Gaudi Houses tour is our goal of today. We are going to several areas of town to have a look at several houses designed by Gaudi. If you are not familiar with this designer’s work I would suggest that you look it up on Google. He really was a fantasy level thinker that studied the shapes of nature and used those shapes in his designs. Not only were his shapes very interesting, but also the colors he used were bright and contrasting. As we looked at several of his buildings we really thought that he and Walt Disney had a lot in common, just different generations.
Our first stop was on the boulevard where several of his buildings were built along the Diagonal. We looked at the outside of the buildings noting the shapes of the balconies on one which resembled small face masks, chimneys that had interesting twisted and curved shapes and roof lines that flowed in waves. We noted that there really did not seem to be any straight lines in any of the designs. Since he used ceramic tiles of varied colors and shapes these shapes were colourful and outstanding.
One of the houses was an apartment building called Passe de Garcia - Passeig de Gracia Barcelona.
We headed over to one of the apartment houses to take a tour. The Casa Mila was built for the married couple, Rosario Segimon and Pere Milà. Rosario Segimon was the wealthy widow of José Guardiola, an Indiano, a term applied locally to the Catalans returning from the American colonies with tremendous wealth. Casa Milà was in poor condition in the early 1980s. It had been painted a dreary brown and many of its interior color schemes had been abandoned or allowed to deteriorate, but it has since been restored and many of the original colors revived.
We started the tour by checking out the inner courtyard on the ground floor marvelling at the skyline above. It is easy to see that straight lines are not part of Gaudi’s design or plans. The sculptured curved lines which are visible as you gaze upward to see the blue sky above really is impressive. Then we took the elevator to the roof to explore the incredible roofline. The roof line resembled the foothills with slopes, angles and smooth flowing edges. In a variety of ways the chimneys and other features of along the roofline are designed along natural shapes – including the rising smoke from chimneys or the twisting angles of bramble twigs.
From the roof we moved down to the attic where we could see the design structure for the roof. I would not have believed that the use of bricks with sweeping angles could create the strength needed to support the structure. As we walked through the attic we were able to see displays and exhibits about Gaudi’s design strategies and where he got his inspiration for the look and texture of his designs which ar based on natural shapes. Apparently he spent a great deal of time time studying shapes and structures within the natural sciences realms to apply the knowledge to his buildings and shapes.
Our next stop on the tour was to tour one of the apartments in the building. Each floor was one apartment and as we walked from room to room we were blown away by the use of space and shape. Again there were not straight lines or square corners and yet all the rooms flowed easily and comfortably. We did not feel any area as wasted space. Of course he did specially design furniture to fit the existing space but it all looked appropriate and comfortable. Another realization was with the open skyline/courtyard center that rose from the ground floor to the top windows could be placed on the inside as well as the outside of building.
Therefore there never was the sense of windowless space. With the open floor plan you moved from room to room feeling fresh air and natural light enhanced spaces. We all felt that we could comfortable live in this apartment.
We returned from this apartment to the ground floor to finish the tour. Wes, who had been with us up to this point, was starting to feel tired again with his cold and infection, so he cut loose and headed back to the apartment to rest.
We left the apartment house tour of Cas Mila to travel across the city to Parc Guell. In this park is the house that Gaudi had a house where he lived as well as the gardens he designed and built. The main entrance to the park was designed gate houses by him and his influence could be felt in all aspects. Even the ‘bridges’ were designed to look like rocks holding up the bridge. In some cases they looked like tree trunks. Overlooking the front entrance was a structure that supported a large terrace. Along the edge of the terrace is a sculptured, flowing bench that is decorated with ceramic tiles.
On the terrace were some performers who were putting on a show. Considering the entire park seemed to be filled today with school age kids (likely field trips) the terrace was noisy and crowded. We did not stay long but continued to explore the park.
We had one more place that we really wanted to check out and that was the Cathedral of Sagrada Familia. The Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família, commonly known as the Sagrada Família, is a large Roman Catholic church in Barcelona designed by Gaudí. Although incomplete, the church is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and in November 2010 was consecrated and proclaimed a minor basilica by Pope Benedict XVI.
