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THIS SMALL SUMMER HOUSE BUILT IN COMILLAS, NORTHERN SPAIN, IN 1885 IN A DISTINCT GREEN COLOR PROTECTED BY HUGE SOLID TREES HAS A CLEAR EXOTIC INSPIRATION AND REPRESENTS THE MUDEJAR AND
ORIENTALIST INFLUENCE OF ANTONI GAUDÍ’S EARLY WORKS. these style marks are expressed both by the use of materials — stone in the lower part of the house, exposed brick adorned with glazed
ceramic strips representing sunflowers and leaves — and the outstanding presence of a persian air minaret that provides verticality to the building completed with colored ceramic and cast
iron elements that also point to the splendor of european art nouveau. PHOTO SERIES BY DAVID CARDELÚS CAPTURES ‘EL CAPRICHO’ FROM EVERY POSSIBLE ANGLE TO GIVE US A CHANCE TO EXPLORE THE
SITE. el capricho is surrounded by gardens and tall trees EL CAPRICHO IS A SMALL AND BEAUTIFUL HIDDEN GEM SURROUNDED BY A VERY UNIQUE LANDSCAPE, ONE OF GAUDÍ’S FEW BUILDINGS OUTSIDE
CATALONIA AND THAT, LIKE ALL THE WORKS OF THE ARCHITECT, DISPLAYS A GREAT RICHNESS OF DETAIL AND SYMBOLISM. surely one of the most surprising elements of el capricho is the constant presence
of ceramic tiles with sunflowers, a plant impossible to find in the rainy region of cantabria. for the time of construction, the building’s style was extremely extravagant THE HOUSE IS
ORIENTED AS A PERFECT SOLAR COMPASS FOLLOWING SUNRISE AND SUNSET PATH TO COINCIDE WITH THE DOMESTIC ACTIVITIES THAT TAKE PLACE INSIDE. the name of the building, el capricho (eng. ‘the
whim’), evokes the freedom of style of the musical composition but also speaks of the client máximo díaz de quijano’s desire to erect a building with such an extravagant look for the time in
a place like comillas. main entrance and persian influence minaret the building represents the orientalist influence of antoni gaudi’s early work the forging elements on the minaret take
the form of musical notes because the client was a musician a distinctive color palette in green and orange dominates exposed brick, glazed ceramic strips and cast iron elements on the
façade ‘coup de fouet’ cast iron elements on balconies el capricho is the only gaudí building with a remarkable presence of nature four marble pillars oriented to the cardinal points make up
the building entrance ceramic tiles representing sunflowers arranged in horizontal stripes are intended to take the sun into the building the south façade of the building is a large
greenhouse _designboom has received this project from our ‘__DIY submissions__‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions
from our readers __here._ _edited by: maria erman | designboom_