The plans for the Palau Güell were approved on July 27, 1886. Processed under File No. 38-O of the Comisión de Fomento, the procedure had an incident when the tribune of the main floor was objected as planned . The Commission contradicted this opinion and rejected the impugnment, reporting favorably the granting of the permit. (1) Finally, on October 23, the construction license was signed by the mayor of Barcelona, Francisco de Paula Rius i Taulet, famous for being the promoter of the Universal Exhibition of 1888.
The plans provided, preserved in the Arxiu Municipal de Barcelona, have many differences with what was finally built. The floor plans show a similar configuration, with a scheme with the rooms surrounding the large central space, although with a series of changes, some of which required rethinking the structural scheme.
The most important one was the suppression of two colonnades that were planned on both sides of the great hall, giving rise on one side to a magnificent main staircase that leads to a mezzanine and to the upper floors, and on the other side to the relocation of the chapel with its doors directly to the living room, in addition to a space to locate the organ.
This modification forced Gaudí to rethink the route diagram of the loads in the central part of the building. (4) As a result, the dome presents, along with its support structure, a displacement of approximately 40 centimeters to one side, barely perceptible to the naked eye and only evidenced by the unusual way one of the cantilevers of the new structural system loads on one of the hyperbolic arches. Two columns in the vestibule were also suppressed, which apparently made the ascent and descent from the carriages uncomfortable, which consequently forced Gaudí to structurally reorganize this space. (5)
These and numerous other functional changes such as relocation of stairs, toilets and service rooms, and the inclusion of the elevator among others, were evidently decided with the work already underway to adapt the functionality of the palace.
The façade also shows several modifications with the one that was drawn on the plan, highlighting the shape of the gallery and the pediments of the top, which break the straight balustrade of the project.
The twin entry arches maintained their profile following a curve of complicated geometry: the Rankine curve. (6) These arches were surely one of the main reasons for the project as a distinctive of modernity associated with the image that the owner wanted to convey with his great work. (7)
Gaudí displayed a subtle game of asymmetries on this façade, with a composition that balances the holes and the filled pieces, the protruding elements and the relationship with neighboring buildings.
The Palau Güell is undoubtedly one of Gaudí’s best achievements, with a clear conceptual idea and countless high-quality details of design and execution. This building embodied his passage to maturity as an architect and consolidated the union of mutual understanding and friendship between the architect and his client, begun some years before with a project for a hunting lodge in Garraf, not built, and with the constructions on the Finca Güell. From that rich relationship will result the concretion of other masterpieces in the following years: the Güell wineries, the Park Güell and the church of the Colonia Güell.
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(1) The Online Catalogue for theBarcelona Municipal Archives
(2) Photo: Diputació de Barcelona @diba
(3) Photo: Fundación Antonio Gaudí
(4) GONZÁLEZ MORENO-NAVARRO, JOSÉ LUIS. Understanding historical structures: Gaudí and the Palau Güell. ClMNE, Barcelona. 1998. Pp. 222-226.
(5) GONZÁLEZ MORENO-NAVARRO, JOSÉ LUIS y CASALS BALAGUÉ, ALBERT. La insondable organización constructiva del Palacio Güell de Barcelona, obra de Antoni Gaudí. Actas del Cuarto Congreso Nacional de Historia de la Construcción, Cádiz, 27-29 january 2005, SEdHC, Arquitectos de Cádiz, COAAT Cádiz, 2005. Pp. 516-517.
(8) GONZÁLEZ MORENO-NAVARRO, ANTONI. Método y criterios en la restauración del Palau Güell de Barcelona. Informes de la Construcción, Vol. 45 nº 428, november/december 1993.