There are many Barcelonas. There is the city of grand monuments, of modernist buildings that fill postcards, and of streets that millions of visitors walk every year. But there is also another Barcelona, more silent and discreet, that rarely makes it into tourist itineraries: that of the towers hidden among the trees of Collserola, the unique houses, and the mountain paths.
It is precisely this lesser-known Barcelona that a new edition of Open Barri, an initiative promoted by the 48H Open House Barcelona association within the framework of the World Capital of Architecture that the city holds this year, aims to highlight. After focusing on Nou Barris during the winter and on La Marina in spring, the project reaches its third stop with its summer edition, dedicated to the mountain neighborhoods of Sarrià and Vallvidrera. A proposal that culminates this weekend, after fifteen days of activities and guided tours, with an open day at 28 heritage spaces that are usually not very accessible.
The purpose of this initiative is, as Elisenda Bonet —director of 48H Open House Barcelona— defined it, to turn the World Capital of Architecture into "an exercise in collective self-esteem". Not only so that residents can rediscover the heritage of their own neighborhood, but also so that the rest of the city can approach architectures and stories that lie outside the center and, therefore, outside the city's imagination.
And to understand this other Barcelona, one must look back. Sarrià and Vallvidrera are two neighborhoods with their own identity, built from their relationship with the landscape and the mountain paths of Collserola. For centuries, in fact, these two neighborhoods were completely disconnected from the Catalan capital: Sarrià was an independent village and Vallvidrera a small mountain nucleus formed by isolated farmhouses.
But their great transformation came especially at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. The arrival of the Sarrià train and, later, the construction of the Vallvidrera funicular brought these neighborhoods closer to the center and turned the mountain into an accessible place for the wealthy classes of Barcelona, who found in it a natural refuge and a summer resort. Thus began to appear summer towers, private gardens, and modernist houses that sought to coexist with the natural landscape of Collserola.
The upper classes found in these neighborhoods a natural refuge in the city. © Elisabet Armora
But Vallvidrera not only attracted families seeking tranquility: it also became a refuge and creative space for artists and intellectuals such as Carme Karr, Carles Riba, Conxita Badia or J. V. Foix. Some of these unique houses and private gardens have preserved their essence to this day and will be precisely some of the spaces that can be discovered during the Open Barri Estiu of 48H Open House Barcelona.
The route of unique spaces
The starting point of this route through the other side of Barcelona, which Open House makes visible during this weekend's open day, could be the church of Sant Vicenç de Sarrià (Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.), the point where the urban history of the neighborhood begins. Documented since 987, the church recalls the time when Sarrià was an independent town before being integrated into Barcelona in 1921. The current building, however, was built in 1781 with a marked neoclassical style, on the vestiges of the previous Romanesque and Gothic temples.
A few minutes away, Casa Orlandai (Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.) adds another layer to the neighborhood's history. This old stately home, initially designed as a family residence for the Galve family, has been a school and today is one of Sarrià's most active cultural spaces. The route can continue towards the Palau dels Marquesos de Sentmenat (Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.), one of the large estates that recall the residential past of the area. Originally built as an agricultural farmhouse, the house was transformed into a stately residence in the 17th century when it passed to the Sentmenat family.
Before definitively entering Collserola, the route hides another surprise: the Casa de Espiritualidad Sant Felip Neri. Located in the Les Tres Torres neighborhood, this estate preserves the essence of an old tower in the area transformed by the architect Bonaventura Conill, a disciple of Antoni Gaudí, who left his modernist mark on it.
From there, the route now heads through Vallvidrera, but not without stopping at Tibidabo. There awaits the Expiatory Temple of the Sacred Heart (Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.), one of the most recognizable architectures on the Barcelona skyline. Built at the highest point of Collserola based on the project by architect Enric Sagnier, developed after the visit of Saint John Bosco to Barcelona (1886), it combines Neo-Gothic, Neo-Byzantine, and monumental influences.
Next to Tibidabo, the Torre de Aguas (Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.) is a unique example of an era when even infrastructures aspired to become monuments. Built to supply water to the Colonia del Doctor Andreu, its uniqueness lies precisely in the decision to convert a purely functional element into an emblematic architecture: instead of hiding the reservoir underground, a 40-meter-high tower was erected.
The route ascends to the Colonia Busquets (Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.), one of the spaces that best summarize the Vallvidrera of bourgeois summering. Promoted at the beginning of the 20th century by the cabinetmaker and decorator Josep Busquets i Cornet, this urbanization made up of towers surrounded by gardens still preserves the spirit of that era when Barcelona families sought the calm of Collserola without moving away from the city. But this visit will allow going beyond the facade: the public will be able to enter the interior of one of the colony's homes and discover a domestic architecture full of modernist details.
For those who want to delve even deeper into this route, Open Barri also offers other activities that allow going beyond architecture, with exhibitions or guided tours. Neighborhoods that can even be savored through the palate, as in each edition of the architecture festival, a tapa inspired by the identity of the neighborhood has been conceived. In the case of Sarrià and Vallvidrera, this is cinghiale (wild boar) from Collserola with fried polenta, which this weekend can be tasted in places like Casa Trampa, Kasa Hanaka, or Cafè Orlandai.