Gaudí House Museum facts for kids
View of the Gaudí House Museum from the Park Güell
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| Established | 28 September 1963 |
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| Location | Park Güell, Barcelona, Spain |
| Type | historic home museum |
The Gaudí House Museum (also known as Casa Museu Gaudí in Catalan) is a special museum in Park Güell, Barcelona. It's a historic home that used to belong to the famous Spanish architect, Antoni Gaudí.
This museum shows off a collection of furniture and other items that Gaudí designed himself. Gaudí lived in this house for nearly 20 years, from 1906 until late 1925. It first opened its doors as a museum on September 28, 1963.
Contents
History of the House
At the end of the 1800s, a wealthy businessman named Eusebi Güell i Bacigalupi had an idea. He wanted to build a "garden city" in Barcelona. This city would have many houses with gardens for rich families.
Building the Garden City
Güell bought a large piece of land in 1899. He asked Antoni Gaudí to design this new city. The plan was to build sixty houses, each with its own garden. It would also have all the services people needed.
Work on the project started, but it stopped in 1914. The full garden city was never finished. Only two of the planned houses were actually built. One was for a doctor named Trias i Domènech. The other is what we now call the Gaudí House Museum.
Gaudí's Home
This second house was meant to attract people to buy land in the new development. It was built between 1903 and 1905. The architect who designed it was Francesc Berenguer i Mestres. However, no one wanted to buy the house.
In 1906, Gaudí decided to buy the house himself. He moved in with his father and his niece. His father passed away that same year. His niece died in 1912. After that, Gaudí lived alone in the house.
He stayed there until late 1925. A few months before he died in 1926, Gaudí moved to the workshop at the Sagrada Família Basilica.
From Home to Museum
In his will, Gaudí gave the house to the Sagrada Família Foundation. They later sold it to a couple named Chiappo Arietti.
In 1960, a group called the "Friends of Gaudí" started a campaign. They wanted to buy the house from the Chiappo Arietti family. Their goal was to turn it into a museum. Three years later, in 1963, it opened as the Gaudí House Museum.
Josep Maria Garrut was the chairman of the museum from its opening until he passed away in 2008. In 1992, the house was given back to the Sagrada Família Foundation.
Exploring the Building
The Gaudí House Museum has four floors. You can visit the ground floor and the first floor. These floors show off the museum's collection.
The basement is not open to the public. The second floor holds the Enric Casanelles Library. You can visit the library if you get special permission beforehand.
What You Can See Inside
When you visit, you'll see rooms like Gaudí's bedroom and his study. You'll also find some of his personal belongings. These items help you imagine what it was like when Gaudí lived there.
The museum also has a large collection of furniture designed by Gaudí. This furniture was made for some of his most famous buildings, like Casa Batlló, Casa Calvet, Casa Milà, Casa Vicens, and the Colònia Güell's crypt.
In the garden, you can see beautiful wrought iron pieces that Gaudí also designed. These are some of the most valuable items in the museum. The collection also includes furniture, sculptures, paintings, and drawings by Gaudí's friends and co-workers. These are displayed in different rooms throughout the museum.
See also
- List of single-artist museums
