Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Heraldic Scale-Pattern Chimney Stack and Turret of Casa de les Punxes, Barcelona

2075

Catalan Modernisme, Neo-Gothic nationalist phase, 1903–1905

A chimney stack and turret from the rooftop of Casa de les Punxes (Casa Terrades) in Barcelona, constructed 1903–1905. The chimney rises from the stepped conical slate-clad Gothic turret, its cylindrical body banded with carved heraldic scale patterns and nationalist emblems — the Catalan four-bar pattern, foliate Gothic borders, and scale-pattern relief carved directly into the ashlar limestone. Wrought iron cresting runs along the turret apex. The turret and chimney together form one of the building’s signature silhouette elements — the conical slate spires that give the building its popular name, ‘Casa de les Punxes’ (House of Spikes). The heraldic imagery carved on the chimney body is part of the building’s comprehensive ornamental program asserting Catalan national identity through Gothic revival formal vocabulary.