Designed by Antonio Gaudí in Barcelona when he was 30, and designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2005, Casa Vicens will be converted into a museum and open its doors to the public during the second half of 2016.
Built between 1883 and 1889, Casa Vicens was the first house designed by Gaudí. The building’s current owner, a subsidiary of the financial group Mora Banc Grup, is currently working on its restoration and the museum planning. “The mission of Casa Vicens as a house museum is to present the first Gaudí house, presenting it as an essential work to understand his unique architectural language and the development of Art Nouveau in Barcelona,” explained the executive manager of the project, Mercedes Mora, in a recent interview with Iconic Houses.
Learn more after the break.
Although there had been a long silence following the news of the sale of Gaudí’s first house in 2014, Iconic Houses’ interview with Mora sheds light on the progress of the restoration and the main goals behind the project.
"Once you turn an iconic house into a museum space the challenge is twofold: on one hand, the preservation and restoration of the original Gaudí structure and its decorative elements, like tiles and plasters, while we also make it accessible to as many visitors as possible. In other words, our main goal is the conservation of this precious legacy while we provide the best interpretive tools for visitors of all ages and origins to spend their time here as a learning experience. Moreover, we must stress the fact that one needs to visit Casa Vicens in order to understand the origins and development of Gaudí’s architecture."
Casa Vicens was put up for sale in 2007 for an asking price of 35 million euros by the third generation of the Herrero-Jover family, who had bought the property from the widow of Manuel Vicens, the original owner. Although there were no offers in the years that followed, Mora Banc Grup purchased the house for an unspecified amount in 2014.
Vía IconicHouses y La Vanguardia.
