Gaudi
Antoni Gaudí
In a city known worldwide for its stellar architecture, Antoni Gaudí steals the show. He led the creative Modernista - otherwise known as Catalan Art Nouveau - architectural movement. The style, which added to Barcelona's unique aesthetic identity, is characterized by curves, colors, experimentation, Gothic influences, and ample decoration, particularly with organic forms derived from nature- plants, trees, fruits, vegetables, etc.
The majority of these incredible buildings are found dispersed through the L'Eixample part of the city, where the city's 19th century affluence and industrial wealth is reflected. Here, Gaudí and his fellow Modernista architects constructed houses, parks and churches characterized by undulating, colorful, experimental forms that rejected the rigid neoclassicism so popular in the earlier half of the century.
***BONUS! If you decide to sign up for a Spanish course in Barcelona, you will be studying in the very heart of the incredible L'Eixample district. The location is unbeatable! Learn more about our Spanish school's location, facilities and services: Spanish School Barcelona Facilities
LA PEDRERA
While its actual name is Casa Milá, this funky building was bestowed with the nickname La Pedrera ("the quarry") due to its uneven gray stone exterior. It's one of the most visited Gaudí buildings in Barcelona... and with good reason. The roof deck is, quite literally, the top attraction and boasts a strange sculpture garden of curvy forms resembling human faces. The attic floor is dedicated to Gaudí's life, philosophy and architectural methodology, while the other floors, decorated to recreate a typical early 20th century apartment, serve as a window into Barcelona's bourgeois life at the time of the building's construction. After all, the building was originally intended to be a modern apartment buiding for Barcelona's bourgois class. Today, it houses the Caixa Catalunya Cultural Center. Address: Passeig de Gràcia, 92; L'Eixample district
PARC GÜELL
This incredible park overlooking the Barcelona cityscape is one of the city's top attractions and truly a "must-see" for any visitor. The park, designed by Antoni Gaudí, was originally meant to be a private community of homes for wealthy folks. However, the project failed and, lucky for us, the city bought the partially-completed experiment in 1922 and incorporated it into the city as a public park. Everything from the benches to the park's buildings, fountains and trails are brimming with curvy forms and colorful mosaics in this incredible - and even psychadelic - ode to nature. Address: c/ d'Olot 7, Gràcia district
LA SAGRADA FAMILIA
The ultra-Catholic Gaudí worked on the massive Sagrada Familia church, or "Expiatory Temple of the Holy Family", for the last 40 years of his life... and exclusively for the final 15. When he died in a freak accident in 1926, he left his final work, considered the culmination of his architectural theories, unfinished. Work resumed in the 1950's using his plans and designs and continues to this day. Its decoration and even its structure are laden with Catholic symbolism combined with nature, colors, and unique forms. Definitely worth a visit... and climb to the top! Address: c/ de Mallorca, 401; L'Eixample district
