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Chalet of Catllaràs, Photo by Albert Monsalve courtesy of Generalitat de Catalunya Archive.
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Chalet of Catllaràs, Photo by Albert Monsalve courtesy of Generalitat de Catalunya Archive.
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Chalet of Catllaràs, Photo by Albert Monsalve courtesy of Generalitat de Catalunya Archive.
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Xalet del Catllaràs, La Pobla de Lillet, Berguedà photo by Angela Llop (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Flickr.
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Chalet de Catllaràs. Image from the private archive of Pere Boixader, collector.
In the early 1900s, Eusebi Güell founded the Asland cement factory in the town of Clot del Moro. The sprawling complex was the first Portland cement factory in all of Catalunya, which was significant because it ensured access to the most important ingredient in concrete, stucco, mortar, grout and other essential building materials during an industrial and building boom. The factory kilns were fueled by coal extracted from the Catllaràs mines, which were considerable distance away from where Güell’s workers would have to be housed: in the town of La Pobla de Lillet. Güell understood that the money invested in housing his employees closer to their work would come back to him a hundredfold in increased productivity.
A Different Vision for Industrial Housing
In the year 1902, the industrialist commissioned his favorite architect, Antoni Gaudí, to design housing for the cement factory engineers and mine workers. As with all of Gaudí’s designs, from cathedrals to lampposts, his idea was to combine structural function with aesthetic beauty, artistic innovation with human comfort. The structure he eventually came up with served as simple, economic housing for workers, while also offering unrestricted airflow thanks to ingeniously designed chimneys, and natural light due to its many small windows. In contrast, most industrial housing built across Europe during this era was dark, cramped, and designed with little thought spared for the health and well being of the people who would live there.
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Chalet of Catllaràs, Photo by Albert Monsalve courtesy of Generalitat de Catalunya Archive.
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Chalet of Catllaràs, Photo by Albert Monsalve courtesy of Generalitat de Catalunya Archive.
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In the 1980s, the local government renovated the building yet again, and in the process, stripped away the original masonry staircase, and many of the decorative elements that were part of Gaudí’s aesthetic signature.
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Chalet of Catllaràs, Photo by Albert Monsalve courtesy of Generalitat de Catalunya Archive.
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Gaudi in La Poble de Lillet in 1924.
The result was a white, parabola-shaped roof that extends all the way to the ground, and an external spiral staircase that offered easy access to all of the apartments. The rectangular floor plan was three stories high, covered by an interior catenary vault—one of Gaudí’s trademark design elements, which can be seen in everything from private homes to factories to the Sagrada Família—and an exterior pointed vault. The apartments all had interior partitions, offering privacy—except for the attic apartments on the third floor, which were smaller due to the upwards-tapering interior space. The ground floor also contained the kitchen and dining rooms. The white stucco and stone reflected the heat, the slanted roof-slash-walls deflected the rain, and the design allowed for comfortable, if simple, living.
While working on the building’s design and construction, Gaudí was a guest of the Artigas family, one of the wealthiest Catalan industrial families of that time. As a gift to thank the family for their hospitality over a period of several years, Gaudí designed a garden to be built on the land adjacent to the family’s estate in Vall de Lillet.
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Jardins Artigas, Image courtesy of Ajuntament de La Pobla de Lillet.
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Jardins Artigas, Image courtesy of Ajuntament de La Pobla de Lillet.
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Jardins Artigas, Image courtesy of Ajuntament de La Pobla de Lillet.
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Jardins Artigas, Image courtesy of Ajuntament de La Pobla de Lillet.
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Jardins Artigas, Image courtesy of Ajuntament de La Pobla de Lillet.
Fairytale Gardens
The Can Artigas Gardens look like something out of a fairytale, almost as if they grew out of the ground. Their stone arches and bridges appear almost to have formed from their surroundings, as the materials used to build the garden are local to the pre-Pyrenean mountain area where La Pobla de Lillet is located. Pumice, flagstone, river pebbles, sandstone, the sedimentary rock called “marl”—as well as Portland cement from the patron’s own factory—combine to create a harmony between the manmade elements of the garden with their natural setting. Wooden railings, murals, stone reliefs, mosaics, cement arches, and statues of saints and Biblical creatures overlook the natural fountains caused by the Llobregat River, which runs through the garden. A glorieta, or gazebo, is the highest point in the park, and offers a view of the paths below. The garden was designed to be a peaceful haven, a place to stroll and shelter from the heat.
The gardens’ construction took place between 1903 and 1905, right around the same time that Gaudí was also designing what would become one the crown jewels of his architectural legacy: Parc Güell. As a result, there are structural and stylistic similarities between the two sites that are impossible to overlook.
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Jardins Artigas, Image courtesy of Ajuntament de La Pobla de Lillet.
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Jardins Artigas, Image courtesy of Ajuntament de La Pobla de Lillet.
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Jardins Artigas, Image courtesy of Ajuntament de La Pobla de Lillet.
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Jardins Artigas, Image courtesy of Ajuntament de La Pobla de Lillet.
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Jardins Artigas, Image courtesy of Ajuntament de La Pobla de Lillet.
The Artigas family enjoyed these private gardens until they moved to Barcelona in the 1950s. The grounds fell into disuse until the early 1970s, when Gaudí’s connection to the site became public knowledge. For many years prior, the architect’s connection to the gardens was unknown, perhaps due to their being both privately owned and essentially abandoned.
Meanwhile, the Xalet had suffered a similar fate: in 1932, the Portland cement company donated the structure to the Pobla de Lillet Town Council town council, but the property was neglected for decades. It was temporarily remodeled as a vacation home in 1971, but was again abandoned. In the 1980s, the local government renovated the building yet again, but in the process, stripped away the original masonry staircase, and many of the decorative elements that were part of Gaudí’s aesthetic signature.
The Xalet and Gardens Today
Interest in both the gardens and the Xalet revived as Gaudí’s legacy became solidified as a part of Barcelona, Catalunya, and Spain’s global brand. In 1992, the Can Artigas Gardens were restored under the supervision of the Gaudí Chair, an institution founded to study, preserve and restore the architect’s built heritage; additional sculptures by Ramon Millet i Domènech were also installed on the garden grounds. Today, the park is registered as a Local Cultural Asset (BCIL) in the Inventory of Catalan Cultural Heritage and it is managed by the La Pobla de Lillet Tourist Office.
The gardens can be accessed for a nominal fee: €5.50 is the price of general admission, and various discounts are also available. The Xalet can currently only be viewed from the outside, and is awaiting further restoration. Both can be reached by car from the town of La Pobla de Lillet, though the Tourist Office recommends contacting them for information on the best recommended route for larger vehicles and tour buses.