The construction of Sagrada Família had commenced in 1882, when Gaudí took over the project in 1883 he transformed it with his architectural and engineering style—combining Gothic and curvilinear, Modernista forms with ambitious structural columns and arches. Gaudí devoted his last years to the project and at the time of his death in 1926, less than a quarter of the project was complete. Sagrada Família's construction progressed slowly as it relied on private donations and was interrupted by the Spanish Civil War—only to resume intermittent progress in the 1950s. Construction passed the mid-point in 2010 with some of the project's greatest challenges remaining and an anticipated completion date of 2026—the centennial of Gaudí's death. The basílica has a long history of dividing the citizens of Barcelona—over the initial possibility it might compete with Barcelona's cathedral, over Gaudí's design itself, over the possibility that work after Gaudí's death disregarded his design, and the recent possibility that an underground tunnel of Spain's high-speed train could disturb its stability.
Regardless of all the issues, this is an incredible structure. The entrances have significant Christian influences.
One of the features of the Sagrada Família is to take an elevator up one of the two towers and enjoy the views out over the city as well as walk through the towers and roofline to take the stairs back to the ground level. There are a few views that can only be seen from up top and we enjoyed taking the pictures of the towers with the colourful tops. However as we moved through the very narrow stair case (no more than shoulder width) we encountered a group coming back up the stairs telling us that the bottom door was locked. We spent quite a bit of time sending the message back up the line to those above that we needed to go back up. There really was no possibility of passing anyone on these stairs.
Eventually we went back up and then down another set of stairs to eventually reach the bottom. What happened, we learned, was that the door at the bottom was not locked but it was heavy and the person who tried to open it did not push hard enough. They assumed at that point that it was locked and started the belief that the door was locked. It was a very interesting time and when we believe that the door was locked we wondered how we would get out. The decision to head down to the locked door was that at the ground level we could yell loud enough if the door was closed but as we learned it was not. All the excitement was for not.
We left the Sagrada Família feeling awed by the columns, incredible building structure, stain glass windows and statutes. We returned to the apartment totally awed by our tour of the city and the designs of Gaudi. It is highly recommended that when you travel to Barcelona that you take the time to explore and view his buildings.
One other interesting event of note was the ride home on the subway. The other day Wes and I watched a group of young people storm onto the subway and at the last minute jump back off. At the time we thought that the couple they swarmed around had had their pockets picked. Today it happened to me and Lynne.
Just as I started to step onto the subway a young man rushed by me and climbed on, then stopped and turned around facing me. In the meantime I had people behind and beside me leaving me totally boxed in with no place to move. I felt a hand slide into my left pocket and immediately swatted the hand and then as it was pulled back I grabbed it to feel if it had anything in it. The girl yelled at me about holding her hand and suddenly the group jumped off the subway. I did not have anything in my left pocket since my wallet was in my front right pocket and my camera case was firmly in my hand and placed in such a way that access to the pocket was not possible. I knew she took nothing since there was nothing in her hand and it was only after that I remember that there was nothing in the pocket anyway except cancelled subway tickets. However the feeling of a hand sliding into the pocket was not pleasant.
Lynne had her small backpack in her arms and she had used a safety pin to pin the two zipper tabs together. They had actually managed to unclip the pin but had not been able to unzip the backpack to get into it but still it was unnerving to realize how quick and tricky they can be. She had the backpack in her arms and they still attempted to get into it. We were both lucky but since we had been warned numerous times we had been careful. Many people on the metro recognized what happened and we had lots of concerns expressed to us and asking us if we lost anything. We both assured all that nothing was taken. One couple from the United States were quite concerned since this group had pushed by them to get in line to go after Lynne and I. They were a bit unnerved since they realized it could have been them. Enough excitement for one day, we headed back to the apartment for a truly happy hour and a light dinner.
After dinner we headed out to the Opera. The Opera House is less than a block away so it is not a long walk. We are off the watch the German Opera call Der Freischutz by Carl Maria von Weber. The opera house is beautiful with red seats and white walls decorated with ornate golden vines. The opera is song in German but there are English subtitles on the miniature screens placed by the seats. We had really good seats with excellent views of the stage. However, the air is very hot and stuffy so it was hard to stay awake during the first two acts, but we managed. The seats in our area are three deep but rather than having a stepped floor, the seats are raised like stools so we could see over those in front. The ‘stools’ were comfortable but not as comfortable as floor level seats.
The storyline of the opera was classic about good and evil with good conquering. The third act (after the intermission) was much better but we believe that the air conditioning had been turned on so it was more comfortable. This opera house is the 3rd build since it has burned down completely twice and in 1982 was the last rebuild. It was build exactly to match the first construction and is very impressive. It is the place to watch an opera in Spain and we did it.
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