ABSTRACT
Architect, Catalonia Josep Puig i Cadafalch was one of the leading architects of the modernisme movement
that flourished in the Spanish region of Catalonia during the first decades of the 20th century. In many ways, Puig moved elegantly between the organic extravagance of modernisme and the ordered geometry of novecentismo. This was in part because of the fact that he was much younger than Antoni Gaudi i Cornet and Lluis Domènech i Montaner, the leading architects of the first movement, and somewhat older than the next generation. Puig drew inspiration from 15th-century Catalan Gothic architecture, a style that was decidedly different from classic High Gothic. Despite his almost religious zeal for regional historical traditions, he also looked outside Spain for inspiration. Puig traveled widely throughout Europe, especially Germany and Austria, and wrote approvingly of the work of Henry-Clement Van de Velde, Josef Maria Olbrich, and Otto Wagner. He particularly admired Olbrich’s designs for buildings at the Darmstadt artist’s colony. The English Arts and Crafts also had an enormous effect on his architectural style.
