Bewildering Barcelona

Park Güell

Let’s talk about Parc Guell. I don’t understand it. I haven’t found anything about his intentions but it is so whimsical that Gaudi must be appealing to children. I do keep comparing him to Disney. A few weeks before going to BCN, I saw an excellent PBS documentary on Uncle Walt.  They spent a lot of time on Walt’s childhood and how he had a gift for appealing to the child in all of us. I don’t think that is what Gaudi was after. It may be rooted in Catalonian folk lore, but that is just speculation. What’s up with the salamander? The park is quite large, yet I think I saw all the main parts. As with all his projects, what stood out to me was how labor intensive the construction was. There is so much mosaic tile work, it boggles my mind. That applies to all of Gaudi. I think I am looking at something not of this world. His philosophy must be about valuing the artisan and craftsmanship. Maybe it is a reaction against the industrial revolution. It seems to me that for economic reasons, the Bauhaus won the argument. Gaudi is an outlier.

You can read more about Parc Guell here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park_G%C3%BCell