Palau del Baró de Quadras

The Baró de Quadras Palace is a Modernist building located at the intersection of Avenida Diagonal and Calle Rosselló. It was constructed between 1904 and 1906 by Josep Puig i Cadafalch, the mastermind behind the Casa de les Punxes, Casa Amatller, and many other notable works. One of the more unique aspects of this building its daring mix of styles. When observed from Avenida Diagonal, it seems like an homage to the Gothic palaces of northern Europe, with a Neo-Plateresque style highlighting the structure’s noble character with busts of medieval personages, flowers, and heraldic coasts of arms that immediately bring to mind classic European styles.

But, when observed from Calle Rosselló, the structure seems almost like a Modernist multi-story building. While from the exterior it may look like two different properties, the interior features an eclectic style that itself encapsulates a wide array of artistic and architectural styles. Its striking features include a grand staircase, wrought iron door, Neo-Arabesque tile mosaics, silk-screens, and polychrome wood.

This innovative symbiosis of styles is the result of Puig i Cadafalch’s efforts to update an older building, under the commission of the Barón de Quadras. While the building’s main entrance was originally on Calle Rosselló, the mounting importance of Avenida Diagonal as one of the city’s principal boulevards and promenades for the city’s bourgeois class drove Puig i Cadafalch to reorient the structure towards the burgeoning avenue. That’s why today we can admire a particularly distinctive façade, inspired by the Gothic styles of northern Europe.

The construction of the Palau del Baró de Quadras took place during one of the architect’s most prolific periods, in which he also completed Casa Amatller, Palau Macaya, Palau Serra, Casa de les Punxes, and the Casaramona factory. It’s also perfectly placed in the “Quadrat d'Or,” the part of the Eixample neighborhood that’s home to the vast majority of the city’s Modernist masterpieces: La Pedrera, Casa Batlló, Casa Calvet and Casa Lleó Morera, architectural gems commissioned, respectively, to Antoni Gaudí, Lluís Domènech i Montaner and, of course, Puig i Cadafalch, the great masters of Catalonian architecture, whose legacy has left an indelible and beloved mark on our city.