Gaudí´s Barcelona

Although Antoni Gaudí wasn´t born in Barcelona, his name immediately comes to mind when thinking about the city and and its attractions.
After studying architecture in Barcelona, he shaped the Catalan modernism movement and the city´s landscape with his original and innovative works.

In total, seven of his sites received the UNESCO designation: the Sagrada Familia of course, Casa Batlló, Palau Güell, Casa Milà, Casa Vicens, Gaudí’s work on the Nativity façade and the crypt of La Sagrada Familia the Crypt (church) in Colonia Güell.

Gaudí was inspired by nature, using its shapes, curves and colours within his architecture.
Modernist buildings often have lots of decoration, distinctive details and are sometimes asymmetric.

The Sagrada Familia
Construction of the world-famous Sagrada Familia began in 1882 under architect Francisco de Paula del Villar. He resigned in 1883 and Gaudí, just 31 years old, became chief architect. He transformed the project and devoted most of his life to building this Catholic church. Although it is still not completed, the masterpiece is one of Europe´s most visited tourist attractions and a UNESCO heritage site. Current estimations are that structural work should be completed by 2026, decorative details by 2032.

Park Güell
This park in the Gràcia district was built between 1900 and 1914, but not opened to the public until 1926.
Count Eusebi Güell´s original idea, when he assigned the design of the park to Gaudí, was to create luxury properties. However, in the end, only two houses were built. Güell moved into one of them and because no one wanted to buy the other one (which was originally a show home), Gaudí decided to buy it. The park has become one of Barcelona´s famous tourist attractions, with its mosaics, the serpent shaped benches, columns and amazing views  designed to create peace and calm.

Casa Milà
The “Pedrera” (stone quarry) in Barcelona´s l´Eixample district, was the last private residence that Gaudí built, completed in 1912. The building with its wave-like façade, amazing roof including a rooftop terrace, patios and balconies is built on a plot of 1.620 square metres and each floor has a surface of around 1.300 square metres.

It is hard to believe that the now world-famous Spanish architect faced so much criticism and a lot of his work was neglected for a long time, requiring a lot of restoration later on.
Today, you can spend days in Barcelona discovering his works of art and visiting museums dedicated to Gaudí.