More Than Just Art

While many college-aged kids travel here for its never-ending night life, the topless beaches, and the excitement of strolling along Las Ramblas, Barcelona’s culture, values, and geography can be seen in a different light through the art and architecture of Antoni Gaudi. While I had studied the work of Gaudi in high school Spanish class, no class can amount to visually seeing it and understanding its monumental meaning to the people of Barcelona.

As a group we hiked up what seemed like an infinite amount of stairs followed by a dusty path to one of the topographically highest points of the city, the top of the hill El Carmel, which houses one of Gaudi’s most famous projects, the Parc Guell. Inspired by the English Garden City Movement happening around the same time period as the Spanish Renaissance and industrialization of the local textile industry, the Parc Guell was funded as an urban planning project by a man named Eusebi Guell. It was intended to be an upper-class garden city with mosaic stairways. Only two houses were ever actually built, one of which was a model home for interested buyers to tour. No one purchased any of these homes in the area, so Gaudi moved into the model home with his father in 1906.

After Gaudi’s death, the Parc took on a different meaning to the people of Barcelona. Rather than a segregated community for the wealthy, it lost its invisible borders and became a municipal garden for the public to share. In a crowded city like Barcelona, stacked with apartments upon apartments, there is little personal space. The Parc Guell, with its modernist mosaic serpentine benches, has become a place for people to enjoy space, nature, and conversation with friends.

Walking through the terrace I passed by numerous street vendors and picked up a necklace or two. I also heard local musicians looking to make a few euros by serenading us tourists with some local tunes. The souvenir vending also speaks to how the people of Barcelona look at the Parc Guell. Not only do they see it as somewhere they can relax, but also appreciate it as a globally respected monument that tourists will come to visit.

Before walking down the stairs to the symbolic lizard fountain and Gaudi’s house (which is the only part of the park that costs money to enter) I took a peek over the terrace overlooking the entire city of Barcelona. I was able to see in the distance another work of Gaudi’s, La Sagrada Familia.

La Sagrada Familia is a sight to see from far away, but even more of a spectacle up close and inside. After seeing the Parc Guell, it is just a bus or a metro ride away to this magnificent unfinished cathedral. Rather than the modernist architecture that was observed at the park, La Sagrada Familia is built in Gaudi’s gothic style including vaulted ceilings and stained glass windows. As I approached the Cathedral, having only seen it in pictures, I was astounded by its massive size and intricate detail. The tickets to get inside is a little pricey, but if you have enough time I would purchase the ticket as well as the lift pass which can take you to the top of the towers. The ticket also allows you to see the museum in the Cathedral basement which describes Gaudi’s plans as well as what the future holds for the church.

I waited in a sizeable line, amongst other fans of Gaudi, to enter the cathedral, the whole time my excitement growing. When I entered, I found that the inside was simply a construction zone, but an amazing one at that. There is still a lot of work to be done on the interior before the projected grand opening in 2026, which celebrates the 100^th anniversary of Gaudi’s accidental death by tram. While Gaudi was alive, of the three faces of the church, only the side with the nativity scene was completed. After his passing, Jordi Bonet became the new leader of the architectural team.

Once it is completed, La Sagrada Familia will be the largest cathedral in Europe. This is a testament to the strong Catholic faith that pervades Spain. Spain is nearly 75% Roman Catholic, so this cathedral is a national symbol of faith and religion of the region.

Some may come to Barcelona blinded by the excitement and completely miss Gaudi’s architecture. Some who see it may consider it “just art”. However, from a geographical standpoint, Gaudi’s works are so much more more than just beautiful things to look at. They represent a culture, a history, a religion, and a way of life.