Going for Gaudi

Spain was a delight but not really for the reasons I longed for so many years to visit it. I was going there for Guadi and Granada – and I discovered a richness of culture and countryside and cities that I hadn’t really expected.

Of course time had to be spent exploring what had been in my dreams since first, as a student, I discovered the romance of architecture and the power of the built environment to influence communities – history even. Of course I was happy to devote time to Gaudi in Barcelona, visit Parc Guell and Sagrada Familia and Casa Mila or La Pedrera as it’s now known though our little foray to his Casa Vicens in Gracia was something of a waste. Currently undergoing major repairs, the entire building was swathed in builder’s cloth painted to resemble the real thing. Still, the tiny glimpses we had of the building was a good start to the process of getting an insight into the work of this much-revered architect.

Gaudi is one of those artists along with the likes of Van Gogh and Frida Kahlo that seem to drive tourists to go on artistic pilgrimages with the same sort of religious fervour in the quest for art (or perhaps the meaning of life – someone else’s) that is also accorded to walking the pilgrim’s way. What would those artists have made of this adulation and our obsession with selfies (selfies being a way to gain status from association with such art, perhaps?) and who will be the Van Goghs and Gaudis of today’s generations when so much performance art/so many installations are somewhat ephemeral?

Now a municipal garden, Park Güell required advance online booking for the limited time spots available throughout the day and without which entrance would have been extremely difficult and frustrating (queuing up in the hope you might get a slot before day’s end) and then waiting around outside until your slot comes up with not too many places nearby to sit and eat or drink anything while you wait.  But if you have the right technology and capability (Stefan thankfully did), you just go online, book for the next open slot and then go off to lunch.

Wandering around the hillside above Park Güell (originally intended to be a full-on urban housing development), you cannot avoid the purveyors of all things souvenir, though to be fair to them they are either naturally - or have been forcibly – restrained and you are only pestered if you show interest in their wares. The views across Barcelona from this hillside are panoramic so it is possible to kill some time by just gazing. On balance though, it is sensible to arrive with tickets in hand at your allocated time, making sure you go to the right one of many entrances whose locations are somewhat mysterious – you’ve been warned.

Once inside, you join the throng draped over the mosaic benches that constitute the serpentine balustrade to the terrace. The use of ceramics is lovely and creative and, it would seem, constantly in need of restoration. Oh that it were still simply a municipal garden to be enjoyed peacefully by all rather than commercial tourism of dubious benefit for which we must pay and in pursuit of which we must endure audio commentary – could you possibly guess I hate earphones?

The rough stone walling and vaulting of the colonnaded footpath is remarkable in construction and form, and offer welcome shade from the afternoon sun. For me the Sala Hipóstila is the most remarkable piece of architecture and I loved the quirky interior spaces of the gatehouses (pavilions) at the entrance to the park which were once family homes. It’s probably the closest you’d get to living inside a mushroom house of the fairy tale variety – quite magical.

In the Sala Hipóstila, I got the distinct feeling that Gaudi must have had the mosque in Cordoba somewhere in his mind while designing it. Though it is completely different in style and mosaic decoration, it has the same feeling – how marvellous that the best architects can capture and release feelings. Sorry to all the Gaudi devotees but I couldn’t escape the dungeons and dragons/Tiger Balm Garden feeling though that may well be what motivates people to maniacally visit this place and drape themselves all over everything. On the other hand, we came home with some photographs (particularly close-ups) that are real gems and a testament to Gaudi’s love of fine detail.

On the way to Park Guell we had a momentary stop at the Real Santuario de San Jose de la Montana, a great stone building of roughly the Gaudi period which houses “children at risk from social exclusion” and actively collaborates with the community where support in diverse situations is needed. I came away from Spain with a lot of respect for the Catholic church there and its focus of good in the community. I just pray I won’t one day discover that abuse of children by members of the Catholic Church is worldwide.

A memorable lunch in a small local café on the “wrong” side of the park, sitting in the sunshine with good friends, welcome beer and good honest Spanish grub reminded me that it’s shared experiences that often are the best and seeing something through other eyes as well as your own is enriching.

On our walks back to our apartment, we passed other famous Gaudi buildings on the way such as La Pedrera and Casa Batlló – both splendid and still “modern”.

But the really long-awaited Gaudi experience was the visit to La Sagrada Familia. I will be brief about this because I first saw the outside of the cathedral in a History of Architecture slide lecture in 1968 and continued to revisit this shrine in picture only until arriving in Barcelona. Only to discover towering cranes and builder’s shrouds in the path of a proper view of this realisation of an amazing vision. Sadly, I left Barcelona with a diminished view and confirmation of the thought that less is so very often more.

The interior of the cathedral is mind-blowingly stunning and the stone carving on the outside of the building a tribute to the excellence of Spanish craft. The interior joins other exceptional European cathedrals on a continuum of completion and decoration that spans many generations. I wondered though whether it really was how Gaudi imagined it and I would love to know whether he did indeed want all that mosaic decoration on the finials. Perhaps if I see the façade one day sans all the construction equipment I will again get the same feeling I had on seeing those slides the first time all those years ago.

There is no question – Gaudi was a genius and visionary. The concept behind the internal structure is truly amazing and still aspirational. 

But when I look at the newly completed parts next to the original parts I am left wondering. Some things perhaps are best left “unfinished” – Jane Austen wannabe sequels included. You can tell this was not the highlight of my visit to Barcelona.