BD Barcelona Gears Up to Unveil an Exclusive Showcase of Gaudí’s Collection in Paris

With the year of Antoni Gaudí underway, the city of Barcelona is alive with celebrations honoring his legacy as an architect, but it often goes unnoticed that Gaudí was a visionary 19th and 20th century furniture designer.

On Thursday, furniture firm BD Barcelona told WWD that it is gearing up to unveil its own program, starting off with an exclusive showcase in Paris at the Monde Singulier showroom 73 Rue du Faubourg Poissonnière, bringing the Catalan creative’s most memorable interior pieces together in a special curation. The company said that it is mulling bringing the event to other global destinations.

Founded in 2022 and headquartered in Paris, Monde Singulier is a source for high-end, made-to-order design pieces from both emerging and renowned talents like Milan-based firm Dimoremilano and Chapo Creations, the furniture brand started by French fashion designer Yves Salomon.

The Gaudí collection includes an array of oak designs that linger between the Baroque and the Surrealist movements, and which were originally designed for the Casa Calvet (constructed in 1898-1899) and Casa Batlló (designed in 1904). The latter, with its Surreal forms and otherworldly decor, is perhaps the greatest emblem of Spain’s Modernisme period.

“Today our role is to translate that legacy into the contemporary design landscape through thoughtful activations that reflect the creative rigor, cultural depth and singular spirit that defined Antoni Gaudí,” BD Barcelona’s art edition and business development director Max D’Huart told WWD.

A series of brass accents including doorknobs and even a peephole were reproduced by BD in collaboration with architect David Ferrer. Each piece was sculpted in the futuristic form of crystallized melted metal. BD Barcelona said that the door handles and knobs were first modeled in clay by pressing and shaping the material directly with his hands, before being cast in brass and integrated into the architecture. The firm is working on developing new patinas for the door knobs collection, to infuse a contemporary update while remaining faithful to the original designs.

A range of seats, benches, a coat hanger and a mirror underscore the functional nature of Gaudi’s work. The Calvet armchair with its sinuous structure accommodates the spine with ergonomic support. It is crafted with five pieces fitted together to form the thick neck, arched handles and heart-shaped backrest. Each piece is numbered and accompanied by a certificate signed by the director of the Gaudí Cathedra, certifying that it is a faithful and exact reproduction of the original designed by the late architect.

BD Barcelona on Keeping Gaudi’s Legacy Alive

Since 1975, BD has been the only design company authorized by the Real Cátedra Gaudí for the production and preservation of Gaudí’s furniture. Real Cátedra Gaudí is an academic research and documentation center dedicated to the study and conservation of Gaudí’s work, housed within the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Barcelona.

Since its inception, BD has maintained a close dialogue between art and design. Among its earliest and most significant supporters was artist Salvador Dalí, who entrusted the company with the development and production of his sculptural furniture designs. 

The firm was incepted in a nightclub in 1972 by a group of young architects and designers from Barcelona. They broke into the design world with a new vision that ensured their creative freedom. They started by producing contemporary designs by global pioneers such as Ettore Sottsass, Rennie Mackintosh and Álvaro Siza.

The company is currently helmed by chairman Paolo Bofill, who is CEO of the architecture firm Bofill Taller de Arquitectura in Barcelona and chief executive officer Kalil Vieljeux. The two run the firm alongside one of BD Barcelona’s original founders Oscar Tusquets.

In 2025, TriBeCa gallery Casa Valle, which Jane Keltner de Valle founded with her husband, designer Giancarlo Valle, brought Gaudì’s legacy as a furniture designer to New York during NYCxDesign.

Gaudí, a Master of Modernisme

Gaudí, who also designed the city’s yet-to-be-finished Sagrada Família Basilica, was a pillar of the Modernisme period, Spain’s unique version of Art Nouveau. Passionate about utopian socialism and architecture, Gaudí’s forms and shapes were totally fresh, otherworldly and are sometimes referred to as a precursor of the Surrealist movement, of which Salvador Dalí was a key proponent. The designer rose to international fame once again when Pope Francis declared him “Venerable” — an early step toward sainthood — just days before the pontiff’s own death in April.

Born in 1852, Gaudí is often referred to as “God’s Architect.” A man of deep faith, his greatest endeavour was the Basilica de la Sagrada Família, which was consecrated by Pope Benedict XVI.

Centenary festivities in Barcelona and the world will culminate in a commemorative mass at the Sagrada Familia on June 10, followed by celebrations for the long-awaited completion of the basilica, and for which the details have not yet been revealed.

In January, Casa Batlló kick-started the centenary of the Catalan architect’s death with “Beyond the Facade.” The artistic program is part of the Casa Batlló Contemporary program that invites artists to collaborate with the museum, leading up to the 100th anniversary of Gaudí’s death on June 10, 1926.