Park Güell (
Catalan: Parc Güell;
Catalan pronunciation: [ˈpark ˈɡweʎ]) is a garden complex with
architectural elements situated on the hill of
el Carmel in the
Gràcia district of
Barcelona,
Catalonia,
Spain. It was designed by the
CatalanarchitectAntoni Gaudí and built in the years 1900 to 1914. It is part of the
UNESCO World Heritage Site"Works of
Antoni Gaudí".
Origins as a Housing Development
The park was originally part of a commercially unsuccessful housing site, the idea of Count
Eusebi Güell, whom the park was named after. It was inspired by the English
garden city movement; hence the original English name
Park (in the Catalan language spoken in Catalonia where Barcelona is located, the word for "Park" is "Parc", and the name of the place is "Parc Güell" in its original language). The site was a rocky hill with little vegetation and few trees, called
Muntanya Pelada (Bare Mountain). It already included a large country house called Larrard House or Muntaner de Dalt House, and was next to a neighborhood of upper class houses called
La Salut (The Health). The intention was to exploit the fresh air (well away from smoky factories) and beautiful views from the site, with sixty triangular lots being provided for luxury houses. Count Eusebi Güell added to the prestige of the development by moving in 1906 to live in Larrard House. Ultimately, only two houses were built, neither designed by Gaudí. One was intended to be a show house, but on being completed in 1904 was put up for sale, and as no buyers came forward, Gaudí, at Güell's suggestion, bought it with his savings and moved in with his family and his father in 1906.
[1] This house, where Gaudi lived from 1906 to 1926, was built by Francesc Berenguer in 1904. It contains original works by Gaudi and several of his collaborators. It is now the Gaudí Museum (Casa Museu Gaudí) since 1963. In 1969 it was declared a historical artistic monument of national interest.
Municipal Garden
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Gaudí's multicolored mosaic dragon fountain at the main entrance, prior to vandalism early in 2007
It has since been converted into a municipal garden. It can be reached by underground railway (although the stations are at a distance from the Park and at a much lower level below the hill), by city buses, or by commercial tourist buses. While entrance to the Park is free, Gaudí's house, "la Torre Rosa,"— containing furniture that he designed — can be only visited for an entrance fee. There is a reduced rate for those wishing to see both Park Güell and the
Sagrada Família Church.
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Gaudí's mosaic work on the main terrace
Park Güell is skillfully designed and composed to bring the peace and calm that one would expect from a park. The buildings flanking the entrance, though very original and remarkable with fantastically shaped roofs with unusual pinnacles, fit in well with the use of the park as pleasure gardens and seem relatively inconspicuous in the landscape when one considers the flamboyance of other buildings designed by Gaudí.
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The two buildings at the entrance of the park.
360 degree view at the main entrance of the park outside the hall of columns.
The focal point of the park is the main terrace, surrounded by a long bench in the form of a
sea serpent. To design the curvature of the bench surface Gaudí used the shape of buttocks left by a naked workman sitting in wet clay.
[citation needed] The curves of the serpent bench form a number of enclaves, creating a more social atmosphere. Gaudí incorporated many motifs of
Catalan nationalism, and elements from religious mysticism and ancient poetry, into the Park. The visitor was originally greeted by two life-size mechanical
gazelles (a major euphemistic symbol of 'the young beloved' in the Hebrew strand of the
medieval love
poetry of the region), but these have since been lost during the turbulence of
war.
[citation needed]Roadways around the park to service the intended houses were designed by Gaudí as structures jutting out from the steep hillside or running on viaducts, with separate footpaths in arcades formed under these structures. This minimized the intrusion of the roads, and Gaudí designed them using local stone in a way that integrates them closely into the landscape. His structures echo natural forms, with columns like tree trunks supporting branching
vaulting under the roadway, and the curves of vaulting and alignment of sloping columns designed in a similar way to his
Church of Colònia Güell so that the
inverted catenary arch shapes form perfect compression structures.
[2]The large cross at the Park's high-point offers the most complete view of Barcelona and the bay. It is possible to view the main city in panorama, with the Sagrada Familia and the
Montjuïc area visible at a distance.
The observant visitor will notice green birds flying around amongst the
pigeons and
sparrows. These are
monk parakeets that have became a common species with a growing population started from some individuals escaped from captivity sometime in the 70s. Like the pigeons they nest in the tall palm trees. Another bird to look out for is the hummingbird that can be seen on some days, if you look hard enough.
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