Antoni Gaudi and The Modernista Eixample
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| Barcelona |
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| The Districts of Barcelona (the map has been turned, the coastline actually runs SW to NE) The work of Vinals Reproduced under CreativeCommons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 |
Into The Eixample
The Sagrada Familia is Barcelona’s most powerful tourist magnet, and like many others we went there on Day 1 (Wednesday). The 35-minute
walk from our hotel started in the Old City but was mainly through L'Eixample.
L'Eixample, meaning 'the extension’. was planned and built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to fill the space between
the Old City and the nearby small towns and villages, thus turning Barcelona into a modern
metropolis. The contrast between the narrow wandering alleys of the organically-grown
Gothic Quarter and the planned blocks of L'Eixample is dramatic on the ground
and can easily be seen in an aerial photograph.
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| The densely packed haphazard old city lies beside the harbour and is capped by the rectangular blocks of the Eixample |
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| Ildefons Cerda |
The masterplan was the work of the visionary Ildefons Cerda (1815-76). Originally a civil engineer he became the founder of modern town
planning and coined the word ‘urbanization’.
L'Eixample has long straight streets crossed by wide avenues. The square blocks have chamfered corners and the streets broaden at intersections
improving visibility for traffic and increasing sunshine and ventilation for
the residents. Cerda planned a modern sewage system and for markets, schools
and hospitals to be built every so many blocks.
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| The Passeig de Gràcia, one of the wide SE-NW Avenues, L'Eixample, Barcelona |
Inevitably, the plans were modified when they came into conflict with municipal finances. The streets were narrowed, most blocks were constructed with four sides and an inner space rather than the intended two or three sides around a garden and only one of the two diagonal avenues was built. Despite these changes, the residents were far more middle and upper class than in Cerda’s vision of a socially mixed society.
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| Garden in one block opening out onto the street, L'Eixample, Barcelona |
Despite not quite living up to Cera’s vision, L'Eixample remains a model of good urban planning, the buildings are well designed and constructed and if you have to live in an urban environment (and I chose not to) you could easily do very much worse.
Antoni Gaudi and the Sagrada Familia
Modernism and Catalan Modernisme
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| Antoni Gaudi |
Much of L’Eixample is Catalan Moderniste in style. The Modernist/Art Nouveau movements swept through Europe, and to lesser extent the
USA in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A reaction to the societal
changes of the time, they encompassing poetry, painting, sculpture, the
decorative arts and architecture. Modernism evolved in different forms in
different countries. Catalan Modernisme, as distinct from Spanish Modernismo, combined
the reassertion of Catalan culture with mainstream Modernism.
The Sagrada Familia as it was in 2008
Catalan Modernisme had an emphasis on architecture. Antoni Gaudi was the most important Catalan architect and in 1883 he was given control
of Barcelona’s most important modernist project, the Sagrada Familia. Gaudi
worked on it until his death in 1926 by which time it was a quarter completed.
The Spanish Civil War further delayed construction and in 2008 it was still less than half finished. Even so, the first sight from the
intersection of the Carrer de Mallorca and the Avinguda Diagonal was impressive,
even other-worldly.
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| First sight of the Sagrada Familia |
A more orthodox view gives a better idea of what it looked like in 2008. This is the east end of the church,
usually the plainer end – and, surprising as it might seem, it will be when the
building is finished.
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| The East end of the Sagrada Familia from the adjacent patk |
The towers certainly look floral, and moving round to the north side and looking up from what might termed be 'the undergrowth' they appear to be dripping with concrete moss…
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| The towers from the north side |
…and a somewhat bewildering close-up reveals all the fussiness of baroque with none of the form.
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| North side, close up |
Meanwhile, the other side is so different only the use of the same material hints at this being the same building. Here Gaudi’s
angular crucifixion scene owes much to Cubism - another Modernist development.
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| Angular Crucifixion, Sagrada Familia |
Inside, among the carpenters and stone masons at work on the benches in the nave, the stained-glass windows seem disturbingly
anatomical…
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| Stained glass windows, Sagrada Familia |
…and the pillars were allegedly modelled on trees but to me they resemble the brittle skeleton of an animal whose fossilised remains have yet to be found.
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| The nave, Sagrada Familia |
The View from on High
The lift taking visitors up one of the towers had a long queue so we decided to give it a miss. Just round the corner was another
lift, going the same place but with no queue, so we changed our minds.
Looking south we had a close up of one of the finials. The high ground behind is Montjuic with the 1992 Olympic Park.
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| Finial (foreground) Montjuic (background) |
East is the Torre Agbar (now called the Torre Glòries) or sometime El Supositori. The tower has obvious similarities to The Gherkin (30, St Mary Axe to give it
its proper name). The Gherkin is 36m taller and was opened in 2004, The
Suppository a year later. But building work started on The Suppository two years
ahead of The Gherkin, so who copied whom? Or was it just an idea whose time was
due?
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| Torre Agbar (now Torre Glories) |
Turning a little further north, the chamfered rectangular blocks of L’Eixample stretched into the distance.
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| Looking north east |
Sagrada Familia as it is and will be
During the visit I decided that the whole project was too far over the top. Since then, my feelings have mellowed and I now rather like it. In 2010, building reached its half way stage
and Pope Benedict came to consecrate the church and grant it the status of a
basilica.
My memory says that in 2008 we were told the projected completion date was 2023. Now it is said to be 2026, such projects are ever prey to innumerable
delays – and then there is covid - but 2026 will be the centenary of Gaudi’s death,
so it seems appropriate. But what will it look like then? I offer this remarkable
virtual construction from YouTube. Is that magnificent or has it now gone too far over the top? Or both?
