A Chair by a Potential Saint at New York City’s Casa Valle

MILAN — Antoni Gaudí is legendary as the Catalan architect and designer of the yet-to-be-finished Sagrada Família Basilica in Barcelona. Nearly a century after Gaudí’s death, he rose to international fame once again when Pope Francis (days before his own death in April) declared him as “Venerable,” an early step in the path to being formally canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church. But few people know Gaudí as a designer of interior objects, admitted Jane Keltner de Valle, cofounder of New York’s Casa Valle.

On Thursday, Tribeca gallery Casa Valle, which Keltner de Valle founded with her husband, designer Giancarlo Valle, will bringing Gaudí’s legacy as a furniture designer to New York during NYCxDesign, which will run May 15 to 21.

“A Timeless Masterpiece Reinterpreted,” coordinated in collaboration with Spanish furniture firm BD Barcelona, will feature a reimagined version of the Batlló chair that Gaudí first designed for the early 20th century Casa Batlló, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Characterized by its lack of straight lines, the chair was adapted to the human body, and its ergonomic nature was an innovation for its time. Casa Valle and BD Barcelona, the furniture company that currently holds the rights to the chair, have teamed for an ebony stain version available in just 50 pieces — price upon request. Casa Valle said that each re-edited chair is an exact reproduction of the original, handcrafted by artisans in Barcelona. Each one also comes with an authenticity certificate signed by the director of the Gaudí Catedra.

BD Barcelona and Casa Valle first came together at the Salone del Mobile.Milano trade show in 2024, and eventually decided to team on reinterpreting the symbol of Spain’s Modernisme period.

“So much of design is about context, so part of the excitement for us is around showing these chairs in New York, in this industrial Tribeca space, in conversation with our collection and other historic pieces from other cultures and eras,” Keltner de Valle said.

The Batlló chair in its original varnished oak version and Gaudí’s Calvet armchair and Calvet stool reproduced by BD Barcelona will also be available and displayed alongside the pieces sourced and curated by Casa Valle’s husband-and-wife duo, who regard the re-edition of the Batlló chair as “a return to handcraft and organic form.”

Keltner de Valle is an entrepreneur and former Architectural Digest style director. Casa Valle, which was founded a year ago, is the design gallery arm of the Studio Giancarlo Valle design practice.

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, a massive basilica consecrated by Pope Benedict XVI. It is expected to finally open in 2026, marking 100 years since the architect’s death.

Pope Francis has referred to Gaudí as a “great mystic.” In concrete design terms, Gaudí 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 Salvator Dalí was a key proponent. Dali’s furniture pieces are also reproduced and sold by BD Barcelona.