© Casa Vicens, Barcelona 2017. Photo by: Pol Viladoms
 
Casa Vicens, the first house designed by Antoni Gaudí, can be visited for the first time after remaining a private residence for more than 130 years. It is the last World Heritage Site building to open to the public in the city of Barcelona, and it will officially open in the autumn of 2017.
Casa Vicens will thus complete the list of eight buildings in Barcelona that UNESCO has declared to be of cultural interest for the entire international community, along with the Sagrada Família, Casa Batlló, La Pedrera, Park Güell, Palau Güell, the Palau de la Música and Hospital Sant Pau.
 

© Casa Vicens, Barcelona 2017. Photo by: Pol Viladoms
 
Casa Vicens was built as a summer home between 1883 and 1885 i; it was designed by the 31-year-old Gaudí for Manel Vicens i Montaner (1836-1895), a broker-dealer.  

© Casa Vicens, Barcelona 2017. Photo by: Pol Viladoms
 
In addition to being one of the starting points of Gaudí?s career, the architect created an innovative, original work in Casa Vicens which is different to anything that had been built in Catalonia before it. Casa Vicens thus became one of the first examples of the aesthetic renewal of art and architecture which was taking place all around Europe in the late 19th century.
 

© Casa Vicens, Barcelona 2017. Photo by: Pol Viladoms
 
Over its 130 years of history, Casa Vicens has solely been used as a residence...