Rafael Masó i ValentÃ
Rafael Maso i Valenti ( born August 16, 1880 in Girona, † July 13, 1935 ) was a Catalan architect of the Modernisme ( Catalan Art Nouveau ) and the noucentisme ( Catalan Neoclassicism ).
Life
Maso was born in Girona in the lap of an educated, more conservative, Catholic family. The shaped by the literary and artistic interests of the father cultivated atmosphere of the house and the love of the city and its traditions given the personality and career of the later architects. As an admirer of Antoni Gaudí himself Maso joined while studying in Barcelona to a group of artists and writers who created the noucentisme, an alternative to the prevailing modernist. The propagated by noucentisme new citizenship, the associated Catalanism and the progress prescribed European spirit of the movement led to Maso came into existence as a poet, urban planners, politicians, and patron of art and literature.
At Casa Rafael Maso Maso lived until 1912 he married with Esperança Bru. In view of his work, he confined himself entirely to Girona, so that the majority of the building is created by him in the city and its immediate catchment area. In addition to houses, villas and apartment buildings he designed a wide variety of buildings - schools and hospitals to factories and shops. Another focus of his activity was the renovation of old farmhouses and restoration of buildings from the time of the Middle Ages. His most important works include, in Girona, the Farinera Teixidor (1910 ), the Casa Maso (1911 ) and the Cultural Athenea (1912 ), in Olot, Casa Masramon (1913 ), in Sant Feliu de Guíxol the Casa Casas (1914 ) and the Garden City S'Agaró (1923). At Maso's chagrin his clients were often disagree, so they often do little more came with the proposals submitted by him beyond the mere planning stage. Prejudicial for his work is the fact that a number of simple building demolished after his death, or modified to a more irreversible manner and were rebuilt.
Typical of Maso's work is his complete identification with the postulated from noucentisme principles of modernity, but to break in any way with an understood in the strictest sense of classicism was willing and subconscious highlighting artisanal techniques and procedures forms, colors and materials of the domestic cultural group in be recorded. Heavily influenced by the English Arts and Crafts movement and the new German regional architecture, Maso wanted to combine the tradition of vernacular architecture with new conceptual approaches in terms of the structure and decoration of buildings, interior decoration and design of furniture. The work he had a contribution in Catalonia crucial for the acquisition of modern concepts for the architectural design of residential buildings, the renovation of the craft, the preservation of the historical legacy and the promotion of cultural initiatives.
Remarkable buildings (selection)
- Farinera Teixidor, Girona (1910 )
- La Casa Maso, Girona (1911 )
- Escoles de Sarria de Ter, Girona (1909/1910)
- Escoles de Vilablareix, Vilablareix (1912 )
- Bloc Salieti (1914-1916)
- Casa Teixidor (La Punxa ) ( 1918-1922 )
- Casa Gispert - Saüch, Girona, ( 1921)
- Casa Omedes, Girona, (1924/1925)
- Castell RAIMAT, Lleida, (1932-1935)