Reus was for almost a hundred years the second most important city in Catalonia. Modernism exploded in the houses of their bourgeois families, enriched thanks to a brilliant commercial activity. They wanted and could show off and architecture was their great showcase. One of the references, Lluís Domènech i Montaner (Barcelona, 1850-1923), Gaudí's teacher, architect of one of the most well-preserved modernist houses in Europe, the captivating Casa Navàs (1901), in the central Plaza Mercadal.
The centenary of the death of the iconic architect has been the trigger for a party that this weekend has become a double day of historical recreation. Reus woke up yesterday as a glittering modernist city, with neighbors in period costumes and an avalanche of activities designed to travel back in time.
“The modernist era was very important for the city of Reus, they were its most glorious years, we want to vindicate them”, highlights Sílvia Sagalà, director of Casa Navàs. As epicenters of this collective party, the jewel in the crown of modernism in Reus and Plaza Mercadal, the heart of the city, which can be enjoyed from the windows of the house.
The property, a must-see, has preserved its interior, including the furniture and all kinds of details, such as the spectacular windows, tapestries and mosaics, just as they were more than 120 years ago. “It is the only modernist building in Europe that has preserved its original interior”, highlights its director.
To reinforce this exercise in historical transfiguration, Casa Navàs and the Reus City Council, promoters of the idea, called on the residents to dress up in period clothing. To do so rigorously, a protocol has even been edited, a modernist dress code. Amazing results.
Among the thirty programmed proposals and fifty planned activities, the recreation of a workers' strike day; the work of stonecutters (stonecutters) or absinthe makers; also a weapons workshop, with duels to the death.
Plaza Mercadal presents a different aspect, with concealed contemporary architectural elements and others recreated to give more realism to the modernist journey. Historical accuracy.
Among the hundreds of recreated characters, bourgeois, merchants or proletarians, with historical figures from that proud Reus, such as the family that owns Casa Navàs, the Navàs Blascos, their renowned cook, the maids or Domènech i Montaner himself. The architect was commissioned to make a unique house and a blank check.
Reus celebrates the Domènech i Montaner year this 2023 together with Barcelona and Canet de Mar, which concentrate 90% of its architectural work. Reus 1900, festa modernistanace, however, with a desire for continuity. If all goes well, it will be repeated every year, its organizers convinced that the enormous effort will have been worth it.
Entering Casa Navàs this weekend, reopened in 2019 after many years of ostracism, is a unique opportunity to imagine what life was like between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. And do it among the bustle of the kitchen, incredibly well preserved, reliving the leisure of the lords or the ungrateful life of their servants. The festival also claims the Institut Pere Mata and Casa Gasull, also works by Domènech i Montaner.
