Josep Puig i Cadafalch
Josep Puig i Cadafalch (Mataró, October 17, 1867-Barcelona, December 23, 1956) was a Spanish architect, considered one of the most important of Catalan modernism. He was also a historian, mathematician and politician, serving as president of the Commonwealth of Catalonia between 1917 and 1924.
Biography
Born on October 17, 1867 in the Barcelona town of Mataró, he studied architecture and exact sciences in Barcelona, and when he finished he returned to Mataró, where he took up the post of municipal architect at only twenty-four years of age. He remained in that position for five years, a period in which he also built his first buildings in Mataró.
Since 1907 he was a member of the Institute of Catalan Studies, where he held the position of vice-president. Puig was later appointed professor at the Barcelona School of Architecture, specializing in hydraulics and resistance of materials.
In August 1917, he assumed the position of President of the Commonwealth of Catalonia, replacing the late Enric Prat de la Riba. From this position he drew up an ambitious plan for education and culture and promoted the archaeological excavations in Ampurias. He also caused new roads to be built and agriculture to develop.
Like other Catalan leaders, Puig i Cadafalch supported Primo de Rivera's coup d'état in 1923. In fact, once it was over, he was one of the Catalan authorities who went to the railway station to see off the General Miguel Primo de Rivera when he moved to Madrid to assume the leadership of the government. However, in January 1924 he would be removed from office by the new regime and replaced by Alfonso Sala.
Puig was a disciple of Lluís Domènech i Montaner, and is considered the last representative of modernism and the first of noucentisme. According to some experts, his work can be divided into these three different periods.
- The first period is modernist. The architect uses as a model the country house of the Catalan aristocracy, to which he adds elements of Nordic inspiration. To this period belong buildings like Casa Amatller, the Casa Martí and, in particular, the House of the Punxes or Casa Terradas. All these works were performed between 1895 and 1905.
- The second period can be defined as rational idealism, an architectural trend based on the tastes of the new bourgeoisie. The buildings are designed with a more rational and practical approach. They are representative of this period the Casa Trinxet, the Casa Muntades and the Casa Company.
- The third period is monumental, and it develops parallel to the preparation and celebration of the Barcelona International Exhibition (1929), of which Puig was the main architect. In this creative stage the buildings are inspired by the Roman architecture, which nevertheless combines with typical elements of Valencia and Andalusia. The walls are yellow, and numerous columns are used as structural elements. This is an attractive neo-baroque style.
Puig showed great interest in American architecture, and came to design a building, the Pich House, inspired by the work of the American architect Louis Henry Sullivan. In addition to his work as an architect, he did important work as an art historian and wrote several essays on Romanesque and Gothic architecture in Catalonia, as well as numerous books.
After the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, he fled the country to save his life. He went into exile in Paris and gave master classes on architecture and history at numerous universities, earning him international recognition. Puig received the title of doctor honoris causa from various universities, including Paris. He would return to Spain in 1942, where he found that the new political regime did not allow him to practice as an architect, so he could only rehabilitate and restore historical buildings and monuments. Also in 1942 he was named president of the Institute of Catalan Studies, a position he held until his death.
He died on December 23, 1956 at his residence in Barcelona, at the age of eighty-nine.
Main works
- Casa Avel.lí Trinxet or Casa Trinxet (Barcelona, disappeared, with frescoes by Joaquim Mir Trinxet)
In the "manzana de la discordia" of Barcelona's Paseo de Gracia is the Casa Amatller, with its distinguished staggered profile, work by Josep Puig i Cadafalch. On your right, the Casa Batlló of Gaudí. - Casa Amatller (Barcelona; Pg. de Gràcia, 41)
- Casa Coll i Regàs (Mataró, Barcelona)
- Casa Furriols (La Garriga, Barcelona)
- Casa Garí (Argentona, Barcelona)
- Casa Macaya (Barcelona)
- Casa Martí (Barcelona)
- Casa Muley-Afid (Barcelona)
- Casa Muntades (Barcelona)
- Casa Pich i Pon (Barcelona)
- Casa Para (Mataró, Barcelona)
- Casa Pere Company (Barcelona; Buenos Aires Street)
- Casa Puig i Cadafalch (Argentona, Barcelona)
- Casa Sastre Marquès (Barcelona)
- Casa Serra (Barcelona)
- Casa Sisternes (Mataró, Barcelona)
- Casa de les Punxes/Casa Tarrades (Barcelona; Av. Diagonal, 416-420) (1903-1905)
- Palacio del Barón de Quadras (Barcelona; Av. Diagonal, 373 and Rossellón, 279) (1904-1906)
- Torre Pastor de Cruïlles (Barcelona)
- Chapel of the Most Holy of the Church of San Julián de Argentona (Argentona, Barcelona)
- Mataró City Council (Mataró, Barcelona)
- Torre de los señores de Bofarull (Madrid)
- El Regle (Mataró, Barcelona)
- La Beneficiència (Mataró, Barcelona)
- Cavas Codorniu (San Sadurní de Noya, Barcelona)
- The Telegraphy (El Prat de Llobregat, Barcelona)
- Third Mystery of Gozo and Fifth Mystery of Dolor of the Monumental Rosary of Montserrat (Monistrol de Montserrat, Barcelona)
- Casaramona Factory (Barcelona. First Prize 1912 of the Annual Artistic Buildings Contest of Barcelona City Council)
- Casa Pilar Moragues (Viladecans, in the former Camping el Toro Bravo)
- Plaza de España (Barcelona)
- Casa Rosa Alemany (1928-1930)
- Palacios de Alfonso XIII y Victoria Eugenia, for the International Exhibition of Barcelona (1929)
- Axis of the 1929 Exhibition in Montjuic
- Masía Grabuach (Cava Ludens) 1930 in Guardiola de Fontrubí (Panadés)
