We stop for a cheeky coffee and donut before heading over to the building. From the street it's a tall mess of a facade, but I love it. The art nouveau period is something I find really interesting as it cross pollinates into organic architecture. The shimmering tiles are still, even now bring over 100 years on, quirky and modern. We head inside and I'm quite excited for the day ahead, Gaudi Day. Inside they provide you with a free audio guide and head phones that look like Beats by Dre, only light blue. We enter into the house and are greeted by an amazing and elaborate entrance foyer.
The detailing and craftsmanship is phenomenal. The skill and thought of the design, not only beautiful but ergonomically comfortable. The handrail and stairs are so comfortable to walk up and grasp. As you ascend up the stairwell it is flooded with light which is surprising as its the ground floor of a 6 storey building. The skylight above is like a translucent tortoise shell. It feels like you're underwater. At this point I think I've taken about 30 photos already and were only in the first room. So intricate.
We continue in and into the living rooms that front the street. Amazing. The curved ceilings and walls dovetail with curved timber doors both in plan and in section. Everything works with each other in these spaces, indeed the whole house. The consideration of design detail is phenomenal, down to the door handles which Gaudi modelled in clay then made castings of. Everything is bespoke and refined. Theres only been a few buildings I have ever experienced that embody the concept of gesamtkunstwerk, a total work of art, where each part is equal to the whole. Frank Lloyd Wright did it, and Scarpa's spaces in Venice had it too, but this is in a different scale.We rise up through the multiple levels, the photos must be well over hundred now. The central stair that wraps around a lift, is surrounded by two void/atriums on either side. Interestingly the ceramic blue tiles get darker the higher up the building you go. This was an attempt to make the colour seem similar as you ascended as the shadows would make the lower level tiles naturally appear darker. I love little clever quirks like this.
We arrive up in the attic space which is full of thin catenary arch structures. It's ultra modern in here. There's less detail and fanfare than other spaces. Could've been done yesterday.
We then head to the roof with its amazing mosaic chimneys. Whilst it's the most photogenic and photographed feature of his works I find them the least interesting. Nonetheless they are still cool to look at. Spatially is where I think Gaudi is at his best. The roof terrace is a bit of a dead zone for me. We head back down through the building, snapping photos of details from different angles. It really is a feast for the eyes of an architect.
We head out onto Passeig de Graçia and up a block to the Casa Mila or La pedrera as I have just found out it's called here. It's a different building again, more mono materialistic but still an amazingly sculptural masonry building. We aren't going in as visiting Gaudi is proving to be rather expensive. But still, it's impressive enough from the street. Perhaps another day.
We head down to the subway and catch a metro out to our next stop on the Gaudi express, Sagrada Familia.
The experience of popping up from below ground and being greeted by this amazingly complex stone masterpiece towering above you is very cool. We wander around its base, which is tight...due to the proximity of construction works. We spend some time in the surrounding park and streets, waiting for our time allocation to arrive. Everything is to strict time allotments here in Barcelona.
From the exterior it's interesting but once we enter inside, it's magical. The light quality is amazing. As Simone commented, this is the first Church she's been in which feels welcoming and makes her feel good. All the others are pretty but this one feels less hostile.
She's right too, this is a modern church in every sense of the word. What a space. So uplifting. The light shining through the stained glass windows up onto the fragmented stone ceiling is a visual wonder. The exaggerated sense of height within through the towering tree like columns really does feel heavenly.
We spend a good hour or so looking at all the details, watching the short explanatory videos and going though all the small exhibits. It really is captivating and a joy to be inside this building.
We eventually have to leave so we head back on the train to Liceu on La Rambla. It's now after 2:30 in the afternoon and we head back to La Boqueria market for lunch but this time to a different bar. Sim orders the grilled veggies again as well as an omelette on potatoes. I get some grilled chilli and garlic prawns and grilled baby octopus, as well as a beer. Sims omelette is slightly disappointing as its really two fried eggs on rough cut potato fries. Not the greatest. The seafood was good though. The food is good but not as great as the one we went to yesterday. Don't you hate it when that happens. Oh well you gotta try!
I order a caffe cortardo (got my coffee orders down pat now) before heading off for our next Gaudi adventure. We catch the green line again to a little further out of the town centre, up to Lesseps metro stop and wander up to Guell Park. The walk there is interesting as to our surprise there's escalators that run up the side of the steps in what seems a rather non busy street. So goooood! Our legs are getting tired and it's hot in this early evening sun. We get to the park an hour earlier then our scheduled time but it works out well as we stroll the surrounding gardens and aqueduct structures that are free to visit. It's really busy and there's people everywhere.
We head in for our 6pm time slot, waiting in line patiently. They control the number of entries to 400 at a time, pretty crazy really as it was originally designed as a public park and civic garden market. We finally get the all clear to go in, 6pm on the dot. It's a pretty cool park. We head into the guardhouse building which has more videos and background info on the park and the original intentions. Gaudis design was very sustainable and organic back then, with the structures designed as water catchment and reticulation paths. Besides the functional and pragmatic design though, it's just a beautiful space to be in. It's like an early version of Disneyland really, a public playground and amusement space within a garden setting. We head up to the upper level open square and head directly for the edge, as one naturally does on elevated spaces. The view over the city from this area of town is quite far reaching. The evening sun is shining bright and Barcelona seems to be delivering the wow for us.
It's now after 7pm and we head back to the hotel to freshen up before heading out for dinner.
Tonight we're heading to a vegetarian cafe restaurant up near Plaça Catalunya called Teresa Carles. We wander up Carrer d en Xucla which is buzzing with dinner goers. The twilight sky is really pretty in these small plazas off the main drag of La Rambla. We arrive at the restaurant and it's quite a modern and classy place. The menu looks good. We order an awesome salad with kale, lettuce, nori, mango and avocado with great olive oil too. Sims excited as its the first interesting salad she's had in a while after pretty simple mixed salads through Italy. I get a vegetable soup and sim the vege nachos. It's delicious. Good find by sim.
After an espresso to settle my stomach which is slightly queezy, (thinking perhaps the prawns from lunch) we head back to the hotel and to bed.
Another huge day. Gaudi delivered more than expected! Graçia Gaudi
mat + sim
No comments:
Post a Comment