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l Palau Güell was the first commission made by Eusebio Güell to Antoni Gaudí in 1885 and, one hundred years later, it was declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco. The building was inaugurated in 1888, coinciding with the Universal Exhibition held in the Ciutadella park, at a time of stability, after a century of wars. In addition to a space for his family, it was also the scene of the social and cultural life of Gaudí's patron. A masterpiece by the great modernist architect, it is built with limestone from Garraf. On the facade, two doors stand out with openwork wrought iron grilles representing two snakes, with tails forming the letters E and G of Eusebio Güell.
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2018 celebrated the Güell Year, the year of Eusebio Güell i Bacigalupi, marking one hundred years since his death, and a very important exhibition was organized revealing new stories about the great Catalan businessman. "We want to explain who Eusebio Güell was and who his father Joan Güell and his father-in-law Antonio López were," explains the new general director of this cultural facility, Guillem Mundet.
With a degree in History, a master's in Museology, and a postgraduate degree in Management and Administration of Cultural Institutions, Mundet acknowledges that his appointment is a professional challenge and values that working in cultural heritage is very vocational. He is enthusiastic and will work to include the Palau Güell on a map of unique houses in the world, citing Victor Horta's house in Brussels as an example. Gaudí's strength is unbeatable, and the Consell Gaudí watches over the buildings he dreamed of.
"A modernist experience"
"It is the first new-build building Gaudí made. People who come here are very interested in Gaudí. Visitors live a modernist experience. It is a laboratory of Gaudí's ideas where Güell allowed him to do whatever he wanted, and it is precisely here that he first uses the famous parabolic arch and the trencadís," illustrates Mundet.
The noble materials are exquisite, from the wide repertoire of wrought iron and gilded flowers, the marble capitals, the curvature of the chimney, or the chairs designed by Gaudí for the Palau with cats and mice. One hundred percent Gaudí brand.
One of the biggest surprises of the building is its terrace, where a collection of unique chimneys made with the trencadís that became so famous years later for the Park Güell bench is displayed. On this terrace we also discover a compass rose in the shape of a sun with a bat --heraldic symbol of the Crown of Aragon-- and a Greek cross.
An exclusive visit
Far from the crowds of the Sagrada Familia and Park Güell, the visit to the Palau is exclusive and very pampered, with very small groups. Despite this, Mundet regrets that this jewel, located in the Raval neighborhood, is not very popular among Barcelonians: "The building is very well known by people from outside and very little by those from here. Before the pandemic, 90% of the public was foreign."
The Palau is also not spared from the impact of the crisis on tourism and foreign visitors. "After the lockdown, we opened our doors in the second half of June, we were among the first facilities to open. At first, French people started coming but there was a resurgence and the European press recommended not traveling to Spain. Back to square one. Now it's hard to get people to go out, but little by little," says its director.
The message remains the same: safe and quiet visit. In addition, prices have been lowered and a single five-euro entrance fee has been established while the effects of Covid-19 last. And Mundet does not fail to point out which are the star days of the Palau: "The open days are always full, every first Sunday of the month, plus several days like La Mercè or December 15, in commemoration of the birth of Eusebio Güell."
Cultural agenda
Before the coronavirus safety measures, the Palau team thought the rooftop could gain more prominence. "The Palau's cultural agenda includes summer concerts in this area, but they were suspended as a precaution and we cannot consider the terrace as the solution to host visitors because the last section has to be climbed on foot," he explains.
Even so, Mundet announces that the Palau will be part in November of the itinerary of Loop, the Video Art fair, with an installation by Helena Vinent, winner of the Güell Foundation scholarship. And not only that. The director of the Palau also announces that the exhibition dedicated to the modernist painter Aleix Clapés will open on December 17, with an "imposing Hercules" on loan from the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC).
Adaptation to new technologies
The conservation of the Palau is a serious matter. "There is a person from the Heritage service of the Diputación who comes one day a week to review and, the third week of January, we always close to restore the most important elements," says Mundet, who recalls that the last intervention they have done has been the rehabilitation of the wooden structures of the midday terrace, which were already very deteriorated.
The maintenance of the building is paramount but the team of seven people led by Mundet is also immersed in the adaptation to new technologies: "We are finalizing the new website and a virtual visit to the Palau that will be ready before December 31. We are also recording a series of conferences, each fifteen minutes long, on the different aspects of the Palau, such as, for example, the talks on furniture given by Mónica Piera."