Josep Domènech i Estapà

Josep Domènech i Estapà (Tarragona, 1858 – Cabrera de Mar, 1917) was a Catalan architect.

He graduated in 1881, and became professor of geodesy (1888) and descriptive geometry (1895) at the University of Barcelona, and member of the Acadèmia de Ciències i Arts (1883), of which he subsequently became president(1914).

His works in Barcelona include the church of Sant Andreu del Palomar (1881, with Pere Falqués), Teatre Poliorama (1883), Acadèmia de Cièncias (1893), Law Courts (1887-1908, with Enric Sagnier i Villavecchia), Palau Montaner, now the "Delegación del Gobierno" in Barcelona (1889-1896, with Lluís Domènech i Montaner), Faculty of Medicine (1904), Modelo prison (1904, with Salvador Vinyals), the Amparo de Santa Lucía home for the blind, which eventually became the Museu de la Ciència de Barcelona (now CosmoCaixa (1904-1909), Observatori Fabra (1906), Catalana de Gas (1908), the church of La Mare de Déu del Carme and Carmelite convent (1910-1921, finished by his son Josep Domènech i Mansana) and Magoria station (1912). He also supervised the construction of the Hospital Clínic (1895-1906), designed by Ignasi C. Bartrolí (1881).

He created his own style through the modification of Classical motifs, distinct both from Eclecticism and Modernisme, but was accepted by the establishment. He wrote several books, including "Tratado de geometría descriptiva" and "El modernismo arquitectónico" (1911).

Reference

[http://www.enciclopedia.cat/fitxa_v2.jsp?NDCHEC=0022672 Enciclopèdia Catalana]