They certify that Antoni Gaudí is the author of the Chalet del Catllaràs

BarcelonaThe Chalet del Catllaràs, in La Pobla de Lillet (Berguedà), has been attributed to Gaudí since the publication of an article by the architect Viladevall in the magazine Farmhouses and Skyscrapers in 1946. But there had never been conclusive documentation to justify its attribution. Until now, when the Department of Culture made public at the villa itself a report by Galdric Santana, director of the Gaudí Chair and curator of the Gaudí Year 2026. The villa was built by Count Güell at the time when Gaudí was working for him on the initial stages of construction of Park Güell and the church of the Güell Colony, and had already built the various elements of the Güell Estate and the Güell Palace. The attribution had always been based "on the visual and formal comparison of the villa with elements of Gaudí's work," as Santana states, who now argues for Gaudí's authorship through the geometric, structural, constructive, and compositional analysis of the villa. During the study, Santana worked with plans that establish comparisons with buildings by Gaudí himself and with 3D models. "“Today we celebrate news of enormous value to our cultural heritage,” said the Minister of Culture, Sònia Hernández, during the presentation of the study. “This case reminds us how essential scientific accreditation is to rigorously determine the authorship of works,” the Minister explained. “Today is a very important day for La Pobla; the municipality will finally see the authorship of our brilliant, universal architect recognized,” emphasized the Mayor of La Pobla de Lillet, Enric Pla. Despite the lack of any conclusive document, the villa is well-known and has been promoted for tourism as a work of Gaudí. In 2002, a restoration was completed that aimed to return it to its original appearance. At that time, the Gaudí Chair questioned whether Gaudí was the author. “It was built and modified by third parties, and its execution could have been carried out by other collaborators to oversee its construction remotely, so it is not a matter of Gaudí being the author.” "of a work claimed by Gaudí," says Santana, who doesn't entirely rule out that the architect of the chalet could be Gaudí's collaborator Juli Batllevell, whom the Civil Guard arrested at Parc Güell. But, whatever the case, this fact "would also imply Gaudí's participation in the project."

An evolved version of mountain refuges

The Chalet del Catllaràs was built to house the technicians and workers of the Asland factory that the architect was building. Rafael GuastavinoAs Santana says, it is "a larger-scale reinterpretation" of the Gothic mountain refuges built in the Pyrenees at the end of the 19th century. That is to say, the chalet has a rectangular floor plan, and the roof is a pointed vault that extends to the ground and also becomes the façade. While the windows, reminiscent of mansard roofs, are located on the two long façades, the short ones are windowless. Regarding the structural calculations, Gaudí's method of using funicular models is famous. He would hang small sacks filled with sand or lead shot on a chain until he achieved the desired shape. Then he simply had to invert the resulting shape to obtain the arch. "The use of the funicular, applied according to the loads of its own weight, and in accordance with the rational and functional use of the project, but also as the final formalization of the building, constitutes a technique that was then exclusive and pioneering for Gaudí during the first decade of the 20th century," says Santana. "This application of formal and structural sincerity also coincides with the use of the funicle in Bellesguard Tower "And in other buildings of his," he emphasizes. Furthermore, Santana points out that Gaudí was drawn to the philosophy of mountain refuges because they require "materials found in the immediate surroundings, for obvious reasons of construction logistics, and thus the building integrates naturally into the landscape." "In turn, the material has been subjected to the extreme conditions inherent to the refuge's location," he says.

The result of all this is a "very functional and compact space to optimize construction effort." Another reason Santana confirms Gaudí's authorship is another unique technique on the chalet's first floor: "The use of a 45º layout." Another reason Gaudí renounced authorship of the chalet, beyond his directing its construction, is that the structure he had designed was not respected: "Strictly speaking, in the Chalet del Catllaràs, the funicular was ultimately not used to support the floor slabs, even though the arch has the precise and unique shape to bear the load. The chalet's construction ended up transferring the load to the floors using beams placed longitudinally, supported by transverse load-bearing walls. This fact was surely the reason Gaudí distanced himself from the project, given such a significant conceptual alteration," says Santana. Finally, Santana makes new documentary contributions regarding the testimony of the architect Viladevall in attributing the chalet to Gaudí and confirms the attribution with the study of an adjacent funicular structure.

Gaudí, also the author of the Chalet del Moro?

Furthermore, Santana believes that Gaudí could also be the architect of another building in the complex, the Chalet del Clot del Moro. Eusebi Güell had it built as his personal residence, although it later housed the executives of the Asland company. Joan Bassegoda i Nonell attributed this chalet to the Manresa-born architect Ignasi Oms i Ponsa, although there are no conclusive documents to confirm this attribution either. Santana's hypothesis is that, like the Chalet del Catllaràs, this other building "was never fully executed according to its plans and, therefore, its construction was completed with significant alterations."