The Spirit Of Gaudí

This article by Kirsten Hannema appeared in leading Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant on 9 June 2026

Is Barcelona a paradise for Gaudí enthusiasts? Absolutely—especially in this Gaudí Year. Yet the Catalan metropolis has far more to offer architecturally. De Volkskrant visited both historic and contemporary icons and found countless traces of the master architect’s influence.

When people think of Barcelona and architecture, the image that inevitably comes to mind is Antoni Gaudí’s Sagrada Família. For a century and a half, the basilica has been the city’s most ambitious construction project. With the completion of its 173-meter central tower dedicated to Christ, it has become even more impressive. On June 10, the 100th anniversary of Gaudí’s death, the Pope will bless the tower.

Last year, the Sagrada Família welcomed 4.9 million paying visitors. This year that number is expected to be even higher, as the city celebrates Gaudí Year and has been designated UNESCO’s World Capital of Architecture. A double celebration, then—but architect Yolanda Ortega Sanz, who is involved in organizing the architecture year, has mixed feelings. What, she asks, does Gaudí really mean to Barcelona today?

“The completion of the Sagrada Família is not important to me,” says Ortega Sanz. “Architects and residents are tired of it because of the tourists who take over these buildings.” Even Park Güell, originally designed by Gaudí between 1900 and 1914 for industrialist and patron Eusebi Güell, has required paid admission since 2013. The sheer volume of visitors threatened the preservation of its distinctive trencadís walls, a Catalan mosaic technique made from broken ceramic fragments.

Of course, Ortega Sanz also recognizes the architectural value of Gaudí’s buildings. They define the city’s image and have inspired generations of designers. Consider architect Enric Miralles, known among other works for the renovated Santa Caterina Market (2005), whose undulating roof of colored ceramics echoes Gaudí’s style.

Or think of star architect Santiago Calatrava, whose bridges and railway stations build upon Gaudí’s sculptural language. Or simply look across the street from Casa Milà, where Japanese architect Toyo Ito created a contemporary homage in 2009 with a façade of flowing aluminum strips.

The architecture center where Ortega Sanz receives visitors is itself indirectly connected to Gaudí. Located in the Eixample district, it occupies the former Gustavo Gili publishing house, a 1961 complex characterized by clean lines of steel, glass, and concrete. At the time, this rationalist style was dominant and Gaudí had fallen out of fashion. So much so that during renovations of Casa Batlló, original historic doors were discarded onto the street and narrowly rescued by an employee of the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya.

A reassessment of Gaudí began thanks to avant-garde artists such as Salvador Dalí, who considered him a hero and wrote enthusiastically about him. During a lecture in Park Güell in 1956, Dalí contrasted the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima with Gaudí’s creative power, describing the architect as a “morphological bomb.”

That same year, construction resumed on the Passion Façade of the Sagrada Família after years of interruption. In 1984, UNESCO added the basilica to its World Heritage List. Meanwhile, the internationally renowned Gustavo Gili publishing house contributed to the worldwide promotion of Gaudí through numerous books on art and architecture.

In the center’s entrance hall stands a giant model of Barcelona alongside an exhibition about the “livable city.” Visitors can write on postcards describing how they envision the city in 2035. Common themes include “green,” “everyone has access to a dignified life,” and “more housing!”

“The goal of the World Capital of Architecture program is to show the importance of architecture for ordinary people and everyday life,” says Ortega Sanz. She wants visitors to look beyond the tourist hotspots. Each month one of the city’s ten districts is highlighted, and throughout the year some 1,500 activities—from workshops and exhibitions to guided tours—are being organized.

That is why De Volkskrant skipped the Sagrada Família and instead visited lesser known yet equally spectacular buildings. Each demonstrates in its own way how Gaudí’s ideas continue to shape architecture today.

Casa Vicens (1885): Gaudí’s Manifesto

Like Hansel and Gretel stumbling upon a gingerbread house in the forest, visitors wandering through the Gràcia district suddenly encounter a fairy-tale villa with colorful tiled façades, wooden shutters, and terracotta towers. This is Casa Vicens, Gaudí’s first major work and one of the buildings that launched Modernisme Català, the Catalan version of Art Nouveau.

“This was Gaudí’s starting point—his manifesto,” says museum director Emili Masferrer.

Fresh out of architecture school at age 31, Gaudí created a total work of art that combined craftsmanship, nature, climate-conscious design, and innovative prefabrication techniques. He even used lightweight papier-mâché ceiling tiles shaped like shells and ivy leaves.

Inspired by the British Arts and Crafts movement as well as Moorish and Eastern motifs, he blended these influences with traditional Catalan elements such as ceramics and vaults. The surrounding garden inspired decorative marigold tiles and a wrought-iron gate adorned with palm leaves.

