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CasaCasa Manuel Arnús, "El Pinar." Photo by Bob Masters courtesy of Generalitat de Catalunya (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 ES).
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Casa Pasqual i Pons, photo by Bob Masters courtesy of Generalitat de Catalunya (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 ES).
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Aerial view of the Expiatory Temple of the Sacred Heart on Tibidabo, photo courtesy of Ajuntament de Barcelona (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
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Torre Salvador Andreu on Avinguda del Tibidabo, photo by Castellbo (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons.
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Casa Garriga Nogués, photo by Enfo (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Wikimedia Commons.
Catalan architect Enric Sagnier i Villavecchia was a contemporary of some of the most important names of the era, such as Antoni Gaudí, Lluís Domènech i Montaner, and Josep Puig i Cadafalch. In fact, he was much more prolific than many of his famous peers—he constructed more buildings than any of them, with a grand total of 380 works attributed to him. He left an indelible mark on the landscape of Barcelona and beyond, yet Enric Sagnier i Villavecchia isn’t a household name.
It’s possible that it’s precisely because he was so prolific, and because he didn’t specialize in any one specific aesthetic style, that his buildings aren’t as readily identifiable as those of, for example, Gaudí. Sagnier designed structures that ranged from modernista to neo-baroque and neo-Gothic, and was constantly adapting what he did to changing times and tastes.
Enric Sagnier i Villavecchia.
Early Life and Career Beginnings
Enric Sagnier i Villavecchia was born in Barcelona in 1858; he was the son of the then-president of the Caixa d’Estalvis i Mont de Pietat de Barcelona bank, Luis Sangier i Nadal, and his wife Clementina Villavecchia Busquets. He was encouraged to pursue his passions by his parents; at a young age was already a talented pianist and violinist, and studied painting and drawing. His artistic interests gradually led him to architecture. Sagnier graduated from the Barcelona Higher School of Architecture in 1882. He later worked as an assistant professor to noted architect Francisco de Paula Villar y Lozano at the school, who would become his mentor.
It was under the supervision of Villar that Sangnier took on his first professional project in 1884: the refurbishment of the chapel of Sant Josep in the Santa Maria de Montserrat abbey. Two years later, he received his first important solo commissions; Casa Cuyàs, an apartment complex, and the Church of Sant Engràcia de Montcada, both in 1886. Sadly, the church was destroyed during the Spanish Civil War, as were many pre-war buildings of historical importance.
Sagnier started receiving a number of important commissions from both the Catalan upper class and the Catholic Church. Also in 1886, he and fellow architect Josep Domènech i Estapa were tasked with the massive project of the building for the Palau de Justícia, (the higher law courts).
He married Dolors Vidal i Torrents that same year; they would have six children, five of whom survived to adulthood. Sagnier became known for his ability to multitask, often working on multiple projects at once.
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Palau de la Justicia, photo by Ignacio Gallego (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) via Flickr.
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Palau de Justícia, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
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Palau de Justícia, Barcelona, photo by Bob Masters courtesy of Generalitat de Catalunya (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 ES).
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Palau de Justícia, Barcelona, photo by Bob Masters courtesy of Generalitat de Catalunya (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 ES).
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A postcard of the Reial Club Marítim de Barcelona. It was demolished in 1957 when the port was expanded.
Evolution of Style
Sagnier’s work can be divided into three periods: before 1900, his designs were seen as imposing and extravagant. In 1900 he became the President of the Association of Architects, now the current College of Architects of Catalunya.
Between 1900 and 1910, his style became more subdued, and turned more towards the trends of the time. However, his version or interpretation of the modernista style was less ornate and more functional than some of the lavishly decorated works being built around the same time.
From 1910 through the end of his career, his work continued to simplify, turning towards a more classical influence. In 1911, for example, Sagnier won a competition to design the Reial Club Marítim in Barcelona; the octagonal building topped by a structure intended to represent a lighthouse is an example of the eclectic style that would mark his work from then on.
