Barcelona - La Pedrera, Park Güell, and Sagrada Familia
La Pedrera, Park Güell, and Sagrada Familia are three other works that Gaudi worked on. Sagrada Familia is one of his most well-known works and is very large. It is a Roman Catholic church and is still under construction today. When I climbed to the top, there was a lot of scaffolding working on the upper parts of the church. This was probably my favorite place constructed by Gaudi. It's hard to believe that this structure is so old and is so intricate and massive. It seems like something from a movie when you enter the church.
Photo of me standing at the top of the towers
The construction of the church began around 1880, but it still will not be completed for some time. The church has many towers at the top which are all accessible by stairs and an elevator. I would say there are more than 500 steps in total and there are various stairs winding about the top of the church. I went through the "Passion Towers" section. The staircase was scary, but it was very fun.
Next is Park Güell. This was different from the other structures, as it was a larger area with many different buildings. The park has a spectacular view on the large terrace like structure. There are gardens throughout the park and some very interesting buildings. You can also see a lot of Gaudi's signature mosaic work in the park. The pavilions at the entrance are covered in mosaics. Those pavilions resemble Hansel and Gretel houses.
Lastly, Casa Mila, or "La Pedrera", which means "the quarry", was a large residential building. The building is referred to as "the quarry" because of it's rougher stone appearance, which many people did not find appealing at the time. This structure is especially interesting because of its unique structural system. There were amazing columns throughout the interior area in the building because the walls themselves are not load bearing. The attic area utilizes catenary arches. Catenary arches are inverted catenary curves. Inside the attic, catenary curves were demonstrated by a chain being hung on the wall at each end. The natural curve of the chain between the two points was the catenary curve. All of these unique structural processes allowed for Gaudi to build a facade with no limitations of weight and shape, which resulted in the current curved stone facade.
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This is a photo of the front of Sagrada Familia
The construction of the church began around 1880, but it still will not be completed for some time. The church has many towers at the top which are all accessible by stairs and an elevator. I would say there are more than 500 steps in total and there are various stairs winding about the top of the church. I went through the "Passion Towers" section. The staircase was scary, but it was very fun.
Spiral staircase that looks similar to the golden spiral
Next is Park Güell. This was different from the other structures, as it was a larger area with many different buildings. The park has a spectacular view on the large terrace like structure. There are gardens throughout the park and some very interesting buildings. You can also see a lot of Gaudi's signature mosaic work in the park. The pavilions at the entrance are covered in mosaics. Those pavilions resemble Hansel and Gretel houses.
Photo of Park Güell
Lastly, Casa Mila, or "La Pedrera", which means "the quarry", was a large residential building. The building is referred to as "the quarry" because of it's rougher stone appearance, which many people did not find appealing at the time. This structure is especially interesting because of its unique structural system. There were amazing columns throughout the interior area in the building because the walls themselves are not load bearing. The attic area utilizes catenary arches. Catenary arches are inverted catenary curves. Inside the attic, catenary curves were demonstrated by a chain being hung on the wall at each end. The natural curve of the chain between the two points was the catenary curve. All of these unique structural processes allowed for Gaudi to build a facade with no limitations of weight and shape, which resulted in the current curved stone facade.
Photo of Casa Mila
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