![\"The](\"https:\/\/qa-dosde.qamoon.es\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/dragon-entrada-park-guell-barcelona-gaudi-dosde-publishing.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Converted into one of the icons of the city of Barcelona, Park G\u00fcell is an extensive public park constructed between 1900 and 1914 by Antoni Gaud\u00ed<\/strong>, the main reference for Modernisme. The site, which was initially devised to hold an exclusive property development, opened to the public in 1923 and in 1984 was declared a World Heritage Site.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Within its 17 hectares are some of Gaud\u00ed’s most original and enigmatic creations<\/strong>, such as the dragon on the main staircase, the entrance pavilions and the undulating bench of the large, central square. All these elements packed with symbolism, convert Park G\u00fcell into a place that is as magical as it is inimitable and an essential place to visit in Barcelona.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In 1899, the Catalan industrialist Eusebi G\u00fcell i Bacigalupi acquired the land of an old farmhouse on the outskirts of Barcelona (can Muntaner de Dalt) with the idea of constructing a housing development of detached properties<\/strong> on it for well-to-do families. At this time, the city was densely populated due to decades of intense industrialisation that had attracted swarms of labourers from the countryside to the metropolis.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Nearly half a century before, in 1854, political and popular pressure had led to the dismantling of the city walls that prevented Barcelona from expanding into the adjacent plain. The urbanization of this vast expanse, measuring ten square kilometres (five times larger than that of the enclosed walled area) meant that the city got closer to and started to absorb various villages within the plain and reached the foot of the mountain range overlooking it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Various private initiatives were planned to develop these peripheral zones. The most original one was, without a doubt, that of G\u00fcell and his trusted architect, Gaud\u00ed, who designed a housing development on one of the city\u2019s hills<\/strong> so its inhabitants could get closer to nature.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n However, the economic circumstances and the idealism of its creators (judged to be excessive at the time) led to the failure of the project in 1914, resulting in its transformation into a municipal public park in the year 1922, which it continues to be today, almost one century on.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The architect designed a striking park entrance to capture passers-by’s attention using theatrical-like style constructions and conveyed messages by means of a multitude of symbols whose interpretation would solve the riddle of enigmas which came to the conclusion that: Park G\u00fcell is Paradise<\/a>. The use of colour and exoticism on the entrance buildings aimed to distinguish two allegorical areas: Heaven and Earth.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The design of the two lodges flanking the gate (the caretaker\u2019s lodge and administration lodge) responded, despite their whimsical appearance, to strictly functional criteria. With these buildings, Gaud\u00ed experimented with new structures based on organic forms<\/strong> that brought a unique touch to the park G\u00fcell site.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Situated between crenellated walls and with the imposing columns of the market place as backdrop, the Park G\u00fcell stairway<\/strong> is made up of four flights (three with eleven steps and one with twelve steps) and divided into two symmetrical parts by three fountains of organic form which, together, represent the idea of the geographical magnitude of Catalonia<\/strong> in its medieval splendour.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n On the fountain on the first flight of steps, a circle represents the world and a compass evokes Gaud\u00ed as architect and G\u00fcell as developer of the park. On the second flight, a snake\u2019s head, a symbol of medicine, appears below a Catalan flag. The third fountain is dominated by the famous dragon of Park G\u00fcell that is decorated with trencad\u00eds ceramic work, while the last flight holds an odeon-shaped bench.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Situated on the second level of Park G\u00fcell, the hypostyle hall provides an imposing monumental backdrop that becomes more impressive the closer you get. As for its design, Gaud\u00ed was influenced by Doric columns from Classical Greece<\/strong>. The architect made the arrangement\u2019s outer columns slant, common practice amongst Greek architects, which Gaud\u00ed deliberately exaggerated in order to reinforce the structure and give more visual dynamism to the area.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n To be used as a market place by the inhabitants of the complex, the hall is comprised of eighty-six columns made from rubble and mortar that support a large square above. The roof is made up of semi-spherical vaults decorated with white trencad\u00eds work. Gaud\u00ed substituted four of the columns by putting colourful trencadis ceiling rosettes instead, which represent the four seasons.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Inspired by squares (agoras) of Greek city-states (polis), Gaud\u00ed designed this vast meeting and recreation point for the housing estate\u2019s inhabitants where civic activities and religious ceremonies could take place. Situated in the geographical centre of Park G\u00fcell, the large square, measuring 86 metres long by 43 metres wide, has an oval shape and a third of its surface area was dug out from the hillside, with a layout that harks back to Ancient Greek theatres<\/strong>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The rest of the space, outlined by the long serpentine bench which acts as a railing or balustrade, rests upon the 86 Doric columns of the market place just below it, with which the large square transforms into a look-out point over Barcelona and the Mediterranean Sea.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Gaud\u00ed got round the access problems caused by the challenging steep land by designing numerous viaducts, porticos, paths and tracks<\/strong> with the most original of structures, very functional designs and routes that aesthetically blended in perfectly with the land.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Inspired by the nineteenth century style English garden, Gaud\u00ed devised a network that joined every area of the site and which fulfilled the symbolic program of ascension from the worldly (the park\u2019s entrance) to the most ascetic: the Calvary that crowns it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In the year 1902, with the park\u2019s pathway network almost complete, G\u00fcell commissions Gaud\u00ed with the project of a show-home<\/strong> inside Park G\u00fcell to show possible buyers the plots on the development. The constructors of the project (Pardo and Bardier) chose a plot with views of the square and Calvary, as well as access for vehicles via the Rosary pathway and pedestrian access via the lower viaduct.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n At an early stage G\u00fcell noted the early signs of failure of his project and decided to halt the construction of the show-home, but Pardo and Bardier, more optimistic, obtained authorization from the developer to erect a house at their own cost and risk. This time, the person responsible for the project was architect Francesc Berenguer<\/a>, an apprentice and close collaborator of Gaud\u00ed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Devised as a select urban development, Park G\u00fcell is one of Antoni Gaud\u00ed’s most important projects<\/strong>, declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco in the year 1984.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This book on Park G\u00fcell<\/strong> <\/a>explores one of Gaud\u00ed’s most visited monuments in detail, with more than 280 photos<\/strong> of the most characteristic corners of this garden city.<\/p>\nThe origins of Park G\u00fcell<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nThe main entrance of Park G\u00fcell<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nThe stairway in Park G\u00fcell<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nThe market place<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nPark G\u00fcell’s main square<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nThe paths in Park G\u00fcell<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nThe Gaud\u00ed House Museum<\/h2>\n
A tour of all the nooks and crannies of Park G\u00fcell<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What is Park G\u00fcell? Converted into one of the icons of the city of Barcelona, Park G\u00fcell is an extensive public park constructed between 1900 and 1914 by Antoni Gaud\u00ed, the main reference for Modernisme. The site, which was initially devised to hold an exclusive property development, opened to the public in 1923 and … Read more<\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1203,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-barcelona"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n