Story

Enric Sagnier was born in Barcelona in 1858, son of Lluís Sagnier i Nadal, president of the Caja de Ahorros y Monte de Piedad of Barcelona and Clementina Villavecchia i Busquets. From a wealthy family, he had an artistic training, learning music - he was an excellent violin player - and painting - he had a great command of drawing and color. Thus, from a young age he moved in the most select environments of Barcelona's high society - his brother Joaquim was mayor of Barcelona (1913-1914) -. He studied high school at the prestigious Coll de Valldèmia boarding school, in Mataró, and a career in architecture at the Higher Technical School of Architecture in Barcelona, ​​obtaining the title on March 22, 1882.
During his studies he began to work for Francisco de Paula del Villar y Lozano, with whom he collaborated at the Monastery of Montserrat. From a young age he had notable professional success, receiving numerous commissions from the Catalan nobility and the Church - he had a special connection with the Salesians, for whom he developed numerous projects, including his masterpiece, the Expiatory Church of the Sacred Heart, in Tibidabo. -, and receiving numerous institutional appointments. In 1887 he married Dolors Vidal-Ribas i Torrents, with whom he had five children: Josep Maria, Manuel, Enric, Maria and Ignasi.
Due to the large number of works he executed during his professional career, he often collaborated with other architects, such as José Doménech y Estapá, Bonaventura Bassegoda i Amigó, Augusto Font Carreras, Francesc Folguera, Adolf Florensa, Pere Garcia Fària, Pere Benavent, etc. ., as well as his son Josep Maria Sagnier i Vidal, 2nd Marquis of Sagnier, who finished many of the works begun by his father. It also had the collaboration of numerous artists and craftsmen, such as Josep Maria Sert, Alexandre de Riquer, Josep Llimona, Eusebi Arnau, the forger Carles Torrebadell, the glassmaker Antoni Rigalt, the mosaicist Lluís Bru, the cabinetmaker Joan Busquets, etc.
With a calm and devoted personality, he dedicated his entire life to his career, receiving a large number of distinctions, such as the gold medal from the Barcelona City Council for having won three times in the annual building competition (Casa Emili Juncadella, 1901; buildings for the Provincial Board for the Protection of Children and the Repression of Begging, 1916; and the headquarters of the Caixa de Pensions de Barcelona, ​​1917); It also won the annual competition in 1918 with the Ignasi Coll House and in 1919 with the Lluís Rocamora House, as well as the prize for the best establishment in 1912 (Guillem Llibre Confectionery) and 1913 (Comas Tailor Shop). He was a member of the Royal Catalan Academy of Fine Arts of San Jorge, of the Artistic Circle of San Lucas and of the Excursionist Center of Catalonia, commander of the Order of Alfonso XIII, member of the Board of Museums, etc; He was also a director of the Caja de Ahorros de Barcelona since 1913.
Occasionally he also devoted himself to politics, being a provincial deputy on two occasions (1903-1907 and 1924-1929), representing a Catholic group allied to the Regionalist League, the Social Defense Committee. He had a close relationship with the Church, being appointed diocesan architect of Barcelona in replacement of Villar y Lozano (1892-1931), architect of the Monastery of Montserrat (1903-1915) and of the Cathedral of Barcelona (1927-1931). Perhaps for this reason, in 1923 Pope Pius XI granted him the pontifical title of Marquis de Sagnier, and in 1928 he received the honorary title of swashbuckling waiter from the Pope. On his noble shield he printed the following legend: Dilexi decorem domus tuae ("Lord, I loved the beauty of your House"). He died in Barcelona in 1931.
Enric Sagnier has dedicated gardens in Barcelona that bear his name, located in the Sarriá-San Gervasio district, which were inaugurated in 2012.