List: Gaudi's Barcelona

I saw many a European city during the time I spent living in Spain and Barcelona is unquestionably my favorite – it even tops San Sebastián, my picturesque ocean-side home of 6 months!

If you love art, music, nightlife, great food, history, culture, the ocean, and the excitement of navigating your way home through a labyrinth of alleyways, this is the place for you. The atmosphere of the city leaves nothing to be desired…except maybe your wallet if you get too comfortable in the crowds surrounding street performers. When I travel, I become somewhat obsessed with architecture. It is distinct in every country, but Barcelona has something no other city can offer: Gaudi.

If you aren’t familiar with Antoni Gaudi, his life and architectural style are worth a visit. Upon graduating from architecture school, an instructor is said to have declared: "Who knows if we have given this diploma to a nut or to a genius. Time will tell." Since then, it seems, the words “insane” and “genius” have been used simultaneously to describe his work.

His is an approach where structure and decoration blend together, becoming indistinguishable. His highly original designs are irregular and fantastically intricate and, in some cases, have almost hallucinatory qualities. His influence can be seen throughout the city: turn down any alley and you may find an ornate tower, a colorfully mosaicked balcony, or a lamppost that resembles a tree.

One of my favorite spots in Barcelona is Park Güell. Unfortunately, its colorful mosaics and beautiful view make it everyone else’s favorite spot. If you can, go at an off time of the week, pack your journal and a snack, and you may be able to find some (relative) solitude on a tiled bench overlooking the city. Also, be prepared for a bit of a hike from the metro stop: this location is not the easiest to get to.

At the park’s entrance, the famous trencadis lizard sits between twin staircases. Climb the stairs and find yourself in a square originally designed as an open-air market, surrounded by a mosaicked bench, and overlooking the city. Beyond the square is the “Hall of a Hundred Columns” which holds giant overhead mosaics and, in fact, only 86 columns. The spectacular color of the mosaics (which are everywhere you look) combine with a wonderful view for an urban park unlike any you have seen.

If you have a chance, Casa Batlló is also worth a visit. Gaudi remodeled the building in 1904-06; it was designed as middle-class housing and situated in a prosperous area of Barcelona. The design of the building has skeletal, organic characteristics – the local name for the structure is Casa dels ossos (House of Bones). Similar to Park Guell, much of the façade is covered in colorful mosaics. The arched roof has been likened to a dragon and the common theory is that the rounded feature to the left of the center represents the sword of Saint George (Barcelona’s patron Saint) plunging into the back of the dragon.

Gaudi had many projects during his life in Barcelona, but none was so close to his heart as La Sagrada Familia Cathedral. Gaudi was an ardent Catholic and at the end of his life, abandoned his secular projects to devote all of his time to this masterpiece. The cathedral has been under construction for over 120 years and, depending on whom you speak with, it is scheduled to be completed in either 2026 or 2040. When questioned about the extended construction, Gaudi replied, “My client is not in a hurry.”

The cathedral, a Barcelona must-see, is rich in symbolism. The 18 towers represent the 12 apostles, the 4 evangelists, as well as Mary and Jesus. The Central Nave is like an indoor forest and is the embodiment of Gaudi’s admiration of nature. The Nativity Façade faces east to the rising sun and is dedicated to the birth of Jesus. The passion façade conveys the somberness of the cruxification through sharp geometrical shapes and the six columns which resemble bones.

Gaudi devoted the last 43 years of his life to his Sagrada Familia and in 1926 he died before he could see its completion. He was constantly changing his mind and the plans for the structure, but in 1938, at the height of Francos’ invasion of Barcelona, anarchists destroyed the last recorded copy of his blueprints. This has made it very difficult to complete the cathedral in the manner that Gaudi would have wished.

Gaudi was beloved contributor to Barcelona’s “Golden Era” and half of the city mourned his passing. His work, identifiable in only the broadest sense as Modernism or Art Nouveau and more directly influenced by nature than any movement or fellow architect, is in many ways a symbol of Barcelona itself.

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