La Unión y el Fénix

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Boy sitting on the Phoenix
La Unión y el Fénix building by Eusebi Bona i Puig, 1931
Passeig de Gràcia
Barcelona, March 2017

“La Unión y el Fénix on Passeig de Gracia is both a residential and office building. There are many other examples of monumentalist architecture in the city but this one was rather anachronic in the period it was built since almost all of them appeared after the civil war. It is another example of the efforts of the bourgeoisie to monumentalize Passeig de Gràcia street. The fact that it is on a corner allowed for a rounded body building topped with a cupola crowned by the old company's symbol, a boy sitting on Phoenix, a mythical bird that dies in flames and is reborn from the ashes. Although according to experts, what the sculpture really represents is the Abduction of Ganymede by Zeus to serve as cupbearer to the gods. Ganymede was a symbol for the ideally beautiful youth in poetry.” (La Unión y el Fénix Building, Barcelona Photoblog)