Park Güell (
Catalan: Parc Güell;
Catalan pronunciation: [ˈpark ˈɡweʎ]) is a garden complex with
architectural elements situated on the hill of
el Carmel in the
Gràcia district of
Barcelona,
Catalonia,
Spain. It was designed by the
Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí and built in the years 1900 to 1914. It is part of the
UNESCO World Heritage Site "Works of
Antoni Gaudí".
Origins as a Housing Development
The park was originally part of a commercially unsuccessful housing site, the idea of Count
Eusebi Güell, whom the park was named after. It was inspired by the English
garden city movement; hence the original English name
Park
(in the Catalan language spoken in Catalonia where Barcelona is
located, the word for "Park" is "Parc", and the name of the place is
"Parc Güell" in its original language). The site was a rocky hill with
little vegetation and few trees, called
Muntanya Pelada (Bare
Mountain). It already included a large country house called Larrard
House or Muntaner de Dalt House, and was next to a neighborhood of upper
class houses called
La Salut (The Health). The intention was to
exploit the fresh air (well away from smoky factories) and beautiful
views from the site, with sixty triangular lots being provided for
luxury houses. Count Eusebi Güell added to the prestige of the
development by moving in 1906 to live in Larrard House. Ultimately, only
two houses were built, neither designed by Gaudí. One was intended to
be a show house, but on being completed in 1904 was put up for sale,
and as no buyers came forward, Gaudí, at Güell's suggestion, bought it
with his savings and moved in with his family and his father in 1906.
[1]
This house, where Gaudi lived from 1906 to 1926, was built by Francesc
Berenguer in 1904. It contains original works by Gaudi and several of
his collaborators. It is now the Gaudí Museum (Casa Museu Gaudí) since
1963. In 1969 it was declared a historical artistic monument of
national interest.
Municipal Garden
Gaudí's multicolored mosaic dragon fountain at the main entrance, prior to vandalism early in 2007
It
has since been converted into a municipal garden. It can be reached by
underground railway (although the stations are at a distance from the
Park and at a much lower level below the hill), by city buses, or by
commercial tourist buses. While entrance to the Park is free, Gaudí's
house, "la Torre Rosa," — containing furniture that he designed — can
be only visited for an entrance fee. There is a reduced rate for those
wishing to see both Park Güell and the
Sagrada Família Church.
Gaudí's mosaic work on the main terrace
Park
Güell is skillfully designed and composed to bring the peace and calm
that one would expect from a park. The buildings flanking the entrance,
though very original and remarkable with fantastically shaped roofs
with unusual pinnacles, fit in well with the use of the park as
pleasure gardens and seem relatively inconspicuous in the landscape when
one considers the flamboyance of other buildings designed by Gaudí.
The two buildings at the entrance of the park.
360 degree view at the main entrance of the park outside the hall of columns.
The focal point of the park is the main terrace, surrounded by a long bench in the form of a
sea serpent. To design the curvature of the bench surface Gaudí used the shape of buttocks left by a naked workman sitting in wet clay.
[citation needed]
The curves of the serpent bench form a number of enclaves, creating a
more social atmosphere. Gaudí incorporated many motifs of
Catalan
nationalism, and elements from religious mysticism and ancient poetry,
into the Park. The visitor was originally greeted by two life-size
mechanical
gazelles (a major euphemistic symbol of 'the young beloved' in the Hebrew strand of the
medieval love
poetry of the region), but these have since been lost during the turbulence of
war.
[citation needed]
Roadways
around the park to service the intended houses were designed by Gaudí
as structures jutting out from the steep hillside or running on
viaducts, with separate footpaths in arcades formed under these
structures. This minimized the intrusion of the roads, and Gaudí
designed them using local stone in a way that integrates them closely
into the landscape. His structures echo natural forms, with columns like
tree trunks supporting branching
vaulting under the roadway, and the curves of vaulting and alignment of sloping columns designed in a similar way to his
Church of Colònia Güell so that the
inverted catenary arch shapes form perfect compression structures.
[2]
The
large cross at the Park's high-point offers the most complete view of
Barcelona and the bay. It is possible to view the main city in
panorama, with the Sagrada Familia and the
Montjuïc area visible at a distance.
The observant visitor will notice green birds flying around amongst the
pigeons and
sparrows. These are
monk parakeets
that have became a common species with a growing population started
from some individuals escaped from captivity sometime in the 70s. Like
the pigeons they nest in the tall palm trees. Another bird to look out
for is the hummingbird that can be seen on some days, if you look hard
enough.
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