The Modernist Residences
Location
Carrer Francesc Macià, Barcelona
Category
Residence
Photography
Fem Arquitectura
Year
2025
Barcelona has always been a city defined by its architecture — a place where history and modernity coexist in a vibrant dialogue. In the Eixample, the wide boulevards and grand avenues frame an urban fabric built in the golden age of Catalan modernism, when craftsmanship, proportion, and light were elevated into a form of art. To inhabit one of these buildings is to belong to a tradition of elegance, cultural refinement, and architectural excellence.
On Francesc Macià, one of the city’s most emblematic addresses, a modernist building has been fully restored and reimagined as a collection of high-standard residences. This is not simply an exercise in preservation, but an act of continuity: retaining the essence of a historic home while opening it to the demands and possibilities of contemporary life.
The experience of inhabiting the Eixample is inseparable from its light: generous, shifting, and deeply urban, yet softened by balconies and shutters that create intimacy in the heart of the city.
Preserving the original walls was an act of respect, allowing their rough surfaces to continue telling the story of generations past.
The project is guided by a single principle: to preserve the spirit of modernism while translating it into a language of contemporary comfort. The renovation respects the original proportions, the ornamented ceilings, and the delicate moldings that give the building its character. At the same time, it introduces new layers of clarity, functionality, and restraint, ensuring that the residences can meet the expectations of modern living without losing their soul.
Every decision is an act of balance: between lightness and ornament, between material authenticity and technological precision. Where possible, original floors, ceilings, and carpentry have been restored, revealing their craftsmanship in renewed splendor. Where intervention was necessary, new materials — light-toned wood, marble, and clean-lined fittings — were chosen not to compete, but to quietly complement the historic fabric.
Living in these residences is an experience of generosity and openness. The high ceilings allow light to flow freely, enhancing the sense of volume and air. Tall windows and balconies frame the rhythm of the Eixample streets, connecting the interiors with the life of the city beyond. Each apartment unfolds in a sequence of rooms where the transition from past to present feels effortless: a coffered ceiling over a minimalist kitchen, or a traditional mosaic floor beneath contemporary furniture.
The flow between spaces is designed for both privacy and conviviality. Social areas are generous and luminous, inviting gatherings and shared moments, while bedrooms and private suites offer intimacy and calm. This duality — openness and retreat — is the essence of the modernist lifestyle reinterpreted for today: homes that are not only functional, but atmospherically rich and deeply pleasurable to inhabit.
The delicacy of modernist craftsmanship remains untouched, yet recontextualized in luminous rooms that celebrate both memory and modern comfort.
Modern comfort is not loud — it is discreet, precise, and deeply connected to the materials that surround us every day.
The renovation celebrates tactility and authenticity. Light stuccoes highlight the delicate play of natural light, while restored wooden shutters and carpentry bring warmth and continuity. Floors in hydraulic tiles and terrazzo patterns recall the artistry of modernism, yet their freshness is accentuated by the simplicity of the new interventions.
In the kitchens and bathrooms, contemporary materials such as marble, brass fixtures, and finely detailed woodwork provide an understated luxury. The dialogue between rough and refined, ornamented and minimal, historic and modern, creates an atmosphere that is at once sophisticated and serene. Every surface, every junction, every texture is designed to enhance a sense of permanence and ease.
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Light, height, and craft are the essence of Barcelona’s modernist tradition, and they remain the core of these residences.
- POL FEMENIAS (ARCHITECT)
This project is more than a renovation: it is a statement about how to live with history. By preserving the qualities that make Barcelona’s modernism so admired worldwide, and combining them with the clarity of contemporary design, the Francesc Macià residences embody the idea of timeless living. They are homes that honor the past, serve the present, and anticipate the future — places where beauty, comfort, and cultural continuity meet.
To invest here is to take part in a legacy. To live here is to inhabit a piece of Barcelona’s identity, reinterpreted with restraint and elegance for the way we live today.
Matter carries memory — every texture holds a story, every surface speaks of a time when craft was inseparable from beauty.
