#xalet

 Xalet Del Catllaràs, La Pobla de Lillet, Berguedà, Catalonia, Spain,

The Catalan Department of Culture has formally confirmed that Antoni Gaudí is the author of the project for the Xalet del Catllaràs in La Pobla de Lillet in Catalonia, resolving a long-standing attribution question surrounding the industrial-era chalet.

The conclusion follows a scientific study led by Galdric Santana Roma, director of the Gaudí Chair at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), which identifies geometric, structural, and compositional evidence consistent with Gaudí’s methodology, including funicular arch calculations and the use of a 45-degree interior distributor. 

Designed between 1901 and 1908 to house engineers working in the nearby Catllaràs mines, part of the industrial network supplying the Asland cement factory, the 396-square-meter chalet was embedded within a broader productive landscape.

While the research affirms Gaudí as the designer, it also clarifies that he did not direct the building’s execution, which diverged structurally from the original proposal and may explain why he never publicly claimed the work.

The building was commissioned by Spanish entrepreneur Eusebi Güell and Bacigalupi to house engineers working in the Serra del Catllaràs mines. The extracted material supplied the kilns of the Asland cement factory at Clot del Moro, the fourth cement factory built in Spain in 1901. 

The chalet was therefore not conceived as an isolated architectural experiment, but as infrastructure embedded within an expanding industrial network. Its program responded to the logistical and geographic demands of a mountainous mining environment, a condition that may have influenced later structural adjustments.

Architect: Antoni Gaudí