Barcelona: Casa Batllo

 Once again, my pictures do not really capture the whole; this place is incredible.  Here is a gallery of photos of Casa Batllo to give you an idea.  This house convinced me that Gaudi was a genius.  Everything was super fuctional and amazingly beautiful. Gaudi invented many architectural tricks to bring light into the building.  Gaudi was inspired by nature and particularly by the ocean for Casa Batllo.

The Illa de la Discòrdia (Apple of Discord), is a block on Passeig de Gràcia in the Eixample District of Barcelona, Spain. The block is noted for having buildings by four of Barcelona's most important Modernista architects, Lluís Domènech i Montaner, Antoni Gaudí, Josep Puig i Cadafalch and Enric Sagnier, in close proximity. As the four architects' styles were very different, the buildings clash with each other and the neighboring buildings. They were all built in the early years of the 20th century.  Wealthy Barcelonians vied to outdo their neighbors.

Gaudi usually worked from detailed scale models rather than from drawings.  There are large models of Sagrada Familia in the museum in its basement.

José Batllo was a textile industrialist.

There are wooden air vents in all of the doors that allow air to circulate throughout the building.

There is a large rear patio that is decorated with lots of mosaics.

Gaudi enlarged the window well and covered it with an enormous skylight.  There are 15,000 tiles in five shades of blue.  The tiles get lighter as they go down and the windows get larger as they go up, creating homogeneous light.

Even the utilitarian parts of the building are beautiful.  This area was used for laundry and lumber storage.  The attic also functions as a thermal regulars and insulates the rest of the building from extreme temperatures.

The roof terrace is decorated with four groups of mosaic chimneys and several mosaic walls.

Gaudi also designed furniture for many of the homes he created.

Pierre encouraged me to go to Casa Batllo alone the morning of our flight home.  It was a wonderful Christmas Eve gift.  Here the girls and I are riding to the airport in a taxi.

We highly recommend Barcelona.

Barcelona: Park Güell

Antoni Gaudi, along with his patron, Eusebi Güell, designed and built a garden city on what were then the outskirts of Barcelona called Park Güell.  Güell was interested in the Garden City Movement that was becoming popular in England.  These cities were meant to provide the best of rural and urban life. 

To get to the park, we had to climb a big hill.  There were several outdoor escalators along the way.  You wouldn't see that in Ottawa.

Construction was halted in 1914 due to lack of interest by the upper classes in the project.  Only two of the sixty planned house and community areas were built.  In 1922, the City Council acquired the complex and transformed it into a public park.  In 1984 Park Güell was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The area below this structure was meant to be a covered market.  Above is an enormous space for recreation, religious activities, and cultural activities, such as traditional Catalonia dances.  Now, it is a popular picnic spot and provides a lovely view of the city.

The caretaker's house is on the left and is open for tours.  The house on the right now holds the gift shop.

Gaudi is known for reusing materials, especially ceramic pieces from other works.  The serpentine bench that surrounds the plaza also acts as a railing.  The plaza is the roof of the covered market.  The mosaics include broken ceramic, tiles, bottles and pieces of crockery.

 Camouflage

Decoration around the caretaker's window.

We had lovely weather while we were in Barcelona. 

Barcelona: La Sagrada Familia

 In 1872, Josep Maria Bocabella visited Rome and gave the Pope a silver reproduction of a picture of the Sagrada Familia (Sacred Family) in the name of the Association of Devotees to Saint Joseph.  He planned to collect money to build a new cathedral in the middle of Barcelona.  Despite the fact that he raised 172,000 pesetas (1,034 Euros), which he kept under the floor tiles of his bookstore, he needed to find a less central location.  The official birth date of the temple of the Sagrada Familia is the 19th of March 1881, falling on the festival of Saint Joseph.

 The first architect only lasted for one year.  In 1883, Antoni Gaudi, who at 31 had already established himself as a well known architect, was hired to take over.

The magic square adds up to 33, the age of Jesus when he died.

 La Sagrada Familia has been under construction for 142 years, and is now in the process of being renovated and constructed at the same time.  On the subject of the extremely long construction period, Gaudí is said to have remarked: "My client is not in a hurry."  When Gaudí died in 1926, the basilica was between 15 and 25 percent complete.

 We took an elevator to the top.  The front facade and the spires are undergoing renovation.

 I took tons of photos inside of the church, but this is an instance where the pieces to not create the whole.  If you have a chance, visit Sagrada Familia.

 

 La Sagrada Familia

 La Sagrada Familia again

 A tortoise holds up one pillar on one side of the front door and a sea turtle holds up the other.

A photo without all the scaffolding.

This is the school that Gaudi built for the workers' children.  It was built to be a cheap and temporary building.  

Go visit La Sagrada Familia.

Barcelona: Aquarium

The Barcelona Aquarium is right on the waterfront.  We enjoyed walking out along the long pier; it was a beautiful day and there were many beautiful views.

 There is a large tunnel filled with sharks.  You can stand on a conveyor belt and slowly ride through the watery scene.

A great family afternoon.