Gaudí and Art Nouveau
Antoni Gaudí i Cornet was born in Reus on 25th June 1852, into a family of coppersmiths. He spent his childhood and youth in the town, before leaving for Barcelona at the age of 16. Some of his closest associates also came from Reus, including the architects Joan Rubió i Bellver, Domènech Sugranyes i
Francesc Berenguer.
The arrival of Lluís Domènech i Montaner, the other great architect of the day, marked the beginning of the brilliant flowering in Reus of the branch of Art Nouveau known as Modernisme. The year was 1898, and Domènech's first project was the Pere Mata psychiatric institute, which is considered one of the jewels of Catalan Art Nouveau.
Lluís Domènech i Montaner's architectural style influenced other Art Nouveau buildings which went up around the town. His mark is clear in the work of the Reus architects Pere Caselles, Joan Rubió i Bellver and Pere Domènech Roura, the latter being Domènech i Montaner's own son.
Due to the importance and distinctiveness of its Art Nouveau heritage, Reus is part of the Art Nouveau Network, a European project made up of 14 towns and cities in 12 countries, the aim of which is to make the richness of their shared Art Nouveau heritage available to to all.