CIUDADES ESPAÑOLAS: El pais / SPANISH CITIES: The Country: July 2017

Reus is the capital of Baix Camp in the province of Tarragona in the comunidad ("autonomous" community) of Catalonia in northeastern Spain. Baix Camp is a comarca - roughly a county - of Tarragona. It is one of the three comarques into which Camp de Tarragona was divided in the comarcal division of 1936. Reus' history dates to the mid-12th century. Present population hovers around 105,000.

The city is approximately 15 km/9.3 mi inland from the city of Tarragona (see previous post). On the train from Tarragon to the center of Reus you pass through acres of oil and gas storage tanks, some countryside, and finally the edges of the city itself. Although Reus it is perhaps best known for the production of wines and spirits, for the purposes of this blog the main attraction of the city is its architectural history.

Although Reus promotes itself as the 1852 birthplace of Antonio Gaudí, the internationally-known and singularly strange architect of Barcelona's Basilica i Temple Expiaton de la Sagrada Familia (the Church of the Sagrada Familia), its architectural interest is as a center for the turn-of-the-last-century design movement known in Spain as Modernisme. More on this in what follows. Least you stop reading right here, the city itself is an engaging Spanish town. Hopefully, I have captured some of that essence also.

(A language note: The official co-language of Reus is Catalan. At various points below, I use Castilian, Catalan - or both - to identify specific landmarks and activities. I like to think that this is in keeping with the linguistic stew of Spain. And yes, I realize that regardless of which language, there are some accents, tildes and at least one cedilla missing.)

PLAZA DEL MERCADO /

PLACA DE MERCADAL

(Market Plaza)

This is the central plaza of the city and the traditional marketplace. There is a mid-20th century Central Market structure elsewhere in the city (see below).

The structure with the tower is the Ayuntamiento (City Hall). The modern structure to the left is the Gaudi Center (see below), and behind where I am standing, is the Casa Navas, designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner between 1901-1908 (shown immediately below).

The Ayuntamiento

GAUDI CENTRE REUS

(Gaudi Center/Museum)

Joan Sibina, Toshiake Tange and Gabriel Bosques,

2007

I am not sure there are any words that can justify this building. The night shot below might slightly mitigate its many misanthropic elements, but it certainly is no excuse for essentially putting what looks to be a screened generating plant on one of the most prominent parcels of land on the most prestigious and otherwise pleasant plazas in the city. A generating plant that is supposed to be the calling card for the city that calls itself the birthplace of Gaudi.

When faced with this kind of architectural malpractice I always ask myself, did not one of the numerous people sitting at the table: the clients, the city officials (from the elected officials through the building department professionals), even a first year intern from the architect's staff at least have the temerity to say, "This looks like a generating plant to me." And, if so, why did no one listen?

(Photo by others.)

Setting aside the stupendously bad building (not surprisingly, almost as bad inside as out), the entire idea is a little odd since Gaudi did not design one building in the city. He also left Reus at the age of 16 and was forever after associated, for good reason, with Barcelona. Be that as it may, the exhibits are passable, if not altogether totally explicable.

Gaudi as a young man.

The above shows a model of a catenary arch and is probably a copy of the numerous similar models that Gaudi used in designing his structures. "A catenary arch is the shape one gets when we suspend a rope of chain from its endpoints...The advantage of the catenary arch is that it can be constructed from relatively light materials while still being able to support great weights." (See, http://mathstat.slu.edu/ escher/index.php/The_Geometry_of_Antoni_Gaudi.

What you see are the suspended ropes with weights hung from the ropes to represent the forces the actual structure will encounter. Now, pretend that you are standing on your head (or are looking at the model in a mirror placed below it). Now what you see is the shapes of arches jutting into the air as with any building. Since this design device is at the heart of Gaudi's work, a few more words about it.

