Casa Calvet is a building by Antoni Gaudí in the Eixample district that departs from the architect’s more characteristic modernista style. Some consider it his most conservative work, thanks to its Baroque details and symmetry. Far from Gaudí's more expressive language, the building offers a taste of Modernisme: wrought-iron balconies, spindle-shaped columns, playful light effects on the stone and a curving façade topped with religious busts watching over the street. A homage to Catalan Baroque, the building’s understated design did not prevent it from standing out: it won the prize for best building of the year in 1900.
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Look closely at the sculpted details: mushrooms, cornucopias and a pair of heads of martyred saints. A cryptic tribute to the Calvet family, who commissioned the building, and to their roots in the textile industry.
If you feel like stepping inside, book a table at the ground-floor restaurant: it is one of the few Gaudí buildings where you can sit beneath original vaults and soak up the atmosphere.
