Casa Calvet

Casa Calvet

The Barcelona audio-guided tour leads you before Casa Calvet, one of the first works of Antoni Gaudi, built in 1899. Often considered his most restrained creation, it nonetheless reveals unmistakable modernist touches, in the heart of the Eixample district.

A bourgeois commission

The Eixample district was created at the end of the 19th century to meet the expansion of Barcelona, welcoming the wealthy industrialists whose fortunes were then flourishing. It was there that the great modernist works blossomed. Casa Calvet answered a classic request from a bourgeois family: a ground floor for trade and residential floors. Gaudi nonetheless deployed his inventiveness there, in a style more sober than his later works.

What there is to see

Behind its relatively classical stone facade, Casa Calvet reveals modernist details: wrought-iron balconies, sculpted motifs, careful decoration of the hall and the stairwell. It is an interesting stop to grasp the beginnings of Gaudi, before his more daring masterpieces such as Casa Batllo or Casa Mila.

Practical information

Casa Calvet is in the Eixample district of Barcelona. The facade can be seen freely from the street. As the building is partly occupied by offices and flats, interior access is limited; a restaurant occupies the former commercial ground floor. It is best to check the conditions of visit.

When was Casa Calvet built ?

It was built in 1899; it is one of the first works of Gaudi, often judged his most conservative.

What is the Eixample district ?

It is the extension of Barcelona created at the end of the 19th century, where the great modernist works of the city flourished.