Barcelona
18th November 2009
Today we were completely free to do what we wanted, so we decided to dedicate the day to Gaudi. We started off at La Pedrera (Casa Milla) which translates as 'the stone quarry' and is a nick name given to the building by locals after it was built in 1910. the building was originally an apartment block, but now houses a museum of Gaudi's work in the vaulted attic, has a preserved apartment as part of the museum, and you can access the rooftop. This was stunning. Panoramic views across Barcelona's grid like town plan and towards Sagrada Familia would make it a stunning place to visit, however you are standing on a roof designed by Gaudi. I found it beautiful and peculiar, you almost feel like you are one some sort of ship, surrounded by chimneys ordered in height and undulating walls all finished with a smooth sandy colour, it is quite an experience. The museum below had succinct explanations about his design ethic, and reasoning, as well as what was going on in culture and politics around Gaudi's time. One of the things in the museum which I loved was a model explaining how Gaudi designed several of his pointed roof tops. It was a board with several chains hung in a circle and then linked at the bottom, it was then turned upside down over a mirror. so when you looked into the mirror the hanging chain were reflected to look like they were standing upright, and what you saw was a skeletal form of a Gaudi building. It also had examples of organic objects from nature which influenced his work. The apartment was so stylish and glamourous, even the kitchen had special little novelty features. My favorite pieces were the so over-the-top chandeliers and the fabrics used for curtains and linen. Everything about the building was unique and interesting, it seemed to have no hard straight lines or edges.
Above and Below: Casa Milla, Gaudi's apartment block
Below: The spectacular roof of Casa Milla and views over the city
We then walked towards La Sagrada Familia, stopping on the way for lunch. The Sagrada Familia is a fascinating building, hugely impressive on first sight, it towers and looms over the city, only the yellow cranes used in the ongoing construction of the building rival it in height. We approached La Sagrada Familia from the South West, the side of the Fachada de la Pasion. A Facade designed to represent the death, resurrection and passion of the Christ. The detail of the work is incredible. The building of the church was started in 1882 from a project by the architect Francisco de Paula del Villar at the end of 1883 Gaudi was commissioned to take over, he carried on working on La Sagrada Familia until he died in 1926. Since then different architects have continued the work after his original idea. The church is a expiatory church, which means that since it was first built it has been funded purely from donations. The building of La Sagrada Familia is still going on today, which is one of the things which made the visit so interesting. There are stone masons, sculptors, builders and architects at work inside the cathedral, so you can watch the construction as it is happening. The absolute precision and detail required is painstaking, there must be a lot of talent required for any of those jobs! After staring at the Passion Facade, we headed inside. I was absolutely blown away by the interior of La Sagrada Familia, the sheer scale is astounding, and the design is staggeringly beautiful. The pillar system is a forest of abstract trees, whose canopies interlock creating star shaped holes, which currently are open to the sky above. The pillars, or trunks of the trees are completely square at the base and evolve by the time they reach the ceiling into a perfect cylindrical form. Gaudi was Heavily influenced by nature and natural forms, using skeletal structures as a base to build from, the tree like pillars in La Sagrada Familiar are a perfect example, nature did not only influence his design, but also his engineering. Other things which he was influenced by include, his families history of working with their hands (as boilermakers) which gave him an understanding of craftmanship, and also the area in which he grew up the region of Tarragona. Gaudi used a lot of symbology within much of his work, wether it was naturalistic, medieval or religious. Some interesting quotes from gaudi regarding his own work: “I am a geometrician, that is to say, I synthesise”; “I calculate everything”; “in the execution of surfaces, geometry does not complicate but simplifies the construction”; and “for an architectural work to be beautiful, all its elements must be appropriate in situation, dimension, form and colour”.
He also said of Sagrada Familiar's status as an expiatory church: "The expiatory church of La Sagrada FamÃlia is made by the people and is mirrored in them. It is a work that is in the hands of God and the will of the people."
We then went up the towers of the opposite end to which we entered, which offered a brilliant view of the city and over the building work of the church. The Facade on this side of the church is the Nativity facade, and is dripping with detail, to the extent it is almost grotesque. You don't know what to look at first. I prefer the Nativity facade to the Passion; it seems more naive somehow, I think the Passion Facade feels more deliberate and straight forward.
Above: the exterior of the towers of La Sagrada Familia with the cranes. Below: The interior of La Sagrada Familia.
After our visit to la Sagrada Familia we headed over to the Arc de Triumf and Parc de la Ciutadella, where there were fantastic fountains pretty ponds and a huge fake mammoth that we climbed on. 