Can Serra

Can Serra, also known as Casa Serra, stands in Barcelona on an irregular block between three busy streets. Carrer de Còrsega, Rambla de Catalunya and Avinguda Diagonal frame its urban setting. Josep Puig i Cadafalch designed the building in the Modernisme style, giving its façade distinctive neogothic character. Decorative details connect medieval Gothic forms with the architectural movement that shaped Catalonia around 1900. The building is wheelchair accessible.

Construction took place between 1903 and 1908 for the merchant Pere Serra, who never lived there. Since 1987, the preserved structure has housed the Provincial Deputation of Barcelona. Its history also includes a major alteration: the section facing Avinguda Diagonal disappeared in 1981. Federico Correa and Alfonso Milá replaced it with a contrasting office building, creating a debated meeting of old and new architecture. The original portion received recognition as a Bé Cultural d’Interès Nacional in 2001. Thus, a planned private residence became a protected civic building beside one of Barcelona’s prominent avenues.