Thursday 7 January 2016

Gaudi's Park Güell

Mark it down as success from failure. Count Eusebi Güell wanted a suburban housing development, away from the spreading factories of Barcelona. He hired Gaudi to design the central park area, which was built between 1900 and 1914. Only two of 62 planned houses were built, rendering Güell's vision and investment a failure.

Not so! Gaudi's magical vision is still around to enjoy. Just through the main entrance, the stairway leads to a large terrace.


Before heading up, everyone gets a snap next to an iconic lizard. The terrace juts out from the hillside and you can explore the structure underneath, an area filled with columns.

Up the hill, you start to see the terrace's long, serpentine mosaic cap. The interior is bench seating.


Details. The columns, not following any Roman order. Inside view of the winding bench, all done in smashed, random tile pieces.

The view from the terrace, looking past the main stairs and to Barcelona. The drip sand castle buildings flank the entrance.


The window from the building on the right in the above photograph. Only Gaudi would design a cave building with an English Wedgwood framed window. Beyond the central terrace, buttressed grottos line the transition to the next elevation.

Super shot of a super fan!

No comments:

Post a Comment