| Gaudí, with a team of artisans and craftspersons he assembled, built this town house for the industrialist Eusebi Güell. This site, cramped with narrow streets, was not in the fashionable area of the Eixample but rather the area the Güell family had traditionally lived in. It is almost impossible to view this palace in its entirety. Two large entry gates of wrought iron dominate the lower facade. Between the gates a version of the Catalan coat of arms in wrought iron signals both Gaudí's and his patron's political views. | ||
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| Large enough to admit carriages (a ramp leads to stables in the basement level), the gates incorporate the initials of the owner in the art nouveau design. Their shape, the parabolic arch, becomes common in Gaudí's later work. | ||
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The needle-like spire is over the dome of the great hall of the house. |
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| A forest of chimneys and ventilator shafts enhance the roof. Covered with colorful ceramic pieces (called trencadís), these designs provide a foretaste of what Gaudí would do in Casa Milà. | ||
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