{"id":437693,"date":"2026-02-21T09:46:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T09:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/437693\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T09:46:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T09:46:11","slug":"chalet-in-spanish-forest-is-confirmed-as-the-work-of-architect-gaudi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/437693\/","title":{"rendered":"Chalet in Spanish forest is confirmed as the work of architect Gaudi"},"content":{"rendered":"

HIDDEN in the Catalan woods, a mysterious chalet has finally been revealed as a Gaud\u00ed creation \u2013 more than a century after it was built.<\/p>\n

Spanish authorities have officially confirmed that Barcelona\u2019s emblematic architect designed the Xalet del Catllaras, a remote forest retreat in the Bergueda region, 125km north of the city.<\/p>\n

Built between 1901 and 1908, the three-storey modernist chalet housed engineers, many of them British, working at a cement factory owned by Gaud\u00ed\u2019s longtime patron, Eusebi Giell.<\/p>\n

Gaudi was long suspected to be behind the project, but even scholars had doubts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Bored in Barcelona? Why not check out one of Europe\u2019s largest photo exhibitions<\/a><\/p>\n

At the turn of the 20th century he was at the height of his career, overseeing Park Guell (1900\u20131914), Casa Batllo (1904\u20131906) and Casa Mila (1906\u20131912), raising questions over whether he could also have worked in such a remote location.<\/p>\n

\"\"Gaudi\u2019s Casa Battlo has the same hallmarks of Gaudi\u2019s naturalist style as Xalet del Catllaras<\/p>\n

Until now, there has been no definitive proof.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2023, a team of Gaudi specialists launched an investigation to finally settle the question. Researchers pored over 3D plans, historical documents and photographs, comparing them with confirmed works.<\/p>\n

They identified distinctive arches, vaults, complex geometric layouts and rooms set at 45-degree angles \u2013 techniques not adopted by his followers until years later.\u00a0<\/p>\n

READ MORE: What lies behind Spain\u2019s curious and ancient tradition of holding a funeral for a SARDINE during Carnaval?<\/a><\/p>\n

The building also incorporates plant and animal motifs echoing Park Guell and Casa Batllo, while anticipating his masterpiece, the Sagrada Fam\u00edlia, where columns were famously modelled on tree trunks.<\/p>\n

\"\"Parc Guell in Barcelona was constructed at the same time as Xalet del Catllaras<\/p>\n

Experts also believe they have solved the mystery of why Gaudi never claimed the chalet. He did not supervise its construction, and the finished building appears to have diverged from his original blueprint.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At the time, architects often withheld their signature from projects that strayed from their plans.<\/p>\n

The discovery comes in the centenary year of Gaudi\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

The architect died after being struck by a tram in Barcelona in 1926, and a series of commemorative events are planned this year to honour his legacy.<\/p>\n

Click here to read more La Cultura News<\/a> from The Olive Press.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HIDDEN in the Catalan woods, a mysterious chalet has finally been revealed as a Gaud\u00ed creation \u2013 more…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":437694,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,159500,1120,96,159501,159502,62876,28055,159503,62877,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-437693","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-casa-battlo","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-gaudi","15":"tag-new-discovery","16":"tag-news-spain","17":"tag-newspaper","18":"tag-parc-guell","19":"tag-the-olive-press","20":"tag-uk","21":"tag-united-kingdom","22":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=437693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437693\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/437694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=437693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=437693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=437693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}