Here is the best representation I could find at the moment of how the modeling is transformed into architecture. The hanging ropes or cords of one of Gaudi's structural models is shown flipped (reversed, mirrored, inverted - however you want to describe it) and next to it is a sketch of the actual structure, the Church of the Colonia Guell. Gaudi's work in this arena was ground-breaking, not in anyway "discovering" such arches, but in developing unique methods for studying and applying them.

Typically master builders (before there were "architects") would design an arch by giving it a certain shape and dimension in whatever style was then current: Gothic, Byzantine, Renaissance, etc. Its stability would then be calculated using graphic and mathematical models. All of this is, of course, before the advent of computer-aided drafting (CAD) that allows such calculations and designs to be done with the use of some sophisticated design programs and the push of a few keys on the keyboard.

"Gaudi...wanted to apply a design method that allowed him to obtain equilibrated forms directly. (Graphic statics...can be used comfortably in two dimensions on the drawing surface). To fix the position of a line in space, three projections are needed, thus making space problems very laborious to solve. Gaudi soon realised that, in the most general case, the only possible solution was to use space-hanging models.

Not only did Gaudi apply hanging models more generally and extensively than had been seen before, but (he) also experimented with new geometric shapes for vaults. In particular, he used ruled surfaces: hyperbolid paraboloids and revolving hyperboloids...Once more, this is a totally original contribution.

(2006 University of Sydney All rights reserved. www.arch.usyd.edu.au/asr Architectural Science Review Volume 49.4, pp 324-339. Invited Paper, "Structural Design in the Work of Gaudi," Santiago Huerta, Department of Structural Design, Escuela Ticnica Superior de Arquitecrura, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, Avida Juan de Herrera 4, 28040 Madrid, Spain Email: shuerta@aq.upm.es . Received 3 April 2006; accepted 20 May 2006.)

A full-scale model of the the living quarters in which Gaudi spent most of his later years during the construction of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.

BIRTHPLACE OF GAUDI

On a small, side street a few minutes walk from the central square is this otherwise typical facade of a 19th century, multi-story Spanish townhouse. It is, in fact, the birthplace of Gaudi and currently, a private residence. The door-height weathering steel plaque is neatly done, although one wonders what the actual entry looks like given that this installation essentially destroys or at least covers half of it.

LA RUTA DEL MODERNISME

(Modernisme Route)

In part of their bid as a niche tourist attraction, Reus has put together two walks through the city center. One takes you past buildings extant at the time of Gaudi and that he might have used and visited; the other takes you past a number of buildings designed at the turn of the last century in the Modernisme style. This latter route - La Ruta del Modernisme - is extraordinary from an architectural standpoint. It starts with the Casa Navàs shown above and winds through the city for blocks with 29 identified structures.

These seem to be singled out mainly because of their high state of conservation/ preservation. Interspersed among these are even more buildings from the same period that equally reflect this artistic movement. These latter buildings are in a state of disrepair and/or are not totally "pure" because they have renovations or additions that can detract from the overall design. Conserved or not, all of these building are in my mind, equally interesting.

Modernisme, also known as Catalan modernism, is the historiographic denomination given to an art and literature movement. Its main form of expression was in architecture, but many other arts were involved (painting, sculpture, etc.), and especially the design and the decorative arts (cabinetmaking, carpentry, forged iron, ceramic tiles, ceramics, glass-making, silver and goldsmith work, etc.), which were particularly important, especially in their role as support to architecture… (The movement) was centered in Catalonia and Barcelona which were intensifying their local characteristics for socio-ideological reasons after the revival of Catalan culture and in the context of spectacular urban and industrial development.

(Wikipedia)

The movement closely paralleled artistic developments in France and Belgium (Art Nouveau); Germany (Jugendstil); Austria (Sezession); Italy (Liberty style); Scotland (Modern or Glasgow Style). It certainly also was inspired by the English Arts and Crafts movement. All of these architectural currents eventually found their way to the United States. The time period is a twenty- to twenty-five-year period roughly from the late-1880s to the mid-1910s.

