Unfulfilled Potential: Gaudi's Park Guell

By Siena Duncan

High in the hills of Barcelona and four or five bus stops from the center of town lies a neighborhood full of unrealized potential. Fantastical structures give it an aura of whimsy, like you’ve just walked into a fairytale.

This is Antoni Gaudi’s Park Guell, an unfinished project that was transformed into a public park, opening in 1926.

Now, local schools take field trips there, families picnic, and world travelers come to admire Gaudi’s work.

It’s about a 15 minute walk up a steep hill from the nearest metro station, but a bus will take you close to the entrance. Tickets can be bought there or online for €10.

THE GHOST OF A NEIGHBORHOOD

Just before the turn of the 19th century, a man named Eusebi Guell commissioned Gaudi to build a beautiful, sweeping estate for the wealthy on a large patch of land in the foothills of the Collserola mountain range.

Even the winding pathways here emulate Gaudi's organic, curving style of architecture.

The spot had views of the ocean and gave off the impression of seclusion, despite being a short distance from the center of Barcelona’s shopping districts. It felt like the ideal place to set up a neighborhood for Spain’s wealthy.

Vistors walk along the road, unaware of the view waiting for them at the top of the hill.

In fact, Gaudi named it Park Guell to copy the way British estates named their famous neighborhoods.

Guell and Gaudi were good friends. Guell, having been born into money, was often a patron of the architect, and funded many of Gaudi’s projects throughout the city: apartment complexes, chapels, and parks.

Without his faith in Gaudi’s revolutionary ideas, it’s possible that we would not have as many unique landmark works of his in Barcelona.

Construction on this particular project began in 1900. Gaudi faced several constraints when he was working on the houses. For example, no house could block another’s view of the sea.

As you hike higher into the foothills, you can view Gaudi's structures from angles where you can see tiled roofs and spires at eye level.

There were supposed to be around 60 plots of land available for development. Gaudi designed a model house to show off to potential buyers, but unfortunately, the project didn’t attract enough attention. The work stopped in 1914.

Ironically enough, the modern day attendees of the park seem to feel the same way. A group of Californian college students, observing the model house, pointed out the travel inconvenience.

“There’s no way you could have friends over,” said one of them, whose name was Anthony. “There’s nowhere to park.”

Anthony and David were speaking about this house, which was built in 1904.

There seemed to be a general consensus that the original idea for the park was somewhat pretentious as well.

“If you lived in this house, you’d need a moat,” another one of them said, a student named David.

“Why?” I asked.

“To keep all the poor people out, obviously,” he replied, as the rest of his friends started to laugh.

Only two out of the 60 houses were actually built. Guell moved into one, and encouraged Gaudi to move into the other. Guell would host large garden parties and civic events to keep the plot of land alive, and would die there in 1918.

Gaudi also lived in the park until his death in 1926. The rest of the land was bought by the city and made available to the public.

GAUDI'S VISION

The neighborhood was designed to have several community features, such as a market, a theater, a chapel and unique roadways. Many of these were actually built before the project was given up.

Now, visitors can walk through them as if they were living in Gaudi’s creation.

For example, you can meander down the Pathway of Columns. Meant to look like a natural pathway, Gaudi built it out of rough stones to form large archways overlooking the hillside.

The pathway was designed to look like it were a part of the cliffside, hollowed out of the mountain.

It was built in the style of a viaduct, which means you can walk along the bottom, or on a second road that runs along the roof. Gaudi originally intended the bottom path to be for pedestrians and the top for automobiles to create a safe environment.

The double layered structure is now exclusively used by pedestrians, meaning you can walk both the top and the bottom.

Typically, musicians will sit and play for tips all along this area. Their music floats along with you as you walk.

A guitarist plays flamenco at the top of the viaduct.

The bottom is a shady area with many places to sit down and rest after walking up the hill. Up top, a fantastic view of Barcelona can be seen.

The real sights begin when you approach Nature Square. This is a massive terrace meant to replicate the style of a Greek agora, where Gaudi intended the neighborhood to gather and host community events.

The most striking part of this particular creation is the 360 foot bench that runs along all three sides of the terrace. It is decorated with tiles of all colors of the rainbow, with all sorts of different designs.

Gaudi gathered the materials for the bench mosaics from factories tossing out their broken ceramics.

But the bench is not just a pretty art piece. According to Maria, a tour guide for Park Guell, Gaudi modeled the curved bench to fit your backside just so.

“He actually used a model to see how people would sit on it,” she said. “And then he would adjust it to be more comfortable.”

Carefully placed holes in the base also allow for rainwater to flow out into gutters that curve along the outside of the bench as well. No puddles gather there as a result.

Originally, the water was supposed to flow into an underground cistern, meant to supply water to the neighborhood gardens and fountains.

Below the terrace is the market, where booths of vendors were meant to be tucked in between a forest of broad columns. Now it lies empty, but it’s a good spot for pictures.

Look up, and you’ll find four large, circular mosaics meant to represent the four seasons. At the center of each, there is a hook where a lantern could be hung to light up the space at night.

The ceiling is also made of tile, a simple white mosaic joining organic style bubbles in the roof.

From there, a wide staircase takes you past impressive mosaic sculptures and fountains, including a fully tiled lizard. You can tour Gaudi’s house, and one of the model homes.

The full experience takes some effort to climb up and down the hillside, so wear your walking shoes. But the sights are certainly worth the exercise.