If ever there was an architect synonymous with the city in which he practised, it would be Antoni Gaudi. His immense popularity in Barcelona overwhelms: I haven’t yet been inside his masterwork, the still-under-construction Sagrada Familia, due to the length of the line-ups.
.
.
However, there is one of his buildings literally off the beaten path (the Ramblas, in this case) that we came across almost by accident: the Palau Güell – home of his greatest patron (next to God), the industrial tycoon Eusebi Güell.
No coincidence that his businesses were in textiles and construction materials. It was this connection between architects and designers of the decorative arts with the production and research in materials promoted by the industrialists that led to the special nature of Catalonian Modernisme – the name applied to the artistic movement there in the late 19th-century and early-20th centuries.
(It was known as Art Nouveau or Jugendstil, among other names – thus confusing North Americans, in particular, when they hear Gaudi and his contemporaries described as Modernists.)
Pioneering work in forged iron, ceramic tiles, ceramics, glass-making, silver and goldsmith work, even reinforced concrete, gave architects special opportunities a half-century ahead of much of the world. What looks like elaborate craft work would only have been possible technically, even structurally, without the knowledge advanced by the industrial revolution in Catalonia.
When Güell commissioned Gaudi to design his city palace, the result was an extraordinarily detailed work of art, meant as much as an entertainment centre for society as a family home.
The craft and design amazes, the lavishness is offset by the religiosity, but the home remains dark, somber and almost suffocating:
.
.
Not surprising perhaps that after Guell’s death, his wife rather quickly moved out. And more grimly ironic, the basement became used as a torture chamber by police after the Spanish Civil War.
.
The Palau is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Centro Comercial Glòries
Centro Comercial Glòries
Not sure I completely agree that the Palau is grim on both the inside and outside. From the street, it’s a forbidding mass of smooth stone and iron; on the inside, it’s opulent and detailed and beautiful, but I didn’t find it oppressive; on the roof, it’s a riot of color and whimsy.
The thing that did surprise me about Palau Guell is how relatively ungentrified the rest of the Raval remains. From the roof, you look out over run-down buildings with washing lines and cheap deck chairs and shoddy rooftop additions.
But you are right that it’s a fortress in the city, that defies the street, and defies even attempts to photograph it from the street. I wonder if that aspect of the design was prompted by Guell’s feeling about the city, or Gaudi’s.
As much as the Palau is dark and somber, the Sagrada Familia is light and lightness of spirit. I’d recommend any length of wait for the experience of being in those exhilerating spaces.
amazing !
I’m more sympathetic to the Palau Guell – it’s on a narrow, noisy street and close to the bustling rambla. I think it’s supposed to be a shelter away from the street and provide a quiet oasis.
That being said, there are more lighter works of gaudi – i hope you saw casa batilo….