Casa Comalat: One House, Two Faces
Why is it significant?
Across the Diagonal, find a narrow stone façade that seems to ripple, with balconies whose iron railings curl like plants and a crown at the top that rises like a wave about to break. This is Casa Comalat, and if you like the front, wait until you hear about the back.
Key Facts
| Place | Casa Comalat: One House, Two Faces |
|---|---|
| Address | Avinguda Diagonal 442, 08037 Barcelona, Spain |
| Geo Coordinates | 41.39720, 2.16060 |
| Part of Walk | The Block of Discord: Barcelona's Passeig de Gràcia and the Modernista Rivalry |
| Generated | Generated |
Across the Diagonal, find a narrow stone façade that seems to ripple, with balconies whose iron railings curl like plants and a crown at the top that rises like a wave about to break. This is Casa Comalat, and if you like the front, wait until you hear about the back.
It was built between 1909 and 1911 by Salvador Valeri i Pupurull, an architect far less famous than the three giants of the Block of Discord. Valeri admired Gaudí, and you can feel it in the soft, almost melting stone. But he was no mere copyist. He played a game the big names rarely played: he gave one house two completely different personalities.
The front on the Diagonal is formal and sculptural, dressed for the grand avenue where carriages once paraded. Behind, on Carrer de Còrsega, the building lets its hair down: bulging wooden galleries painted in bright colours, curved like the stern of an old ship, and shining green ceramic. One house, two faces... a respectable public mask and a cheerful private self.
Part of the reason is Cerdà's grid itself. Because the Diagonal slices through the blocks at an angle, some plots along it run right through to the next street, so a single building ends up with two fronts on two different streets. Valeri turned an awkward plot into a quiet joke about appearances. If you have a minute, slip round the block to Carrer de Còrsega and see for yourself.
Houses like this one are a reminder that Modernisme was not a club of three geniuses. It was a whole generation of architects, ironworkers, ceramicists, carpenters and stonemasons, and many of their best works carry names that no guidebook ever mentions. Now carry on along the Diagonal in the same direction. A little further on, a castle with six pointed towers is waiting.