Commissioned as a summer residence for stockbroker Manuel Vicens, the villa embodied Gaudí’s vision of a house as a “small nation” for the family living within it. It was carefully positioned to maximize daylight and natural ventilation through shutters and slatted balconies. Architecture, Gaudí believed, should possess character so that children growing up there would feel like “citizens of the nation.”

Subsequent owners altered the property, adding wings, selling off portions of the garden, and removing much of the original furniture. After a private foundation acquired and meticulously restored the building in 2014, this key work can once again be appreciated in all its glory.

Walden 7 Housing Complex (1975): A Statement Against Monotony

Ninety years after Gaudí introduced a new vision of residential quality through Casa Vicens, postmodern architect Ricardo Bofill (1939–2022) sought to bring similar ideals to the masses through Walden 7, an apartment complex in the suburb of Sant Just Desvern.

Rather than copying Gaudí’s aesthetics, Bofill embraced his rejection of repetition, respect for Catalan building traditions, and spirit of experimentation.

Using reinforced concrete and brightly colored tiles, he created a structure resembling a gigantic termite mound containing 460 owner-occupied apartments—a bold statement against monotonous housing blocks. Though symmetrically organized around two courtyards, its staggered floors and semi-circular balconies ensure that no corner looks the same.

The name Walden references Henry David Thoreau’s 1854 book about living simply in a self-built cabin in nature. Bofill hoped to create a self-sustaining urban community.

Resident Marta Nebot, a proud “Waldenista,” has happily lived there for 31 years. “In summer we eat together in the galleries, organize wine tastings and concerts, and this morning we even held a flea market on the lawn.”

A cooling breeze flows through the courtyards, which contain a library, café, and recreational spaces. When drops of water fall onto her head during the tour, Marta laughs—the “rain” is coming from the rooftop swimming pool, her favorite place.

Just as Gaudí’s style initially divided public opinion, Walden 7 also provoked strong reactions. Spain’s Franco regime obstructed Bofill’s idealistic plans, forcing him to spend time abroad. Although Walden 7 was meant to be the first in a series of residential projects, the larger vision never materialized.

Still, Bofill managed to transform the silos of a former cement factory on the site into his home and office, from where he could gaze at “the monster.”

“That’s what people in central Barcelona call our building,” Marta says. Yet interest in Walden 7 has grown significantly in recent years—not only because of its architecture, but also because regulations have helped keep apartments affordable. A 100-square-meter duplex can still be purchased for around €350,000.

Casa Corberó (1968–2017): The Life’s Work of “The New Gaudí”

On the outskirts of Barcelona, in Esplugues de Llobregat, stands a walled complex hidden behind a massive garage door at the end of a narrow street. Entering it feels like falling down Alice’s rabbit hole into a world of labyrinthine rooms, arches, spiral staircases, mirrored spaces, and dramatic atriums.

This extraordinary place is the life’s work of sculptor Xavier Corberó (1935–2017), often referred to as “the new Gaudí.”

Corberó came from a family of renowned metalworkers and artists. His grandfather was a friend and collaborator of Gaudí, and from childhood Corberó was fascinated by Gaudí’s organic, sometimes surreal forms and his fusion of sculpture and architecture.

After studying in London and spending several years in New York, where his work entered museum collections, Corberó returned to Barcelona. In 1968 he purchased land with an old farmhouse and began building his dream: a habitable sculpture serving as home, studio, and gathering place for artist friends such as Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró, Max Ernst, Ricardo Bofill, and jewelry designer Elsa Peretti.

There was no master plan. Whenever money became available and inspiration struck, Corberó expanded the project. Over time it grew into a 6,000-square-meter universe containing around forty rooms and patios. When a nearby ceramics factory closed, he acquired all its tile samples and used them to decorate his kitchen—including a test tile featuring a shade of green developed by Gaudí himself.

Corberó continued working on the complex until his death in 2017. Since then, it has stood empty and fallen into disrepair. For years, local authorities debated its future. International developers wanted to demolish it and build new housing.

Ultimately, the property was sold last year to the Barcelona-based architecture firm Mesura, which plans to restore it. Today, partner architect Carlos Dimas is leading his first public tour of the site.

In Corberó’s spirit, Mesura and the Vasco gallery will transform the complex into a cultural center featuring artists’ workshops, exhibitions, and gathering spaces for residents and visitors.

“It will not be a museum designed simply to preserve the past,” says Dimas. “The city needs living places where new art and architecture can emerge.”
Architect Ana Badia, one of the tour participants, is enthusiastic about both the building’s eccentricity and its new purpose. She believes the decision reflects Gaudí’s legacy.

“I’m not particularly attached to Gaudí,” she says. “The tourism around his buildings has taken up so much space. But it is also the reason Barcelona now takes architecture so seriously.”

More information about Casa Vicens, Casa Milà, Casa Corberó, Walden 7, and other iconic houses in Barcelona can be found on IconicHouses.org.

Download here the article in Dutch.

Posted June 12, 2026