Such a day as today: The Bellesguard Pinnacle, the 2008 Renovation

By the Bellesguard Team

This weekend, BCN en las Alturas is being celebrated at Torre Bellesguard. The dates for this weekend are Friday the 9th, Saturday the 10th, and Sunday the 11th of May. Exactly the same as in 2008. But the coincidence goes further.

On Friday the 9th of 2008, it had rained heavily in Barcelona (as it is also doing today). In fact, May of that year was one of the rainiest months “in the last 30, 60, or even 100 years depending on the region” (1). The rains marked the end of a severe drought that had lasted for years, although not immediately (2). Amidst these heavy rains, on Sunday the 11th of May 2008, the firefighters of the Generalitat went to the Bellesguard Tower, along with various Heritage officials. It was necessary to assess the severity of the damage to the house’s structure, and especially to its pinnacle.

Firefighters arrive to assess the damage to the pinnacle, 30 meters high. Photograph by Carles Salillas.

These rains had worsened the structural issues that had been detected a few months earlier, at the end of 2007, at the base of the pinnacle’s cross.

A large number of cracks had appeared both inside and outside the building, and the pinnacle threatened to fall.

Cracks appeared in the pinnacle. Structurally affected window bracing Photo by Carles Salillas.

The emergency intervention consisted of installing a huge crane to prevent the pinnacle from falling. In parallel, scaffolding was added around the tower and a series of measures inside the house to shore up the upper floors.

Securing the four-armed cross to prevent it from falling.
Photograph by Carles Salillas.

The Guilera family, owners of the Bellesguard Tower at the time, had to move to a hotel as a precaution, while architects and municipal technicians studied how to resolve the situation. The challenge was how to remove Gaudí’s characteristic four-armed cross to repair it on the ground. And no less complicated was the system to put it back in its original position…

Operation to cut, protect and lower the four-armed cross to the ground.
Photograph by Carles Salillas.

The intervention involved architects David Garcia and Martí Cabestany, surveyor Amparo Lecha, along with consulting architect Robert Brufau. The restoration of the cross’s trencadís was carried out by restorers Montse Agüero and Irene Garcia.

The Catalan Government’s website announced the completion of the restoration of the Bellesguard Tower cross on May 6th of the following year, so in total, the rescue plan lasted a year (3) and “consisted of three parts: restoration of the cross including the arms and the conical pinnacle with the Catalan flag; consolidation of the pyramidal pinnacle that supports the cross; and structural intervention in the tower.”

The restored cross, one year later.
Photograph by Carles Salillas.

Today, 17 years after those critical moments for Bellesguard, we can say that there are certain coincidences, such as the dates, or that this weekend is rainy, or that we are emerging from a severe drought that has lasted for years.

The big difference, however, is that Bellesguard is in good health and continues to overlook Barcelona from the foot of Collserola, as a symbol of resilience and struggle, standing proud, a stage and witness to the passage of time.

Torre Bellesguard today, at the top of the city of Barcelona. Photograph by Albert Monsalve.

Notes

(1) Rodríguez Picó, Alfred (2/06/2008), “Resumen de mayo: un mes extraordinariamente lluvioso”, El Periódico.

(2) The popular newspaper 20 minutos, on May 16, 2008, still published an article on the front page with the following title: “Las restricciones por la sequía se endurecen y aún se puede multar”.

Another example of how the problem was far from being resolved in May: Redacción (21/05/2008), “El primer barco con agua de Marsella atraca en el puerto de Barcelona”, La Vanguardia.

(3) Press release (6/05/2009), “Finaliza la restauración de la cruz de la Torre de Bellesguard de Barcelona”, web govern.cat.