He was known for adapting techniques and materials used in the past to suit the more modern needs of construction, as well as for being willing to incorporate new materials, such as reinforced concrete. His tendency to adapt to his clients’ tastes and to architectural trends in the expanding city meant that he was in high demand with the Barcelona nobility and upper-middle class. His combination of new technology and classic aesthetics resulted in architectural innovations that permitted him a great deal of flexibility when it came to marrying beauty and practicality.
Nova Duana (New Customs House), photo by Bob Masters courtesy of Generalitat de Catalunya (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 ES).
Sagnier’s career would last for five decades. During this time, he created important public buildings such as the Nova Duana (New Customs House) in 1896; located at Passeig de Josep Carner, 29, the H-shaped plan allows goods to enter and leave via opposite doors. That work was accomplished in tandem with fellow architect Pedro García Feria; the imposing sculptures of eagles and griffins were created by sculptor Eusebi Arnau.
But he also built a number of schools, squares, apartment buildings and single-family homes of a variety of styles. For example, Casa Arnús was built at Plaza del Doctor Andreu and Calle Manuel Arnús in 1900 for Dr. Manuel Arnús i Fortuny. With its octagonal tower, courtyard and cross-shaped layout, the imposing Rococo-influenced building resembles a castle more than it does a traditional home.
Other notable houses and apartment buildings designed by Sagnier included Casa Pascual i Pons (Passeig de Gràcia, 2-4), with its two neo-Gothic towers; Casa Juncadella (Rambla Catalunya, 33), notable for its intricate wrought iron decoration; the neo-Classical Tomàs Roger house (Carrer de Ausias Marc, 37-39); Casa Carulla (Carrer de Mallorca, 214) with its Rococo architectural influences and painted façade; the distinctly modernista Casa Garriga Nogués (Carrer de la Diputació, 250) with its stained glass and sculptures; many other residences for the Catalan aristocracy. He also built his own family home, the Casa Dolors Vidal de Sagnier. From 1892 through 1894, it was their home as well as the architect’s studio. Today, it houses the Casa Sagnier Hotel.
Sagnier was also called upon to design the family tombs for several of his clients, including the Juncadella and Olivella families.
Caixa de Pensions building on Via Laietana. Photo by Mariona Gil courtesy of Ajuntament de Barcelona (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
Modernisme and Beyond
The beginning of the 20th century brought with it a trend towards applied arts, such as ceramics, ironwork, stained glass and sculpture; Sagnier was drawn to experiment with these methods, as were his peers. It was at this time that he started building recognizably modernista buildings, including one of his most notable buildings: the lavish Caixa de Pensions building on Via Laietana.
However, the Caixa de Pensions wasn’t the only building he built for the bank: when they outgrew their original offices, he was commissioned to build an annex a block away, as well as various Caixa offices in cities around Catalunya, including Tarragona, Sabadell, and other cities.
However, the most important commission Sagnier would receive in his lifetime would not be built in the modernista style: the church on top of the Tibidabo hill, or the Expiatory Temple of the Sacred Heart, which was commissioned by the Catholic Salesians. Its construction began in 1902 and took 60 years in total—it was completed after Sagnier’s death in 1961 by his son, Josep Maria Sagnier i Vidal. The land on which it was built had been donated in 1886 by Dorotea de Chopitea along with other patrons, who donated land to Saint John Bosco, the founder of the Salesian order. The church’s design was inspired by the Sacre Coeur in Paris, and a church dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, built in Rome by Bosco.
Expiatory Temple of the Sacred Heart. Photo by Vicente Zambrano González courtesy of Ajuntament de Barcelona (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
The Tibidabo church mixes neo-Romanesque and Gothic styles, and is simpler than many of Sagnier’s designs from that period. The original statue that topped the church was destroyed during the Spanish Civil War; the replacement was made by painter and sculptor Josep Miret Aleu in 1950.
Sagnier was deeply religious and had close ties to the Catholic Church throughout his life; in fact, early in his career he was tasked with the construction of the pavilion that was to represent the Papal States at the Universal Exposition of 1888; however, for unknown reasons the pavilion was never built. He did several projects on the grounds of the Monastery of Montserrat, following in the footsteps of his mentor Villar.
