They appeared in our city at the end of the 19th century, coinciding with the arrival of electricity and the expansion of Eixample. Elevators, this invention that during the first years was a luxury item, a symbol of the power and prestige of its owners, represented an architectural revolution: from the ground floor to the attic!
The most distinguished residential buildings on Passeig de Gràcia included it in their program, although the most valued floor continued to be the ground floor. Pere Milá and Roser Segimón lived in the main floor of La Pedrera, which could be accessed by elevator or, better yet, through the two wide and elegant stairs that started from the entrance hall and were for the exclusive use of the family. The elevators were normally used by their tenants.
The cabins of these elevators, built by the Casas carpentry workshop
Of course, the elevators were only designed to go up, the doors did not have handles on the landing side and, to go down, you had to use the stairs. They were also not prepared to reach the attic, since this floor was intended for service.
They were other times and other priorities. As an example, the apartments at Casa Lleó Morera (Paseo de Gràcia, 35) did not have a kitchen because, to avoid bad odors, the service cooked in the basement and the food was brought up via a forklift that connected to the office. of the different plants. The elevator in this building was, however, a demonstration of the social level of its owners, a jewel that, surprisingly, still works.
Installed by the company Ing. Cardellach, the cabin is made of noble wood, has sliding doors and is protected by a glass box, in whose ornamentation the trusted craftsmen of Domènech i Montaner collaborated, providing laborious work in wood and wrought iron, leaded stained glass windows. , glass doors with gold sgraffito and bronze button panels.
In this same block, the textile industrialist Ramón Mulleras commissioned the architect Enric Sagnier to rehabilitate his house (Paseo de Gràcia, 37). The year was 1906 and the addition of the elevator was considered essential to give the property the necessary pedigree. Curiously, this elevator with a wooden box covered by a metal mesh structure in the style of the time was not liked by its last owner, the writer Mercedes Salisachs, who had a more modern one built for exclusive use for her home in the low level. Today the two elevators coexist.
The hydraulic only reaches the main floor, and the one from 1906, adapted by Ascensors Camprubí to current comfort and safety needs, accesses the rest of the floors, including the attic, where it did not reach before because the doorman and the service lived.
This company also undertook the rehabilitation of the Casa Marfá elevator (Paseo de Gràcia, 66), original from 1904. The cabin was restored, the metal mesh doors were automated and the wooden guides were replaced with iron guides. achieving a much quieter and more comfortable slide. "Each elevator from this era is unique and requires personalized solutions - says Joan Camprubí - the City Council now proposes subsidizing the restoration of the cabins from the beginning of the last century, but the most expensive thing is to mechanically rehabilitate their operation."
