Barcelona, Catalonia · 1914 · Modernista shopfront
At a glance
On the corner of Carrer del Carme and Carrer de la Riera Alta, in the Raval, a pharmacy stands closed behind a shuttered door. Its front is one of the finest Modernista shopfronts left in Barcelona: five mosaic panels of flowers on pale yellow, and on the chamfered corner a sixth that spells CASELLAS — the name of Eduard Casellas, who opened the pharmacy here in 1883. The mosaics are the work of Lluís Brú.
Key facts
- Pharmacy founded: 1883, by Eduard Casellas
- Shopfront remodelled: 1914, in the Modernista manner
- Mosaics: Lluís Brú i Salelles
- Exterior ornament: attributed to Josep Puig i Cadafalch
- Panels: five with floral motifs, a sixth on the chamfered corner reading CASELLAS
- Address: Carrer del Carme 84, corner of Carrer de la Riera Alta 2, el Raval
- Condition: closed; the shopfront survives
- Coordinates: 41.380603, 2.167575
What you see
The front runs round the corner in carved stone piers, with the lettering FARMACIA DEL CARMEN along one side and FARMACIA along the other, set in mosaic on a pale ground. Between the piers the shutters are down and tagged; above them the stonework carries capitals of leaves and stems.
The panel worth crossing the street for is on the corner itself: CASELLAS in dark green tesserae, the letters leaning into a stem of leaves that curls round them. Lluís Brú, who laid it, worked on the mosaics of the Palau de la Música Catalana; here he was decorating a chemist’s shop.
The shopfront today
Practical information
- The shopfront is on the public street and can be seen at any hour.
Sources
- Ajuntament de Barcelona, «El mosaic del meu barri» — Carrer del Carme 84 / Carrer de la Riera Alta 2, Farmàcia Tarrés-Casellas: the 1883 foundation by Eduard Casellas, the 1914 remodelling, the mosaics by Lluís Brú and the panel naming the first owner
- Arquitectura Modernista (Catalonia) — Farmàcia del Carme (Eduard Casellas), Barcelona
Record researched and written by Luigi De Marchi for Cultural Heritage Online, 2026.
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