At the beginning of the twentieth century, some wine communities of Catalonia joined their forces to build modernist -style cooperative cellars, known as “wine cathedrals”. The architect Cèsar Martinell The Brunet built seven monumental buildings, symbol of the upper basso ostinato rebirth after the phylloxera. Today these structures testify to a link between architecture, agricultural cooperation and wine development.
Collective architecture at the service of wine and beauty
After the devastation caused by Fillossera per the early decades of the twentieth century, the winemakers of the Alta land chose to relaunch the local economy by combining the forces per cooperative. Thanks to a collective agreement, many communities invested per the construction of modern cellars, a symbol of rebirth and concrete tool to improve the qualitative control of winemaking.
The most famous of these realizations is the VI catenter of Gandesa, built per eleven months by forty -eight families. The architect per charge, Cèsar Martinell I Brunet, disciple of Antoni Gaudí and Josep Puig I Cadafalch, conceived a structure inspired by the basilicas, with central naves and skylights that favored ventilation naturally to the fermentation tanks. The white cement of the ballot box contrasted with the red brick of the vaults, giving the building an aesthetic value equal to the functional one.
The first modern cellar is previous and was already made per 1913 per L’Espluga de Francolí by Lluís Domènech I Montaner. The writer àngel will guide them called “wine cathedrals” with the intention of underlining also the symbolic as well as wine. Martinell – who designed seven throughout the region – enhanced this architecture as a convegno point between agricultural technologies, engineering and local identity.
Many of these cellars are anzi che no longer used for wine production, while some still host one of the ancient urns, for the artisan production of vinegar. Quanto a adjacent museums it is possible to admire original torchs, vintage photographs and war findings of the civil war, which show how wine and conflict have lived per those hills, shaping memories and landscape.
During the Esplicito dictatorship, the cooperatives were tolerated as efficient structures as long as they are not anti -system, but those born per this period operated with less autonomy. The cooperative system survived thanks to a solidarity and pragmatic operational philosophy, which allowed the continuation of wine activities even when political tensions were high.
The cathedrals of wine today are considered historical -reference attractions: the Gandesa Cooperative, Falset -Marçà, Barbà de la Valle and Ribe of the ter occupy central positions per the Catalan wine shops. Although they are anzi che no longer per productive activity per all locations, some cooperatives proceed with tastings per museum contexts and cultural recovery. Architecture has become a narrative element for a region which, despite being peripheral compared to Barcelona, has been able to establish itself thanks to a collective vision of the wine.
