A TOUR OF MODERNISM

El Águila gathers 'modernista' elements with Viennese tendencies. The large iron and glass window brought originality to the commercial premises

Modernism was an artistic movement in search of a means of expression that wished to break with classical ideas. Curved forms, wavy shapes of façades and interior walls, floral, mythological and geometrical decorative themes, the use of colour in hand-crafted ceramic materials, all were attempts to challenge classicism.

This new style invaded all types of aesthetic expression at the beginning of the 20th century, although it had started to develop towards the end of the 19th. It was introduced into the Balearic Islands by architects from Catalonia. In the case of the Balearics we can talk of a popular Modernism that adopted elements of Art Nouveau and secessionist styles as its common denominator. It is understandable that historicist Modernism was not adopted as a popular means of expression, as it was associated with emblematic or official architecture. Whatever its social origins may be, Modernism has a formal repertoire inspired in the elements of nature.