His ties to the Benedictines would later serve to expand the geographical scope of his work in interesting ways: he built a school and neo-Gothic church for a Catalan Benedictine mission called New Norcia in Perth, Australia, in 1904. Today, the legacy of that mission lives on, as New Norcia is Australia’s only monastic town.
The Ribas Orphanage, photo by Bob Masters courtesy of Generalitat de Catalunya (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 ES).
Sagnier also designed and worked on many other churches and religious institutions throughout his career, especially for the Salesians. They commissioned a number of works, including the Sanctuary of Santa Maria Auxiliadora. Their trust in him was so great that Sagnier was eventually appointed the Diocesan architect of Barcelona, and in 1923 Pope Pius XI made him a Marquis in thanks for his work for the Church, and specifically on the church of Our Lady of Pompeii Barcelona.
Throughout the era of World War I—which represented a period of economic stability for Spain, as it remained neutral during the conflict—until the Spanish Civil War, Sagnier received a number of commissions, including the Basilica of Sant Josep Oriol in Eixample, as well as a complex for the Junta Provincial de Protecció a la Infància i Repressió de la Mendicitat, or the Provincial Board for the Protection of Children and the Suppression of Begging. This massive project, spanning from 1916 to 1936, took up an entire city block in the Bogatell neighborhood, and included courtyards and housing facilities. Unfortunately, everything except for the building containing the prison was torn down in 1970.
He also designed other schools as well as orphanages, most notably the Patronato Ribas orphanage in Vall d’Hebron in 1920 (now the IES Vall d’Hebron School), a complicated collection of buildings arranged symmetrically around the axis of the central chapel.
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Our Lady of Pompeii Barcelona, photo by Bob Masters courtesy of Generalitat de Catalunya (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 ES).
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Our Lady of Pompeii Barcelona, photo by Bob Masters courtesy of Generalitat de Catalunya (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 ES).
Community and Legacy
His involvement in his community wasn’t only limited to architecture, however; Sagnier was also a respected member of society. He was a founding member of the Cercle Artístic de Sant Lluc, an organization of Catholic artists that still exist today, for which he also designed the emblem. He was a member of the Reial Acadèmia de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi; he also became a member of the local Board of Museums and the board of the Caixa d’Estalvis de Barcelona.
He was a member of the jury who decided which projects would form a part of the 1929 Barcelona International Exhibition on Montjuïc, including the design for the Central Palace of the Expo, which today is the iconic MNAC museum. Leading up to the Expo, he was also in charge of refurbishing the Archbishop’s Palace as well as designing the Iberian-American Pavilion for the event.
He was even involved in politics, serving as a provincial deputy twice during the first decade of the 20th century, representing a Catholic group called the Centre de Defensa Social, who were supporters of the Catalan Lliga Regionalista.
Capilla de la Dolorosa on Montserrat. Photo by Harvey Barrison (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) via Flickr.
Sagnier’s enormous contribution to the city was recognized by the Barcelona City Council in various ways: it gave him the gold medal of the city in 1921, after he’d won the city-wide competition for best building three times in a row. The City Council also created the Sagnier Route: as the name implies, it’s an official guide to many of his most notable constructions around the city. It begins at Passeig de Gràcia, 2 at the neo-Gothic Pons house, currently owned by the Catalana Occidente insurance company, and takes you on a tour around some of the architect’s most interesting buildings in Barcelona.
There have been two books published chronicling his works; the first is simply called Sagnier, Arquitecto (2007), with photos by the renowned interior design photographer Candida Höfer, edited by Antonio Sagnier and directed by Pepa Reverter and Ramón Úbeda. The other is called Sagnier and the Modernists (2021), written by journalist Lluís Permanyer with photos by Marcela Grassi. This volume was also edited by Antonio Sagnier and directed by Ramón Úbeda, this time with the help of Fernando Villavecchia.
Even though his name may not be recognizable to the average tourist, his work remains a source of fascination to historians and architecture students around the world.