When I plucked the new Anthropologie catalog from my mailbox, I immediately recognized the cover's backdrop as Barcelona's Park Güell. Designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí, the park and its organic shapes and colorful mosaic work reflect his playful, visionary style.
Born in 1852, Gaudí is the best known architect of "Modernisme," a movement associated with the search for Catalan national identity in Spain which paralleled the Art Deco period elsewhere.
Gaudí infused his passion for nature into his craft as a highly creative and technically gifted architect. Especially later in his career, you'll see few straight lines or sharp corners in the parks, homes, and churches he designed — instead, his walls, balconies, and roofs undulate. The shapes are reminiscent of seashells, waves, tree canopies, and animal scales. Gaudí was also skilled in his use of stained glass and mosaics, and his highly ornamental creations are interesting down to the last detail.
Gaudí's other passion, for his Roman Catholic faith, takes shape most ambitiously in his still incomplete masterpiece, the Sagrada Familia (Images 1 and 2). While any cathedral can make you feel insignificant and awed, for me visiting the Sagrada Familia was a unique, almost magical experience. Despite its unfinished state, the basilica is one of seven Gaudí creations considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
TOP ROW:
1. Sagrada Familia, "Passion façade"
2. Sagrada Familia, nave detail
3. Casa Batlló, façade
4. Park Güell, colonnade
5. Casa Mila, rooftop
BOTTOM ROW
6. Park Güell, mosaic benches
7. and 8. Park Güell and Casa Batlló, respectively, in Anthropologie's October catalog
MORE GAUDI ON APARTMENT THERAPY:
• A Design Lover's Guide to Barcelona
• What Does a Gaudi Kitchen Look Like?
• Antonio Gaudi: At the Gene Siskel Film Center
(Images: As linked above)
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I took my first trip to Barcelona this Spring and was moved to tears when I walked into the Sagrada Familia. I'm not a religious person but nothing (even the guide's warning that we would be blown away) could have prepared me for what I saw inside. The outside is magnificent but it's really nothing compared to the colours and the feeling that envelops you when you go in. Definitely something I'll remember forever and something everybody should experience.
A few pictures here http://bunniesandstripes.blogspot.fr/2012/08/better-late-than-never.html
@jdoey Have you had the chance to visit Sagrada Familia in person? I would recommend it. I think it's beautiful anyways, but it's even more so in person. The details are great. And I can think of far more horrible designs, just feed me a few drinks. ;)
oh I guess @jdoey removed his comment.
I love the SF too. I toured it at 5pm, right before closing. I shot video as I scaled the turrets and the bells started ringing -Magical!
I guess they're spires, not turrets? Lulz.
Please, please, please, change the Passion façade by the Nativity façade! It's the one that respects Gaudi's style the best!
I visited about 3 years ago and was disappointed to see the church being under construction w/repairs. The only thing I saw beautiful were the windows but over all, for me, it was a waste of time.
Just returned from Barcelona three weeks ago. The outside seems very dark and foreboding (at least in my opinion) and then you walk into this incredibly bright, colorful interior, with all sorts of organic shapes - just beautiful! La Pedrera was amazing as well.
On a side note - Barcelona is an amazing city!!! The AT post on BCN back in July/August could not have been more perfectly timed.
When you walk out of the metro station with your heart beating faster, and you look at the SF, you feel the jolt. Tears follow. I was walking into a dreamscape that will never forget.
Rickelle wrote: "oh I guess @jdoey removed his comment."
No, that would be Apartment Therapy that removed my post. Unless you agree with an article or the consensus then posts are often removed. It's a disgusting way to run a site and its comment system. It's the main reason why I no longer visit this site as much as I used to. I know a few other people that have stopped visiting altogether because of it.
As for your question, yes I have been there and actually spent some time taking quite a few pictures of it as photography is a serious hobby of mine. The interest in doing so was more out of how bizarre I thought it looked. I still feel that way. In my opinion, and something Apartment Therapy obviously doesn't appreciate, there is nothing beautiful about it. I think it is also architecturally overrated.
I would get into more detail about my opinion but I'm a bit disgusted about even responding if it means Apartment Therapy is going to delete my comment again.
Apartment Therapy learn to accept other people's views on things. As long as they are doing so without being disrespectful to anyone then no reasonable, open minded and tolerant person should object. You may even get more readers as a result, while keeping your existing readers from going elsewhere.
Eh -- I've made several snarky comments aimed directly at AT editing (such as ["Wall paneling, called Wainscoting, are often found in today's home." It are!] and [Marbled paper "reminds me of old books with marbled end papers." That's like how Marilyn Monroe reminds me of movies starring Marilyn Monroe.]), and they're still up. AT doesn't automatically squelch things just because they're a minority opinion or against the AT-decreed position.
Cathedrals can take sometimes hundreds of years to build. The Sagrada Familia is not undergoing repairs - it's not finished yet. The amazingly ornate design of the building means that it's difficult and complex to work on, as well as expensive. (See also, St. John the Divine in NYC)
It makes me cringe to see comments that mean that the poster didn't even trouble themselves to read the available brochures or speak to a guide. I have been to BCN & this Cathedral & still have these materials. Why travel if you don't want to learn anything?
@Bee for Brian
Obviously they do, as they did with mine. I am not the only one that has experienced that. I've seen it happen many times. All I had said was that I didn't like the look of the building and that I thought it was overrated. Just because you have experienced better luck doesn't make those things any less true.
That said, I am surprised they didn't delete my second post. Maybe it is just to old now and they haven't yet noticed it. That's not cynicism either. That's based on prior experience. We'll see.
I'm sure they DO it, but I'm just saying it's not automatic.