Saturday, June 09, 2007

Gaudy Gaudi

In Barcelona, there´s only one superstar architect. And no, it´s not me, since I´m only a visitor, not a permanent resident.
Barca is synonymous with Antonio Gaudi. His ostentatiously, free-flowing, curvy, organic buildings and influence can be seen everywhere in the city.
Like these - eso:
a church in Parc Güell

mosaic details of a curving bench in Parc Güell, a swath of land consisiting of nothing but Gaudiness
curvy tree influenced colonnade in Parc Güell
his buildings look sort of like something out of a fairy tale. Or maybe he discovered acid in the early 20th century and didn´t tell anyone about it.
yeah, homeboy was tripping. Casa Batlló
his most famous project, La Sagrada Familia. Started in 1882, only about 55% complete, and I hope I´m alive to see it when it´s 100% complete. Not shown is a 170 meter central tower yet to be constructed.
construction zone in progress.
the interior of the nave, which he said was influenced by nature - the feeling of walking through a forest. I still say it was hallucinogens.
you can climb one of the towers, and view the other towers. Not seen in photo are the bells that started ringing once I got to the top, inflicting permanent ear damage.
I was so happy to arrive in Spain, so that I could practice speaking Spanish, something I haven´t done since I left South America last September. It´s such a romantic, beautiful sounding language, and not as harsh as English. But at first, I had trouble understanding the Barcelona accent. As well as trouble reading signs on the metro. I later found out, that many if not most people out here speak Catalán, a language similar to French and Spanish combined, thus making it Franish. A combination that leaves me lost. Oh well, I´ll just have to practice Español at the taquerías in San Francisco when I get back.
ironwork influenced by A.G.
For music to your ears, that´s beautiful in any language, Dónde está Ché Pelotas?

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