Among the relevant modernist buildings, the Comalat house goes somewhat unnoticed. And I’m not referring to the main façade, but to the rear one. It is unfair.
The architect Salvador Valeri i Pupurull (1873-1954) fully agreed with the spectacular and stimulating phenomenon that modernism represented in almost all aspects, including sociological ones. For reasons that escape me, he carried out fewer works than could be expected from his level and creative originality. The set of projects is more numerous in the provinces. The diminished work in Barcelona also diminished due to the demolitions, such as that of Camèlies Street, at numbers 5 and 7, which suffered the relentless action of the pickaxe.
In addition to the aforementioned Joan Comalat house, the Sant Jordi tower, in Sant Eudald, 11, and the Maria Roser Cortés house, in Bisbe Català, 8, are still standing, which has suffered mutilation on the main floor. It’s a shame that both are located too far from the center of life.
The Comalat house enjoys a spectacular presence in a still solemn sector of Diagonal. On the façade, the volume of the tribune stands out, but above all the complex scenic finish that gave rise to misguided adjectives: “quatre barres” (there are five) and “house of the Ball”, instead of alluding to the bicorn despite being enormous. .
The most spectacular, creative, original and avant-garde aspect is, however, the rear façade, which in no way should be considered secondary. Everything about her surprises and dazzles.
Valeri did not resort to the traditional emblem of that style, coup de fouet, the flat, ornamental lash, but to the structural and three-dimensional undulation. The entire façade becomes a gigantic soft, Mediterranean wave, based on blinds framed in fine carpentry. This set is enriched by the ups and downs that each tenant adds at will, a movement that offers unpredictable variations. The use of ceramics and stained glass provides touches of unique chromaticism.
The ground floor takes advantage of the stone to offer an unexpected lesson in pointillism, a technique in which only the painter Pidelaserra stood out at the time.
And another originality: they don’t look for the back entrance, unlike the neighboring Palacio Quadras, de Puig and Cadafalch.
