Antoni Rovira i Trias

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Antoni Rovira i Trias, statue in the square of the same name in Barcelona

Antoni Rovira i Trias (* May 27, 1816 in Gracia (now part of Barcelona ), † May 2, 1889 in Barcelona) was a Catalan architect and town planner of historicism . He is one of the most important pioneers of modernism in Barcelona.

Biographical data

Antoni Rovira's father was the carpenter and builder Antoni Rovira i Riera. His mother Gertrudis Trias came from a family of traders and entrepreneurs, her father was the manufacturer Narcís Trias, who had become rich in the colonies.

Antoni Rovira was born in May 1816 in Gràcia, then a suburb of Barcelona, ​​and was baptized on May 27th. He was a builder at the age of 16. He completed his basic studies at the Escola de la Llotja in Barcelona and then decided to study road engineering at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid, which he soon gave up in favor of architecture. His first smaller works are known from his military service, which he completed in 1939. He received his title of architect on March 30, 1842 at the Academia de San Fernando.

Very early on, Antoni Rovira was actively involved in founding various associations. One of them, the Societat Filomàtica de Barcelona , founded in 1839 by a handful of intellectuals and politicians, met regularly in his house, among them the writer Francisco Pi i Margall , later President of the First Spanish Republic . The aim of the association was the intellectual development of its members. In 1860 the association merged with the Ateneu Català , and in 1872 with the Casino Mercantil Barcelonès , creating the Ateneu Barcelonès .

He was involved in the founding of the Sociedad de Seguros Mutuos contra Incendios , a private fire service association with municipal support, established in 1835, and was intensively involved in the development of this association as an expert and architect. He wrote several essays and guides on how to put out fires. The city fire department of Barcelona later emerged from the association .

From April 1846 to March 1847, together with Josep Oriol Bernadet and Miquel Garriga i Roca, he published the Boletin Enciclopédico de Nobles Artes (Encyclopedic Journal of the Noble Arts), which primarily dealt with the theories of contemporary architects.

In 1853, the Teatre Circ Barcelonès, rebuilt and expanded by Antoni Rovira, opened . A school was built in Súria in 1853 and a Caritas house in Manresa in 1854. In 1956 the Palau Moja in Barcelona was rebuilt.

Competition design for the development of the Eixample

In 1859, Rovira won the city of Barcelona competition for city expansion ( Eixample ) from 13 entries . His project envisaged a ring road around the old town and a radial urban development, with the harmonious integration of the already existing suburban communities. However, he was unable to realize his design: the Madrid central government ignored the competition result and opted for the Pla Cerdà by Ildefons Cerdà , which still determines the basic layout of the urban expansion of Barcelona today. However, Antoni Rovira was later able to modify the town planning of Cerdà in some detail in his sense.

In 1867 Antoni Rovira became the city architect of Barcelona, Gràcia and Sant Martí de Provençals . He was also head of buildings and ornamentation for the city of Barcelona (from 1872), advisor to the city of Manresa, city council, parliamentarian, honorary colonel of the city fire department and honorary citizen of Barcelona.

In 1862, Rovira built the bell tower in Gràcia, followed by another theater in 1870, the Teatro Español on Passeig de Gràcia, built in neo-Mudéjar style . From 1873 he was responsible for the construction of several market halls, which with their new iron-glass constructions gave important impulses for the development of the architecture of Modernism in Barcelona (Mercat de la Barceloneta 1873, Mercat del Born (?) 1873, Mercat de Sant Antoni 1879, Mercat de la Concepció 1885, Mercat d'Hostafrancs (?) 1888).

After two smaller works in 1876, a monument to peace, as well as the fountain of the three graces on the Plaça Reial , which soon after received significant competition from the famous lampposts of the young Antoni Gaudí , the classicist Museum Martorell for 1878-1882 followed Geology in the Parc de la Ciudatella , one of its largest structures. 1880–1883 ​​the town hall of Igualada was built,

Rovira's marriage to Magdalena Rabassa i Barenys had two sons: Antoni Rovira i Rabassa , who also became an architect, and the lawyer Ricard Rovira i Rabassa.

Antoni Rovira i Trias died on May 2, 1889 at the age of 73 from a cerebral haemorrhage. The Barcelona Fire Brigade organized a solemn honorary funeral for him.

In 1922, the former Plaça Rovira in Gracia, Barcelona, ​​was renamed Plaça Rovira i Trias in his honor . Today a bronze statue of the architect sits there on one of the stone benches.

Works

Main works in Barcelona :

  • Teatre Circ Barcelonès (burned down in 1853, burned down in 1863 and rebuilt in 1869 by Josep Fontserè )
  • Palau Moja: conversion and construction of a loggia (1856)
  • Bell tower in Gracia , Plaça Rius i Taulet (1862)
  • Passatge del Comerç (1865–66, planning a new street)
  • Pla del Poblenou (planning of the plaza , 1867)
  • Teatro Español, Passeig de Gràcia (1870; reopened in 1898 after a fire, closed in 1900)
  • Mercat de la Barceloneta (Market Hall, 1873)
  • Mercat del Born (?) (1873, executed by Josep Fontserè)
  • Monument a la Pau (Monument to Peace, 1876)
  • Font de les Tres Gràcies (Fountain of the Three Graces) on Plaça Reial (1876)
  • Martorell Museum of Geology in the Parc de la Ciudatella (1878–1882)
  • Mercat de Sant Antoni (1879)
  • Barcelona slaughterhouse (1880-88)
  • Balustrades on Passeig de Colom (1883)
  • Mercat de la Concepció (1885)
  • Balustrades in the Saló de Sant Joan (1887)
  • Mercat d'Hostafrancs (?) (1888)

Outside of Barcelona:

  • Schools in Súria (1853)
  • Casa de Beneficència in Manresa (Caritashaus, 1854)
  • Igualada Town Hall (1880–1883)
  • Improvement of the mine in Montcada (1881)

Picture gallery

  • Bell tower, Gracia

  • Igualada Town Hall

  • Mercat d'Hostafrancs

  • Mercat del Born

  • Mercat de Sant Antoni

  • Font de les Tres Gracies

  • Museu Martorell

  • Teatro Español, Passeig de Gracia

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Babiano: Antoni Rovira i Trias, S. 21
  2. ↑ Babiano: Antoni Rovira i Trias, p.25
  3. ↑ www.epdlp.com
  4. ↑ Igualada: Patrimoni Arquitectònic (PDF; 4.1 MB)
  5. ↑ Babiano: Antoni Rovira i Trias, S. 26

bibliography

  • Permanyer, Lluís: L'Eixample, 150 anys d'Història . Viena Edicions i Ajuntament de Barcelona 2008, ISBN 978-84-9850-131-5
  • Babiano i Sànchez, Eloi: Antoni Rovira i Trias, Arquitecte de Barcelona . Viena Edicions i Ajuntament de Barcelona 2007, ISBN 978-84-9850-071-4

Web links

Commons : Antoni Rovira i Trias  - collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Rovira i Trias, Antoni
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Rovira, Antoni
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Spanish architect of Catalan modernism
DATE OF BIRTH May 27, 1816
PLACE OF BIRTH Barcelona
DATE OF DEATH May 2, 1889
Place of death Barcelona