Reus was for almost a hundred years the second most important city in Catalonia. Modernism exploded in the homes of bourgeois families, enriched by brilliant commercial activity. They wanted and could brag and the architecture was a great showcase. One of the references, LluÃs Domènech i Montaner (Barcelona, ​​1850-1923), master of GaudÃ, architect of one of the best-preserved modernist houses in Europe, the enchanting Casa Navà s (1901), in the central Plaça Mercadal.
The centenary of the death of the iconic architect has been the trigger for a party turned this weekend into a double day of historical recreation. Reus woke up yesterday as a glittering modernist city, with residents dressed in period clothes 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 reclaim them”, emphasizes SÃlvia Sagalà , director of Casa Navà s. As the epicenters of this collective party, the jewel in the crown of modernism in Reus and Plaça Mercadal, heart of the city, which can be enjoyed from the windows of the house.
The property, a must-see, has preserved the interior, including the furniture and all kinds of details, such as the spectacular stained-glass windows, tapestries and mosaics, just as it was more than 120 years ago. “It is the only modernist building in Europe that has preserved its original interior”, emphasizes the director.
To reinforce this exercise of historical transfiguration, Casa Navàs and Reus City Council, promoters of the idea, appealed to residents to dress in period clothing. To do this rigorously, a protocol has even been edited, a modernist dress code. Amazing results.
Among the thirty programmed proposals and the fifty devised activities, the recreation of a workers’ strike day; the work of stonemasons or absinthe makers; also a weapons workshop, with duels to the death.
Plaça Mercadal presents a different aspect, with hidden contemporary architectural elements and others recreated to give more realism to the modernist journey. Historical rigor.
Among the hundred characters recreated are bourgeois, merchants or proletarians, and historical figures of that proud Reus, such as the family that owns Casa Navà s, the Navàs Blasco gentlemen, their prestigious cook, the maids or Domènech i Montaner himself . The architect was commissioned to make a unique house and a blank check.
Reus celebrates the Year of Domènech i Montaner this 2023 together with Barcelona and Canet de Mar, which concentrate 90% of its architectural work. Reus 1900, a modernist party, was born, however, with a desire for continuity. If all goes well, it will be repeated every year, the 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. The traffic of the kitchen, incredibly well preserved, the leisure of the lords or the thankless life of the servants. The festival also claims the Pere Mata Institute, with the incredible Pavilion of the Distinguished, or the Casa Gasull, also works by Domènech i Montaner.
