Olivia Plaza

Casa Calvet (Calvet House), located at No. 48 Carrer de Casp in Barcelona, was erected between 1898 and 1900 for the Calvets, a family of textile industrialists. It was built with offices on the ground floor, though the space now hosts a restaurant. Gaudi's most conventional work, it received the Barcelona City Council Award in 1900. The edifice is the first built by Gaudi along the strictly codified lines of houses in the Eixample district. The stone facade with its bay windows and sculptural decoration as well as the vestibule, stairway, and elevator reflect baroque influences. The remainder shows a much more personal and functional solution in which the bay-windows form a visual continuity. The roof is topped with two pediments, each supporting a wrought iron cross, and are surrounded by various pieces of stone ornamentation as well as statues of St.-Gines and St.-Peter, patron saints of the Calvet home town of Vilasar de Mar.Casa Calvet features several smaller instances of fine workmanship. The furniture for the offices and the first floor was designed by Gaudi himself and is considered particularly noteworthy. Wrought iron is cleverly employed, especially in the form a door knocker where one raises a Greek cross to crush an insect. The building's interior boasts an incredible amount of detail and color as well.