Enric Sagnier
Although now not as well known as his contemporaries Antoni Gaudí, Lluís Domènech i Montaner and Josep Puig i Cadafalch, he was responsible for a number of landmark buildings, was very prolific, and could turn his hand to many styles, including neo-Gothic, neo-Baroque and Modernista.
He was occasionally involved in politics, serving as Provincial Deputy on two occasions, representing a Catholic group allied to the Lliga Regionalista, the Centre de Defensa Social.
As well as the new church of Montcada i Reixac and the Casa Cuyàs already mentioned, Sagnier's early works included a project for the Exposición Universal de Barcelona (1888), which was never built; this was the Leo XIII pavilion, which was to have housed the representation of the Papal States.
Between 1892 and 1897 he designed the Jesús-Maria school, in Passeig de Sant Gervasi, neo-Gothic in style, and between 1892 and 1894, the college of the Sacred heart of Jesus, at the corner of Diputació and Bailén, over a prior construction by Josep Vilaseca.
In the Clot district he built the Centro de Nuestra Señora del Carmen y San Pedro Claver (1899–1903), a complex housing schools and training workshops for young workers, which was destroyed in 1936.
In 1893 he built the Frontón Barcelonés, at Carrer Diputació 415, the first facility in Barcelona for playing Basque pelota; it was open to the sky, and the spectators sat in a three-storey iron structure, decorated with stuccos; this building disappeared in 1902.
One of the first of his works that could be described as Modernista was the Garriga house, at Diputació 250 (1899–1901), with its elegant use of sculpture, landscapes in stained glass by A. Rigalt and the brackets that support the main balcony by Eusebi Arnau.
Another of Sagnier's works on the Tibidabo from this period is the mansion for the banker Manuel Arnús (1902), which occupies a highly prominent site on a spur of the hillside and is visible from many parts of the city.
Other works from this period are the Mulleras house, at Gran Via 654 (1903–1905), in neo-Rococo style, and "La Pompeia", a church and monastery for the Capuchin order (1907–1915) at Diagonal, 450, so called because it is dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompeii.
In 1912 he began to build the French Chapel in Carrer Bruc, with a crypt divided into three aisles and an upper church in neo-Romanesque style, finished in 1927 probably by his son Josep Maria.
Also in 1912 he built the palatial residence of the marquis of Alella, on the corner of the streets of Muntaner and Marià Cubí, a group of buildings in a style influenced by Plateresque, with paintings by Josep Maria Sert.
The main facade, dominated by the tower and giving onto the corner of Via Laietana and what was then the Plaça de Bilbao, has the principal entrance doors on the ground floor, and above them the grand windows of the boardroom and the senior management offices, while entry to the rental apartments was from the frontages on the side-streets.
During the First World War, boom years in Spain as a result of its neutrality, Sagnier received many commissions: between 1915 and 1926 he executed the basilica of Sant Josep Oriol, in Carrer Diputació.
As part of the run-up to the Expo, Sagnier was commissioned to restore the Archbishop's Palace in Barcelona; the work consisted of modifying the interior courtyard, revealing an original Gothic window and Romanesque arcades, and constructing a new staircase.
Being a member of the Provincial Council he also designed the Spanish Provinces pavilion for the 1929 Expo, in Plateresque Gothic style, with an equestrian statue of Saint George by Josep Llimona.
