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The Casa Calvet (Calvet House), a Catalan Modernism building situated in the Eixample district, was projected by
Antoni Gaudí in 1898 and 1900, the year that he was awarded by the
Ajuntament de Barcelona (City Council).
It is the first residential building that Gaudí designed, and he did it for the Calvets, a textile factory family. As such, the ground floor and the basement are assigned for the business and the superior levels for living.
The façade was constructed in a base of stone and forged iron and is culminated with two tympanum crowned by crosses. As well, it is adorned with the head of San Pedro Mártir (in honour of the father´s owner), San Genis notary and San Genis comedian (in honour of the two patrons of Vilassar de Mar, home town of Andreu Calvet). The columns that align the entrance has a string bobbin and, therefore, promoting the business of the owner.
The box of the elevator is a work of art, decorated with wood, iron and glass. The furniture of the lower floor and the first floor that currently one can observe in the Gaudí Museum in
Park Güell are also work of this prestigious architect.
The experts have considered this the most conservative work of Gaudí and, as such, the symmetry, the equilibrium and the order that rules this building are not at all characteristics of the trajectory of the architect.
Currently the house functions as a restaurant.