Antoni Gaudi was a famous architect whose works appear throughout Barcelona. His style is very modern and we think, whimsical. Two of his projects, La Sagrada Familia, a church, and Casa Batllo (once a residence) were close to our hotel. We also visited Parc Guell, a park designed by Gaudi in the early 1900's.
Gaudi started working on La Sagrada Familia in 1883. It's still not finished, having been interrupted by wars, pandemics and financing challenges, since construction is financed through donations. It's projected to be completed in 2026 on the 100th anniversary of Gaudi's death. The site is huge and prominent when you view the Barcelona landscape. The exterior design, scenes and symbolism are busy, eclectic and now, mismatched due to so many architects working on it over the course of time. But La Sagrada Familia draws tourists who in turn draw vendors and more crowds. When we were there with David and Dominika, we also watched the human pyramids being built outside the cathedral.
Casa Batllo was located very close to our hotel. Dale and his daughter Amanda toured the site. This was an actual residence whose owner (SeƱor Battlo) hired Gaudi to design it. Rather than tear down the building, Gaudi worked with the existing structure. This article from Once In A Lifetime Journey does a great job describing Casa Batllo, commenting that Gaudi was inspired by nature and that he "didn't believe in straight lines!" Among the many design themes in Casa Batllo are the skeleton shapes, the dragon-shaped roof, and the eschewal of straight lines.
There are skull-shaped windows throughout the building, and curves, waves and circles everywhere.
The video clip below is part of a show at the end of the tour that is titled, "Inside the mind of Gaudi."
Lastly, we visited Parc Guell, a park designed by Gaudi that includes buildings, statues and other design elements. We were really looking forward to this visit because we missed Parc Guell during our first trip to Barcelona. To be honest, it was a little disappointing after all of the hype. The buildings and architecture were interesting but similar to other Gaudi pieces, and the park is crowded with tourists. We did enjoy the greetings by the noisy parrots that are native to the park!
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