Gaudi’s House and the Parc Güell
Gaudi’s former home now a Casa-Museu is in Parc Güell. A 40-minute walk from the Sagrada Familia, the
park is in Gràcia, the district immediately north of L’Eixample and a separate
municipality until 1897.
The decoration is in the expected style but the construction is relatively conventional…
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| Casa-Museu Gaudi, Park Güell |
…as is the interior.
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| Casa-Museu Gaudi, Park Güell |
Gaudi had always been a devout Catholic, but in his latter years he became obsessed with his religion and his big church. With no wife or
family to advise him differently, he moving into his office in the Sagrada
Familia, neglecting himself and pausing work only to sleep and to attend daily mass. In June
1926 he absentmindedly stepped in front of a tram on his way to confession.
Shabbily dressed, unwashed and unkempt, he was taken for a beggar and not transported
to hospital until a passer-by recognised him. Whether he would have survived with
prompt treatment is unknown, but by modern standards this indifference to a man's fate because of his poverty is shocking.
Parc Güell surrounds the house, but apart from glimpsing one very Gaudi-esque corner we did not explore. Looking back, that
was a disappointing decision, but at the time perhaps we felt we had walked
enough, and it was half past two and even in Spain that is time for lunch.
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| A Gaudi-esque corner of Park Güell |
A short distance down the little hill from the park we found a cafe that furnished a well made salad and a bocadillo.
Dining on Goat
The afternoon is covered in another post, but in the evening, we ventured out to a restaurant we had spotted earlier, attracted by a choice
of goat dishes – we like goat when we can get it. Arriving at 9.30 we had the
place to ourselves until well into our meal. We enjoyed starters of pinto bean
and chorizo stew (Lynne) and a ramekin stuffed with garlicy, tomato-y, eggs and
meaty sausage (me). ‘Menu’ is the best area of our limited Spanish, but the waiter
felt the need to explain Lynne’s goat cutlet by making imaginary slices of his
own ribs. More helpfully he informed her it was ‘in bread and fried.’ My roast
goat he described as a ‘little arm’. The meat was good quality but as both
dishes were served with chips and aubergine fritters there was, perhaps, too
much frying for one plate.
More Modernisme in L’Eixample
On our final day, before heading for the airport, we took a short walk round the nearer part of L’Eixample. The Lonely Planet’s ‘Modernisme
in L’Eixample walk' has 27 stops. We lacked both the time for such a marathon and the enthusiasm for so many minor modernista mansions.
Palau de la Música Catalana
Our first stop was neither minor nor a mansion. Lluís Domènech i Montaner’s Palau de la Música Catalana was built in 1908 on the border of the Old City and L’Eixample.
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| Palau de la Música Catalana |
Domènech i Montaner was not only a practising architect, but also a Professor of Architecture for 45 years, and and active participant in Catalan nationalist politics.
One of the founders of Catalan Modernisme he was interested in creating an
architecture that reflected the Catalan character.
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| Palau de la Música Catalana |
I cannot comment on the Catalan character beyond saying everyone we met was helpful and friendly, but the Palau is a flamboyant structure and highly decorated in every detail.
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| Palau de la Música Catalana |
Cases Cabot
Not far away is the Cases Cabot, designed by Josep Vilaseca and built in 1905. Vilaseca was also responsible for the Arc de
Triomf, the entrance to Barcelona’s 1888 World Fair which appeared in the
previous Barcelona post (and in my collection of non-Parisian Arches of Triumph.)
At first sight it looks neither special, nor
modernista, but the decoration around the balconies and along the line of the
roof give it away…
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| Cases Cabot, L'Eixample, Barcelona |
…and then there is one doorway where decoration is taken to such an extreme it is hard to believe this is the same building.
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| Doorway, Cases Cabot, L'Eixample, Barcelona |
Casa Calvet
Its neighbour Casa Calvet, built in 1900, also requires a close up to see the modernista decorations. One of Gaudi’s lesser works, the internal staircase is, I read, the main feature of the building, but you cannot see that from the pavement.
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| Casa Calvet, L'Eixample, Barcelona |
Casa Batlló
Further up the broad Passeig de Gràcia is a more important Gaudi building, the Casa Batlló. Originally built in 1877,
the arrival of electricity in the 20th century meant it required modification
and in 1904 the new owner, Josep Batlló, gave Gaudi carte blanche to rebuild
his house. The end dwelling in a block of five aggressively moderniste
dwellings collectively known as the ‘Bone of Contention’, Casa Batlló has similarities
to the interior of the Sagrada Familia.
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| Casa Batlló, Passeig de Gràcia, Barcelona |
Lynne described it as ‘ugly and sinister’. The large windows reminded me of an episode of the Tom and Jerry cartoon where Tom is trying to stay awake and
props his eyelids open with matchsticks; Gaudi retains the cruelty but jettisons the
humour.
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| Casa Batlló window |
I am unsure about Gaudi, I disliked Casa Batlló, I liked the Sagrada Familia as it was in 2008, but the finished article in 2026 is
more problematic. He was a man full of ideas, but used them indiscriminately, often
all at once. There are times when less is more; but this thought that
would not have appealed to him.
Last Lunch
Back in the Cathedral Square we chose a restaurant offering a set lunch of seafood salad, rabbit with garlic and chocolate mousse;
€15 including wine. Our second successful ‘set lunch’ taught us a lesson that
proved useful when visiting Madrid a year later.
Then we went home.
Barcelona
Barcelona (1) La Rambla and Barceloneta
Barcelona (2) The Old City
Barcelona (3)Antoni Gaudi and the Eixample District
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