Travel photography: Spain Cities and Architecture - Part 1
October 30, 2015
Gaudí's Barcelona
Rarely has a single person influenced the appearance of a city as strongly and lasting as Catalan Architect Antoni Gaudí has done with Barcelona. Nearly all of the well-known architectural places of interest bear his hallmark.
Barcelona is counted among the world's major global cities due to its influence in the fields of tourism, commerce, science, fashion and the arts. It is also one of the best known and most popular European cities due to its success as a city brand. I really liked Barcelona although frankly it's a bit overhyped in my opinion.
First in today's Gaudí marathon is the Casa Mila or La Pedrera. Constructed in 1910, a revolutionary piece of architecture at the time and from the Barcelonans nicknamed "the Quarry" because of the massive stone façade.
After its completion it was perceived as an exceptionally ugly building by the general public but now, about one hundred years later it stands among the great masterpieces of modernist architecture.
It has some features that were truly groundbreaking at the beginning of the twentieth century such as a self-supporting stone front, floors free of load bearing walls and an underground parking garage.
Park Güell is a prime example of Gaudís naturalist phase, meaning that he got a lot of inspiration from natural shapes and patterns.
Considered to be Gaudís greatest work, the Sagrada Familia towers above its surrounding buildings. Speaking of towers – only eight of the eighteen planned towers are erected just yet. After completion it will be the tallest church in the world. Construction started in 1882 and is estimated to be finished within the next two decades. Originally it was estimated to take several hundred years – just as it was common for great cathedrals – but the development of new technologies (most importantly computer aided design – CAD and computer numerical control – CNC) has led to a massive speed up in recent years.
Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias – Valencia
The City of Arts and Sciences is probably the most important modern tourist attraction of Spain. It consists of a variety of buildings surrounded by parks within the former riverbed of the rerouted Turia.
To be continued…
I hope you enjoyed the highlights of my trip so far. You can find the second part about Spain here.