Three Days in Barcelona

It's particularly dreary around here today, as it is pouring rain and I am on day 2 of a vicious flu.  In between bouts of unconsciousness, I decided to cheer myself up by finally going through the Barcelona pictures from last October's 3-day girls' weekend.

I've always wanted to visit Barcelona's sun-kissed shores, meander the winding streets of the Gothic Quarter, and discover for myself the culinary wonders I had heard everyone talk about.  But mostly, I wanted to see Antoni Gaudí's Casa Milà.  This is because about 15 years ago, when my mother asked what i would like for my birthday, i asked for a painting.  While trained as an architect, she's also a talented watercolorist, and since i couldn't afford to buy any art, i thought it would be great to have her paint something.  Inspiration being a funny thing, she was at the garden center shopping for a strawberry pot, when it occurred to her that the pot sort of looked like Gaudí's famous apartment building Casa Milà.  So she went to the library, checked out some books on Gaudí, and for my birthday, I received a Gaudiesque strawberry pot.

In some ways, Barcelona is defined by Gaudí's architecture, from the Sagrada Familia, which dominates the central skyline-

 

...to the fantastical Parc Güell, with its beautiful tile mosaics that partially inspired my own kitchen backsplash, and whose high vantage point offers the best view of the city and the bay:

 

Most of Gaudí's works are in Barcelona, and because his style was so personalized, it is hard to think of one without thinking of the other, much like it is hard to think of the Paris Métro without thinking of Hector Guimard.  Like the Art Nouveau movement of which he was initially a part, Gaudí's works are holistic - he also designed the furniture, the ironwork, the textiles, and did the interior decorating - with organic designs drawn largely from nature.  Casa Milà, also known as La Pedrera (or "stone quarry"), is an architectural masterpiece (and UNESCO World Heritage Site) that in many ways best represents Gaudí's modernist style, combining new and old materials and construction techniques to form radically new architecture.  There is a fantastic history of Casa Milà by its new owners, the Catalunya Caixa here, including the inevitable story of building code violations, construction delays, and neighborhood opposition, as well as the remarkable story of the building's neglect and ultimate resurrection.  And there are three interesting takes on the building and its architect here.

But none of these can really prepare you for how stunning the building is or how remarkably innovative the construction of it was.

 

As i mentioned above, Gaudí drew heavily from natural forms, and part of his collection of objects is housed in the museum at the top of Casa Milà.  I was particularly struck by the following two objects, which seem to be present throughout the design:

To wit, Casa Milà, like most of Gaudí's buildings, relies heavily on catenary arches to provide the openness of the floorplans.  A catenary arch is the curve an idealized chain makes when supported on both ends and acting on its own weight.  An inverted catenary arch is created by hanging a series of chains to the desired proportions and then using the inversion as a guide for construction.  Gaudí was known for rarely drafting his designs on paper, choosing instead to create chain models and then constructing 3D models by viewing the chains in a mirror, like so:

 

The arches in Casa Milà, however, look more parabolic, and the effect of wandering through them felt very much like being inside the spine on display.

 

And the chambers and spiral of the nautilus shell feel reflected in much of the ironwork and even the shape of the ceiling:

 

But then there is that inexplicable roof, a roller coaster of sidewalks, guarded by witch scarers and stormtroopers.

While Gaudí in strongly associated with Barcelona, I would really say he was drawing on a long tradition of brilliant architecture and urban planning that is what really defines Barcelona, the only city to have won the Royal Gold Medal of architecture.  The architecture from its Roman beginnings to its contemporary masterpieces are seamlessly interwoven.  It feels like every building and park is planned with a 360 degree view - there's never a bad angle.  

 

 

 

 

Self-Portrait of the Artist, On Bicycle

 

Even the food is beautiful:

 

 

Three days was not even close enough to see everything i wanted to - we missed the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion and all the museums, as well as the Parc Montjüic and the Poble Espanyol.  But i'll definitely make a point to go back, because I have to say that Barcelona runs a close second to Paris as my favorite city. 

And for those of you who like my overly long posts, i've posted a few extra pictures here.