As I mentioned en passant a few weeks ago, hubby and I decided to spend our five day vacation in Barcelona. We had such a great time and learned so much that an account is not going to fit into a single diary. From the point of view of art and history, Barcelona offers experience starting during the Roman Empire up through the present, including the city's importance in the history of modern art. One of Barcelona's great gifts to modern architecture was Antoni Gaudi, whose works are scattered around the city. As we visited two of his buildings (and took quite a few pictures), I thought I could start off with a review of some of Gaudi's works. (BEWARE: Photo heavy.)
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Antoni Gaudi, born in 1852, was a major force in modern architecture. His creations are completely origin, utterly unlike other buildings. His earlier work was clearly based on the Neo-Gothic and Arts & Crafts movements that were fashionable at the time, though even these buildings show striking originality within these schools. His later designs can hardly be categorized at all. Perhaps Art Nouveau on acid? Despite the fact that some of these wild-looking structures were built more than a century ago, they still look radical. For example, take a look at the Casa Batllo (Bat-ee-O), the structure on the right in the photo below. It was built in 1904!
A native Barcelonan told us that elements of the house represented death; you can see how the holes in the upper balcony borders resemble the eye socket holes of skulls, and the columns supporting the lower balconies resemble bones. This is an example of how Gaudi took cues for his designs from nature.
We took an extensive tour of another of his houses, commonly called La Pedrera, or "The Quarry" in English. When the nickname was coined, it was not a compliment. It opened in 1910. Again, it was and remains a radical design:
While a portion of the building is set aside for tours, it's still a residential building. The metalwork on the balcony railings have fascinating sinuous designs. Here's a close-up of a stairway railing:
What about those things on the roof? Those were structures meant to make the ugly stuff that ends up on building roofs (air-handling systems, chimneys, stairway exits) more beautiful. Here's what they look like closer up:
The attic has a roof of catenary arches.
A catenary is the shape of the curve you get when you hang a chain from both its ends some distance apart. Gaudi would actually hang chain structures in order to model the shapes that he wanted upside down, like this:
The apartment we toured in the building was charming, but one thing I noticed is that there were very few 90 degree angles between walls in the hallways and in many
y of the rooms. Again, this unconventional geometry. While the owners' rooms were sumptuous, I was drawn more to the humbler rooms. For example, here are a couple shots of the kitchen. (When you see the kitchen appliances, keep in mind that this building opened in 1910.)
Both Casa Batllo and La Pedrera are located on a street called Passeig di Gracia, or Grace Avenue; it's sometimes called the Champs Elysee of Barcelona. The paving of the sidewalks are made of hexagonal blocks designed by Gaudi which, when put together, reveal a beautiful pattern. You don't see the pattern in a single block:
But when placed correctly together, you get this:
The other great work of Gaudi we visited was his as-yet unfinished cathedral, Sagrada Familia, or Sacred Family. As my photos were taken too close to the cathedral to show it's overall shape, here's a shot I found on the internet that shows the east side of the cathedral, the Nativity entrance, which is the side of the cathedral essentially finished (though it's currently being refurbished). It was also the only portion of the exterior that was close to being finished in Gaudi's lifetime. (He died in 1926 after being struck by a streetcar.)
The nativity scene is shown in sculpture above the east doors. (Note the bassoon in the upper left--paging zenbassoon!)
The west side of the cathedral shows the Crucifixion in much starker sculptural style. Here you can see it under the four western towers, nearing completion. This gives you, perhaps a better idea of the scale of the building.
Inside the cathedral is a place of light. Here is a photo of the interior, facing east. Gaudi designated the placement of windows so that light would filter through from above as though through the leaves and branches of a great forest (again, following natural design).
The cathedral columns themselves resemble great tree trunks that branch out as they soar above.
The stained glass on the eastern side of the nave was in shades of blue and green, while the west side was in shades of yellow, orange and red. None of my photos of the windows themselves turned out well, but take a look at this photo of the light streaming through the west wall in the afternoon.
Progress on Sagrada Familia had been very slow for many decades, particularly through the Franco years, and indeed, it was damaged during the Spanish Civil War. But now the money charged for tours of the cathedral is being used to finance its completion. This is one time I don't mind too much giving money to the Catholic Church. The cathedral was consecrated by Benedict XVI in 2010, but will continue to be under construction for many years. The southern entrance, called the Glory, has yet to even be conceived. Gaudi realized that he would never live to see the cathedral completed, and that he would be collaborating with people in his far future to complete it. It's a marvel to behold.
I could go on, but I have to construct the rest of the diary if I have any hope of posting on time, so.... on to the comments!
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August 18, 2015
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