A Modernist Marvel in Tarragona: Cal Carpa

A Modernist Marvel in Tarragona: Cal Carpa

Explore the captivating history behind a local landmark in Tarragona, Spain, designed by the renowned modernist architect Pere Caselles.

Cal Carpa, also known as Perfumeria Porta, is a modernist building designed by Pere Caselles i Tarrats, protected as a local landmark of the municipality of Reus, Spain. Built by Joan Carpa Calbó in 1905 on Marià Fortuny street, the building is unique for its construction on a very narrow plot, allowing only two openings per floor. At the second floor, two openings combine into one. Between the first floor balconies, there is a vine-like decoration that spreads symmetrically to the balcony doors of the second floor.

The first floor balcony railing features a curved, modified metal sheet work. The second floor decoration is very simple. The third floor decoration features worked stone in the balcony doors and along the façade edge. A sample of the column made by Josep Blanch's foundry, from Reus, is still visible, slightly off-centered from the entrance. The column was designed to be left empty from the start.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons

Written by Nik Frost

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