Casa Macaya

Today I had a meeting with a client and went to the HQ where we always meet, without paying attention to the note that Argelia had put in my agenda. My contact had moved to a new location! It's only a short cab ride away, so I arrived just a few minutes late. The nice surprise was that the venue was the beautiful Casa Macaya.

I was not properly equipped for the occasion, so this is one of my rare iPhone blips.

Palau Macaya's history (from the Ayuntamiento de Barcelona)

This majestic mansion, declared a Cultural Asset of National Interest in 1976, has a long history. In 1898, at the height of Catalan Art Nouveau, or Modernisme, the industrialist Román Macaya commissioned Josep Puig i Cadafalch to build a stately home for his family residence.
Three years later, the Casa-Palau Macaya became a reality on Passeig de Sant Joan, during a period when the architect was also building the Casa Amatller, and he used to ride from one site to the other on his bike.
In 1914 Casa Macaya changed hands and became the property of another industrialist, Juan Vilella, who, following the Civil War, sold it to Caixa de Pensions, who refurbished it for the Deaf, Dumb and Blind Educational Institute run by the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception.
Later, in the 1980s, it became the headquarters of the La Caixa Foundation Cultural Centre and the venue for numerous exhibitions until, with the 21st century under way, it housed the Science Museum, when the latter's building was closed for refurbishment work that saw it turned into today's CosmoCaixa.