History – Colonia Güell

History of Colonia Güell

The development of Colònia Güell began in 1.890 at the initiative of businessman Eusebi Güell on the old Can Soler de la Torre estate, located in the municipal district of Santa Coloma de Cervelló, current Baix Llobregat region.

The interest in addressing existing social conflicts in the city is that the new industry is planned within the framework of an industrial colony; Both the cases of the workers at the expense of the factory, integrated into the material property, constitute a nucleus of the city with its own personality and with the entire social and economic life supervised by the company. Unlike the great majority of industrial colonies in Catalonia, Eusebi Güell will seek better social benefits for others workers and will apply the status of patrons of culture. Així doncs, will provide the Colònia Güell with cultural and religious equipment and will incorporate the modernist current into the new constructions, entrusting projects to various architects, and singularly to Antoni Gaudí the construction of the church.

The paletes masters of work will also show the display of their talent in many of the buildings, as is especially visible in the variety of cornices and details of the façanes.

The industrial colonies were conceived as a socioeconomic organization that had industrial production as its first goal. The factory occupied most of the time of the homes and estates of the Colony, but for them it was the guarantee of having a regular salary in times of economic precariousness.

Així and everything, the union movement and the workers' demands are going to arrive in the Colony in the country of the year. At the beginning of the civil war the factory was going to be collective and managed by its workers. After the war, it will be returned to the Güell family, who in 1.945 will sell it to the Bertrand i Serra family. During the following years the Colony will continue industrial production and will maintain the personality of the urban core differentiated from the town of Santa Coloma de Cervelló. The latter will continue to grow in population exceeding that of the Colony in the 60s.

Colònia Güell is going to remain outside the urban growth of the 60's and 70's in order to preserve itself as a compact property whose priority objective was industrial production. In the context of the crisis in the textile sector, in 1.973 the factory ceased its activities, producing a great social impact in the Colony. During the following years the property is sold: the factory in fractions to various companies, the houses to its inhabitants, and the equipment and land of the environment to public institutions.

In 1990, the entire Colònia Güell was declared Bé d'Interès Cultural–Historical Complex and the protection of the most relevant buildings was established, along with the general characteristics of the building.

In the years of the change of century, from the 2002th to the XNUMXst, the rehabilitation of the factory buildings, the church, the old consumer cooperative and the Joan Güell square will begin, along with the million of the surrounding pine trees. i of Gaudí's camí. In XNUMX, as part of the international Gaudí initiative, the new parking lot for visitors will be built and the organization of visitor services will be implemented throughout the Colony.

History of the Gaudí Crypt

When Eusebi Güell commissioned his good friend Antoni Gaudí to build the church of the colony, literally, he made it easy for anyone to see. There are no limits, neither in the presupposition, nor in the type of work to be carried out, and, as is clear with the time, nor in the term for the completion of this

In 1.898 Eusebi Güell entrusted the architect Antoni Gaudí with the project of a church for the Colònia Güell. During the following years Gaudí will carry out various planned studies that will culminate in a model of the church, installed in his own workshop, located in the basement of the building.

In 1908 the construction of the Temple began. However, the ambitious project, which provided for a church with both sides, lower and upper, topped by different side towers and a central dome 40 meters high, would remain unfinished. In 1914 Eusebi Güell's fillers informed Gaudí that he would not continue to finance the ongoing works and that he would abandon the project. On November 1915, 1917, the bishop of Barcelona benefited from the lower ship, the only one that would be built, which would cause the church to be popularly named as a crypt. Between XNUMX and XNUMX, a new builder built the ship.

Unfortunate to remain unfinished, the church represented a culminating point in Gaudí's work. This building includes, for the first time in a unitary form, the total practice of the six architectural innovations

The Crypt will be declared Human Heritage by UNESCO July 2005.

Factory history

The factory was the central nucleus and the reason for being of the Colonia Güell. Dedicated to the production of velvets and corduroys, its main difference with the textile factories of the time is that it used coal instead of hydraulic energy.

The factory began construction in 1890. Just one year later the first building was finished and the spinning steam engine was put into operation. Later, the other buildings for dyes, dryers, looms, etc. were completed. that completed the cotton transformation process.

Each of the buildings that made up the factory was used for a specific job within this process of transforming cotton into fabrics. All the transportation of materials between the different buildings was carried out using a network of rails and wagons that ran throughout the premises.

The union movement and workers' demands also reached the Colony. At the beginning of the Civil War in 1936, the factory was collectivized and managed by the workers. After the war, the property was returned to the Güell family, who in 1945 sold it to the Bertrand Serra family.

History of the factory

The factory will be the central nucleus and the root of being of the colony.
Dedicated to the production of vellut and breads, the main difference between the textile factories of the time is that it uses coal in addition to hydraulic energy.

The factory began to be built in 1890. Just one year later the first building was finished and the filament steam engine was in operation. Afterwards, they have just built the other buildings for the tenyits, dryers, telers, etc. that complete the process of transforming the property.

Each of the buildings that make up the factory is destined for a specific task during this process of transforming the land into lands. There there was the filature building, the telers, the tint, the assecador, the carver, the drawing machine building, the fusery workshop and the sawmill. All the transportation of material between the different buildings involves a network of rails and wagons that run through the entire factory site.

The union movement and workers' demands will also arrive in the Colony. At the beginning of the Civil War in 1936 the factory was going to be collected and managed by its workers. After the war it will be returned to the Güell family, who in 1945 will return it to the Bertrand Serra family.