi's first apartment building, built in 1902. Located on Casp street, the building continues to be a private property closed to visitors, except for the street level where there's a restaurant. Gaudi designed the furnishings of both the main floor where the Calvet family lived, and the street level that housed the offices of the textile business run by the Calvet.
For those offices Gaudi designed a furniture collection that included a variety of seats made of oaktree wood. They were elegant and had some geometric decoration inspired in nature, as the Calvet family were amateur naturalists. The furniture collection included a chair, a chair with arm rests, a bench and a stool with a low back rest, and were destined to the offices of the family business located on the street level of the house.
WHERE TO SEE THE THEM:
- There’s some replicas displayed on the attic of Casa Mila and for sale on their gift shop.
- The MET Museum in NYC owns one armchair, but unfortunately it’s usually not on display.
- The Casa Museu Gaudi displays the set that he designed for the apartment of the Calvet family on the main floor, on loan from the MNAC Museum.
2
Palau Guell chairs by Antoni Gaudi
Two embedded benches can be still found at their original location inside Palau Guell: one ,made of marble on the side wall of the central hall (the upholstery cushions that covered it aren’t there anymore), the other a leader one along the tribune next to the dinning room. Gaudi also designed free-standing pieces, two of them seats: an elegant chaise-longue for the room of Isabel Lopez, wife of Count Guell, and a set of chairs with decoration of cats and mice, grapes and vine leaves.
WHERE TO SEE THE THEM:
- The chaise-longue is rarely seen in public, as it remains private property of the Guell family and only very occasionally they accept to loan it for temporary exhibits.
- Two chairs of the set are displayed in Palau Guell, in the room of the family heiress, Isabel Guell.
3
Gaudi's pews for Cripta Guell
Count Eusebi Guell also commissioned Antoni Gaudi to build a church for the workers of his textile factory in Colonia Guell (Santa Maria de Cervello). Although the Cripta Guell was left unfinished, it played a crucial role in the development of the use of catenarian arches in his architecture. Gaudi also designed the pews, recycling whenever it was possible pieces of broken looms such as walnut wooden parts and metal. His knowledge of ergonomics reaches here a new level, creating a bench that is only comfortable to keep silence while listening to mass but turns uncomfortable when the seaters try to talk to each other. Originals and replicas can be seen in art museums, Gaudi sites, and of course in the chapel of Cripta Guell.
WHERE TO SEE THE THEM:
- Crypt of the Colonia Guell (some are originals, some are replicas)
- Cloister of the Sagrada Familia Church
- MNAC museum (original)
- The MOMA in NYC has an original, but it’s usually not on display.
4
The famous Antoni Gaudi chairs for Casa Batllo
A major feat of Gaudi’s furniture, the set included ash dinning room chairs, low sewing chairs, and a famous confident consisting in two armchairs creating an angle that allowed seaters to whisper into each other’s ears. Originals and replicas can be seen in art museums and Gaudi sites.
WHERE TO SEE THE THEM:
- MNAC Museum (original confident and dinning room chairs, plus other furniture)
- Casa Batllo main floor and gift shops (replicas)
- Casa Mila attic and gift shops (replicas)
- The MOMA in NYC has an original dinning room chair, but it’s usually not on display.
5
Gaudi furniture for Sagrada Familia
WHERE TO SEE THE THEM:
- Cloister of the Sagrada Familia church (replicas, as the originals were burnt in a fire during the Spanish Civil War)
- Gaudi House Museum (replicas)
6
Gaudi furniture designs for the Sobrellano Pantheon
Thanks to Count Eusebi Guell, Antoni Gaudi got several commissions in the North of Spain. Almost simultaneusly to the construction of Casa Vicens, his first project as an independent architect in Barcelona, he designed El Capricho, a vila in Comillas (Cantabria). The vila was next to the Palace of Sobrellano, owned by the Marquis of Comillas – Guell’s father in law. And the architect such Palace was Joan Martorell, a Catalan architect who commissioned Gaudi the design of some furniture pieces for the family pantheon in the gardens of the Palace: a seat of honor, two praying chairs and several pews.
WHERE TO SEE THE THEM:
- Chapel of the Sobrellano Pantheon, in Comillas (Cantabria)
7
Llimona Chair
WHERE TO SEE THE THEM:
- Museu del Modernisme (originals), and they occasionally can be seen on loan for temporary exhibits in other museums and cultural centers.
What is your favorite Gaudi chair?
Marta
Marta is the founder of ForeverBarcelona. She is a passionate tour guide that loves Barcelona and loves writing too. She is the main author of our Blog, and is committed to sharing her knowledge about Barcelona and her best tips with our readers.
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