It is estimated that there were more than 100 architects who made buildings of the Modernisme (Catalan)/Modernista (Castilian) style in Spain, three of whom are particularly well known internationally for their outstanding buildings: Antoni Gaudi, Lluis Domenech i Montaner, and Josep Puig i Cadafalch. Gaudi lived and designed in a world of (primarily religious) fantasy that is hard to comprehend by others and almost impossible to re-create with any degree of originality. Cadafalch, aside from being an architect, was also a politician and historian. His work centered mostly on restoration of older buildings in the Neo-Gothic style.

Domenech was the most mainstream of the three and thus was able to create a genuine “alternative architecture”: the nucleus of the modern, international style. Continuing in a tradition inspired from the French architectural theorist and builder, Viollet-le-Duc, his work is said to be characterized by a mix of constructive rationalism and ornaments inspired by Hispano-Arab architecture. (From my "Spanish Cities" blog on Barcelona, Spain.)

In Reus, again, the Casa Navas is his, along with the Casa Rull, the Casa Gasull, and the Institut Pere Mata. I actually think that a case could made that Reus is important not as the birthplace of Gaudi, but as a major repository of the work of Domenech.

Glimpses of Buildings along the Moderisme Route

Escoles Prat de la Riba

(Prat de la Riba [Infant and Primary] School)

Pere Caselles i Tarrats, Municipal Archtiect,1911

CASA GASULL AND CASA RULL

Casa Gasull

Lluis Domenech i Montaner, 1911

Casa Rull

Lluis Domenech i Montaner, 1901

INSTITUT PERE MATA

Lluis Domenech i Montaner, Architect

1897-1912

This is a working Psychiatric Hospital located on a fairly isolated hillside site on the outskirts of the city. It is the model for his more famous Hospital Sant Pau in Barcelona, a UNESCO World Heritage site completed by his son in 1930. (For more background, again, see the blog entry for Barcelona.)

Both facilities utilize a pavilion scheme of low-rise buildings spread out over the landscape. All are highly ornamented in the spirit of the era in which they were designed and built. At Pere Mata only one (non-resident) pavilion is open to the public and only for limited times.

WARNING: Regardless of prior knowledge about which pavilion is available for touring and despite any unlocked and open doors, DO NOT attempt to enter other than during the stated hours: Sirens, activated by hidden motion detectors, will sound. Sirens that are loud enough to be heard throughout the site. Sirens that might be loud enough to be heard over the entire hillside. The fact that security guards do not respond to the alert is indeed odd - very odd actually - but it does allow for a organized, albeit double-step retreat while trying to grab one interior photograph. However, beware, any friends you have dragged along to accompany you on this architectural quest might not be overly amused.

PLAZA PRIM

Juan Prim y Prats, Count of Reus, Marquis of the Castillejos and Viscount of Bruch, was born in Reus in 1814 and died in Madrid in 1870. He was a military leader and a liberal politician who became President of the Spanish Council of Ministers. After the Revolution of 1868 he became one of the most influential men in Spain, helping to enthrone the House of Savoy in the person of Amadeo I. The Plaza Prim, one of Reus' main public squares, honors his achievements.

The requisite monument to Prim.

PLACA DE LES PEIXATERIES VELLES

(Plaza of the Old Fish Market)

THE GIANTS OF REUS

This large statue stands alone, fairly forlorn, against a backdrop of equally forlorn government buildings. The best I can determine is that the statue celebrates the "Giants of Reus," a part of the Feste Mayor de Reus (the Summer Festival of Reus), also known as the Festival of Saint Peter. The below photograph shows a similar "Giant" on the extreme left. The festival has been celebrated since the founding of Reus on Saint Peter's day, the 29th of June. It is also is linked to the summer solstice and associated festivals across the Baix Camp around the same time.

(Photo by others.)

IGLESIA PRIORAL DE SANT PERE DE REUS

(Prioral Church of Saint Pedro)
1512-1601

Plaza del Castillo (Castle Square)

To the side of church a classic nude figure that, except for its somewhat out-of-the-ordinary specific location, would otherwise be of comment only for its fine artistic qualities.