Palau Güell (built between 1886 and 1890) designed by Gaudi for industrialist Eusebi Güell was our next stop. The sculptures shown here are rooftop chimneys for the many stoves within the palace.
Here are some of details from the palace interior that most caught my eye.
The palace basement included stalls for the family's horses and a couple of unicorn iron rings for tie ups. The palace entrance was large enough so that the horse carriage could pull in and allow family members to climb stone steps to enter the carriage unseen by the public
In the afternoon, we stepped back in time to visit Casa Vincens which was Gaudi's "first house". Gaudi was commissioned by stockbroker named Vincens to design a summer home. The home had residents until 2014. It took a few years to restore it and one year ago it opened as a museum. When originally built the house was surrounded by a large garden and Gaudi designed the interior to bring the outside inside. Now the garden is mostly gone and the house is surrounded by other structures.
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| "Fan Palm" fencing |
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| Trompe l'oeil ceiling murals |
Not yet finished for the day, we visited Gaudi's Casa Mila (built 1906-1912). At the time, Casa Mila was derogatorily labeled La Pedrera (meaning Stone Quarry). It is indeed an unusual building, and not everyone shared Gaudi's vision. It was commissioned by the Mila family to be both their residence and also as an apartment building. Rich people who couldn't buy their own single family home, rented apartments here. Each apartment had rooms for hired help. Gaudi designed the apartments so that natural light was available in all rooms. He once again pulled his inspiration for form from nature.
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| Model of La Pedrera |
The tour of La Pedrera began with the rooftop terrace populated by roof guardians that look like something out of Star Wars.
The larger shapes allow access to the rooftop from the attic. One of the corner rooftop sculptures has an arch that frames and highlights the distant La Familia Sagrada. The smaller shapes are the roof guardians.
A model and discussion of Gaudi's design and use of the paraboloid shape were on display. First, he sketched out the floor plan on a piece of board and turned the board upside down. Second, using chains of different lengths, he attached both ends of the chains to the suspended board. Third, he viewed the upside down suspended structure in a mirror.
The tour continued through a typical apartment on the fourth floor with period appropriate furnishings.
More Gaudi tomorrow, our last day.
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