| Park
Güell is a garden complex with architectural elements situated on
the hill of El Carmel in the Gràcia district of Barcelona, Spain.
It was designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí and built
in the years 1900 to 1914. It is one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
The park was originally part of a commercially unsuccessful housing site.
The idea of Count Eusebio de Güell. It was inspired by the English
garden city movement, hence the original English name Park. 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), or by
regular buses, or by commercial tourist buses. While entrance to the Park
is free, Gaudí's house, containing furniture that he designed, can
be only visited for an entrance fee. Although it sounds unlikely, the place
is skilfully designed and composed to bring the peace and calm that one
would expect from a park. The buildings, though very original and remarkable
with fantastically shaped roofs with unusual pinnacles, are relatively
inconspicuous in the landscape, when one considers the flamboyance of other
buildings designed by Gaudí. 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! |
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Lesseps