Casa Felip

Wrought iron, Carrara marble, stained glass, woodwork inlaid with gold leaf … the interior of the Casa Felip, currently the headquarters of the Fundació Vila Casas, is one of the finest, yet least well-known examples of the decorative arts of Catalonia's home-grown art nouveau movement, modernisme.

The house was built in 1905 for the Felip family to a design by the architect Telm Fernández i Janot, and reminds us of a Venetian palazzo, with its sinuous forms and flights of steps.

The Casa Felip stands on Carrer Ausiàs March and is a superb example of the way art nouveau conceived architecture as a total art form that embraced a wide range of disciplines and revived many time-honoured crafts, including wrought iron, stained glass and woodwork. The applied arts play a vital role in the interior of this house.

Divided into the basement, ground floor, three upper floors and roof terrace, the Casa Felip has a particularly striking façade with contrasting ornamental elements on its balconies. Other outstanding elements that make this house a veritable treasure trove are the impressive main staircase, the floral motifs in the hall, a reception room inspired by 18th-century French palaces, an imposing fireplace, by Lambert Escaler i Milà, inspired by artists such as Alphonse Mucha, and the real highlight: the stained-glass window by Antoni Bordalba.