Date: Apr 16, 2007 5:15 PM
Subject: Monday, April 16, 2007
Monday, April 16, 2007
BARCELONA, SPAIN
We have been here many times over many years. It is one of our favorite cities in the world. The architecture is superb and the fine old buildings plentiful. Probably the most unique architect ever, performed his art here. His name is Gaudi. This is also a word in the English language. Gaudy, meaning extravagantly or tastelessly bright or showy. That definitely describes his work.We took a tour of some of his works today. First we visited an apartment building that I had seen many times before but this is
the first time we were able to go inside. The entire building was supposed to be a dragon. Out side the balconies were shaped like human skulls. The façade was ornate with colored leaded glass windows and shiny ceramic tiles at the roof line. At the sidewalk level were weird oddly shaped columns in odd formations. Thousands of words cannot describe this one. It must be seen. Inside was even more weird.There was a large hand carved wooden molding going up the edge
of the stairs. It was the dragons spine and was made to look like one. Walls and ceilings throughout were bulging and puffed around windows and doors to imitate the insides of this dragon. The windows were unique. The front wall was quite delicate allowing windows to open easily and a system of wood walls could be adjusted up and down to let more or less light enter. The weight and structure of the building really rested on pillars inside and the weird columns outside.
We were not allowed to take pictures inside. I suppose to make us buy pictures and books from their shop in the building. We could not see the original bathroom but we could see an outer room to the bathroom. This was again way before its time. For a sink, it had a mostly flat slab of marble placed on a wood cabinet. There was a small drain in the very center and the slab had barely enough slant to send water to that drain. It is something I would expect to see in a Kohler showroom today, and there are similar sinks shown there.
From there we went to a park he built at the then edge of town. Again, Gaudy is a correct word to use for this work of Gaudi. Weird monster shape columns holding up a walkway and an area of multi colored, very gaudy seating. A park like this cannot be seen anywhere else.Lastly we visited a church started over one hundred years ago. Gaudi took it over and redesigned it. He worked on it from 1914 to 1926 when he got hit by a trolley and killed. It is still being
constructed full time and is expected to be finished by 2036, or not. This again is one of the strangest buildings and works I have ever seen. Again, only a picture can try to describe it. It has towers that look as if they were built by taking very wet sand and letting it make piles by sliding through your fingers. It is enormous and very scary. Like much of his work, it looks like a bad dream.All of these places had many people enjoying looking at and
experiencing his work. The man was a genius. In my opinion, a sick one. But I will probably be back over and over again to see his wonderful buildings and works. You certainly cannot be bored.
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