Eusebi Güell Bacigalupi was born on December 15. Client and great friend of Gaudí, their identity in artistic ideas and the mutual understanding between both resulted in some of the best achievements of architecture of all time. Güell, six years older than Gaudí, was much more than a successful businessman. He was a cultured and educated man, with studies in law, economics, physics, chemistry and mechanics in Barcelona and several European cities. His passion for arts and culture prompted him to patronize writers, painters, sculptors, and musicians. A student of Greek culture, his travels in search of new technical and artistic knowledge were constant.

Gaudí and Güell during a meeting in the Colonia Güell in 1910

The relationship with Gaudí began as the usual one between an architect and his client to transform into a deep friendship that would last a lifetime. They both understood each other perfectly in artistic terms. Güell admired Gaudí’s creative capacity, giving him freedom to work and the architect understood what his client needed. Güell was outgoing and focused on social life and Gaudí became involved with the industrialists who left the stamp of the time in Barcelona. Since 1906 they became neighbors in Park Güell until  1918 when Eusebi died.

Güell undertook numerous activities that spanned the textile industry, banking, transportation, and cement production. His participation in politics is also notable. He was a councilor of the City Council, secretary of the Diputación de Barcelona, deputy and senator. His interest was in the defense of local industry inserted in a regionalist scheme.

In times marked by social unrest, his sensitivity prompted him to create an industrial enterprise that included an urbanization with houses that offered decent conditions for workers to live in, and equipped with all the services and equipment for their families so that they had scolarship and opportunities: The Colonia Güell, where Gaudí and his collaborators shaped a remarkable complex for its urban, artistic and social conception.

Two images of Eusebi Güell that illustrated a report published in La Esfera, Nº83 (7/31/1915), with curious epigraphs that refer to various areas of Park Güell as “the portico of his palace” or “the gardens of his house”

His love for art was materialized in a little known work as a draftsman and watercolorist. That vocation led Eusebi Güell to join the Reial Acadèmia de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi in Barcelona. As a patron of artists, among many others, he supported a young Pablo Picasso. The great hall of his palace was the scene of musical evenings, and in Park Güell there were frequent cultural events of all kinds. A promoter of patriotic cultural activities, Eusebi Güell was an active member of “La Renaixença”, the Catalan version of the romantic ideas that drove the emergence of patriotic culture and ideas throughout Europe. Thushel was the promoter of the “Jocs Florals”, poetic competitions of a nationalist nature, among other activities linked to that movement. This will leave its mark on several of the works designed by Gaudí: the coat of arms on the facade of Palau Güell and the medallion with the 4 bars of Park Güell are examples.

"Don Eusebi Güell y Don Antón Gaudí en la Colonia Güell" ("Don Eusebi Güell and Don Antón Gaudí in the Colonia Güell"). Drawing by Ricard Opisso
Eusebi Güell in his youth

It is possible that if the relationship with Eusebi Güell had not existed, Gaudí’s work would also have stood out thanks to his overflowing talent as an architect. But possibly it would not have been deployed with the same force without the creative freedom and resources that his client and friend put in his hands, which he returned in abundance, leading to immortality the surname Güell as a hallmark of the unique Finca, Palau, Park, Colony and Wineries that bear his name.