The pavilion of the Trasatlantic Company

For the Universal Exhibition of Barcelona of 1888, Anton Gaudi received an inquiry from the stepfather of Eusebi Guell, the marquis de Comillas: the flag of the Transatlantic Company. This flag was made moving and changing the pavilion of the company in the recent Maritime Exhibition of Cadiz, 1887, built by another architect. Transported to Barcelona, Gaudi recreated his much loved Alhambra. His close friend the art critic J. Yxart it described as follows: "Developed by a quirk of better taste in Arabic palace of smaller dimensions, and coated with plaster casts of the decoration of the Alhambra, with towers covering the own decor, and the corresponding dome in the center as a mosque. These reliefs and tiles, the whiteness of its walls, and the horseshoe arch of entry between plants and flowers, give away from the look of one of those models in ivory that breed in small palace just mentioned. Bathed by the sun, reflected on dazzling white mass that, having risen from bottom blue sky of the evening of July, happy eyes on the most suitable site and in line with the pleasant prospect around him." The pavilion of the Transatlantic Company was one of the largest in the maritime section, competing for their size with that of the Navy. The public and the press described as "beautiful" and "undoubtedly one of the most beautiful and elegant buildings of the Exhibition."

Josep Maria Tarragona, December 3, 2008
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