Gaudí is a name synonymous with Barcelona, and his work was one of the first things I came across when researching my trip. Realising how central his work was to Catalonia, I decided to dedicate a whole day to touring his buildings and sites.
A 19th-century Catalonian architect, Gaudí has been called a modernist, a naturalist and neo-Gothic amongst many other artistic labels. Somehow, though all his buildings look totally different (to my untrained eye, at least), his creative style is unmistakable in all of them. In one day, we managed to visit the following five of Gaudí’s most important works in Barcelona.
Parc Güell
Without a doubt, Parc Güell was my favourite Gaudí site. It was the first place I visited in Barcelona, and it set my expectations high!
The iconic gingerbread gatehouses have become a symbol of Barcelona. In my mind, these were just on a street corner like many of Gaudi’s other houses. I was surprised to realise that they’re actually situated in a park in the north of the city. Gaudí and his patrons initially intended the park to be a high-class housing site. Though this endeavour was unsuccessful, it was fun to imagine what life would be like if I lived in one of the gingerbread houses!
Gaudí designed Parc Güell during his naturalistic phase, hence the curving, organic shapes. The tiled terrace seemed snake-like and there were mosaicked statues of reptiles dotted about the main staircase. All these features, including the gingerbread houses, make up the monumental core, while the rest is a free park.
While the park itself is beautiful, my favourite section was the monumental core. This is the iconic section, with most of it looking like Willy Wonka’s factory crossed with a fairy tale. I spent the majority of the morning here, easily getting lost as I discovered more and more of the complex to be explored.
Casa Vicens
Recently opened to the public as a museum, Casa Vicens is the very first house designed by Gaudí. It’s also now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and considered one of the first buildings designed in Art Nouveau style.
With turrets and bricked columns, I thought the house resembled a castle crossed with a church organ. The style is simultaneously sophisticated and gaudy (eyyy Gaudí pun!), as if Gaudí created a cartoon impression of what he understood to be classic Spanish architecture. The Mudejar influence is visible in the arches and the exterior’s chequered brick pattern. It reminded me of a more modernist version of Córdoba’s Mezquita (more about that here).
Although there are gardens and an interior to admire, like most of Gaudí’s houses, to enter is pretty pricey. However, the great thing about Gaudí is that generally one of the main attractions is the house’s exterior. We didn’t pay to enter any of the houses he’d designed, choosing to admire them from the outside instead. Thank you, Gaudí!
Casa Milà (AKA La Pedrera)
Also known as La Pedrera due to its rough stone appearance, Casa Milà is another UNESCO World Heritage Site (I’m sensing a theme). Now an affectionate nickname, it originated from Catalonians who disliked the house’s unusual appearance when it was first being built. Gaudí actually nearly abandoned construction on the house due to criticism from the city council.
In comparison to most of the other sites on this list, Casa Milà is strictly monochrome. Because of this, I found it harder than I’d thought to spot the house as we walked along Passeig de Gracia. However, once I saw Casa Milà on the street corner, I couldn’t believe I ever would have missed it.
An unknown mountain supposedly inspired Gaudí when designing Casa Milà, and it’s not hard to see. The house consists of waves of undulating limestone and wrought iron balconies. It appears synchronously moving and unmoving. Six storeys high without including the roof, the house dominates the crossroads. Its position on the corner allows it to writhe down the streets away from the intersection. From the opposite corner of the crossroads, it’s easy to appreciate La Pedrera’s size and dominance. Its sheer size and presence are testimony to its resemblance to a mountain.
My favourite view was from right underneath building. Gazing up, layers of swelling limestone billowed up towards the sky.
Casa Batlló
I walked past Casa Batlló a few times during my stay in Barcelona. Each time, day or night, the street outside was clustered with people admiring it. Each time, I joined their throngs!
What I like most about Casa Batlló is that Gaudí’s combination of intricate décor and bold structure make me not quite sure how I’m supposed to interpret it. The colourful, tiled exterior looks like the house is decorated with bright, climbing flowers. However, the house is also known as the Casa dels Ossos (the House of Bones), which was one of the first things that struck me about it. The balconies look like skeletal masks. The curved, stained-glass windows looked like they’re propped up with bones ( . . . or Voldemort’s wand). They sinisterly juxtapose the colourful windows and patterned walls.
Yet I think the two tie together within Gaudi’s organic design. The roof is decorated like a dragon’s back, hunched over his pile of bones. The tiles are shaded like rippling scales, while the ridge looks like a spine. Though it’s colourful and decorative, Casa Batlló emulates a dragon supported by the bones of his conquests.
On the left side of the house, there’s a little turret protruding from the roof with a cross on top. This arguably represents the sword of Saint George (patron saint of Catalonia) forced into the dragon’s back. I’m not a fan of this interpretation: the colourful mosaics that decorate the dragon make me feel like it’s friendly. Despite the ominous bone effect, I don’t want the dragon to be dead!
While on the Illa de la Discórdia, we also passed Casas Amatller, Mulleras and Lleó-Morera. Though Gaudí did not design them, they help make up the street’s Modernistic “Block of Discord”.
La Sagrada Familia
The Sagrada Familia comes last, not because I didn’t think it was impressive, but because it was the last Gaudí site I visited. We went in the late afternoon, supposedly the best time to visit. When the evening sun slants through the stained glass windows, the whole atrium—decorated to look like a forest of stone pillars—is bathed in a rainbow of light.
Pictures of the Sagrada Familia always show it covered in scaffolding. Apparently Gaudí felt there was no need to rush construction when it started over 100 years ago. Currently there are eight towers (four on each façade), but another ten are being built that will be the tallest yet. Supposedly the entire basilica’s third and final façade—named Glory—will be completed within ten years’ time (though my dad joked they said the same thing when he visited in the 70s!).
The two existing sides are noticeably different. The Passion Façade is more what I associate with Gaudí as we know him now. With its bright colours and organic shapes, the clean lines are reminiscent of Casa Batlló’s skeletal frame. Ironically, construction on this façade began well after Gaudí’s death, though he left designs for future architects to follow.
In contrast, the Nativity Façade is more gothic, representing the birth of Jesus in an ornate, baroque style. Appropriately facing the rising sun, this was the side I chose to climb. We wandered round and round the four towers, weaving across balconies covered in scaffolding and peering out of long windows. It was easy to appreciate the city of Barcelona from our height. Reminiscent of a smaller, less urban Cape Town, from one window alone I could see mountains, greenery, city and sea. Not a bad location for Gaudí’s most famous work of all!
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