Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Dragon and Umbrella

Chinese dragon and umbrella, Casa Bruno Cuadros, Casa dels Paraigües (House of Umbrellas), La Rambla / Pla de la Boqueria, Barcelona

Chinese dragon and umbrella, Casa Bruno Cuadros
Casa dels Paraigües (House of Umbrellas)
La Rambla / Pla de la Boqueria
Barcelona, March 2017

“La Rambla is an endless box of surprises. A box that opens and allows us to glimpse jewels, including this allegory to Orientalism, the Casa Bruno Cuadros, which used to be an umbrella shop of Barcelona in its time. Its style, similar to modernisme with its use of colour and the delicacy of its decorations, have made the Casa Bruno Cuadros a worthy addition to the photograph albums of many of Barcelona’s visitors. It was 1883 when the architect Josep Vilaseca undertook the refurbishment of the Casa Bruno Cuadros and the umbrella shop on the ground floor. It was just a few years before the 1888 Universal Exhibition and Barcelona was in the throes of expansion, with interesting buildings being built all over the city. The Catalan home-grown art-nouveau movement, modernisme, was gaining momentum and, with it, the taste for Oriental decorations. The Casa Bruno Cuadros of Barcelona, known by locals as the Casa dels Paraigües (House of Umbrellas) is an example.” (Casa Bruno Cuadros, Turisme de Barcelona)

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