Gaudí's Parc Güell in Barcelona
One of Gaudí's works that many visitors miss is Parc Güell. Designed in 1900 to be a community of houses, the park was constructed over 14 years and features many of Gaudí's signature devices - a familiar, almost organic design, smashed ceramics used in multicoloured mosaics, fantasy houses and dragons.
The
park consists of a number of meandering walkways and is pleasant to
stroll around, particularly in spring and autumn. Although slightly
out of the way, it is one of the stops on the tourist
bus route.
The covered market (above) is called the "hall of 100 columns", but in reality only contains 86.
As you'd expect from Gaudí they aren't perfectly vertical and the roof contains designs in broken ceramics and glass - so don't forget to look up.
Above the market is a square with seating around the edge. Again, it is all done in broken ceramics, which were specially designed and smashed for the great architect.
Unfortunately only two houses were actually built, one of which was lived in by Gaudí and is now a museum. As you can imagine, the houses that were constructed are rather unconventional (left and below).
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