Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí spent most of his sickly childhood in the garden studying plants and rocks. Dismissed by his teachers (one master reputedly asked: “Who knows if we have given a diploma to a madman or a genius?”), Gaudí’s colourful, nature-inspired structures are now widely recognised as peerless masterpieces since his death in 1926. His best work is to be savoured in Barcelona, where his idiosyncratic vision is immortalised and preserved for all time in the very fabric of the city, as exemplified by these five remarkable structures.
There’s a head-spinning amount of cool stuff to do in this city. Get to grips with it through our list of the best things to do in Barcelona.
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Parc Güell
Try and count all the different colours, why don't you? / Image: Adobe Stock
Cooked up as wheeze between Gaudí and Barcelona industrialist Eusebi Güell, this urban hilltop park first opened to the public in 1926. Chock-full of psychedelic weirdness – not least the gaping mosaic salamander at the entrance – it’s a feast for the senses, with swooping benches and phoney doric columns setting the scene as you overlook the great city below. Legend has it Gaudí – whose museum is also here – once confided to Güell, “Sometimes I think we are the only people who like this architecture.” To which Güell replied, “I don’t like your architecture, I respect it.” More fool him.
Carrer d’Olot, Gràcia
parkguell.barcelona/en
Casa Vicens
Gaudí's first residential project is a surreal marvel / Image: Getty Images
The dreamlike, multi-turreted and technicolour pile that looms over Carrer de las Carolines was Gaudí’s first serious residential project, commissioned as a house for well-heeled local stockbroker Manuel Vicens i Montaner and finished in 1888. Roping together traditional Arabic decorative elements with a racy splash of Art Nouveau – look for the French marigolds detail on the ceramic tiles – it’s a rich confection of vivid hues and ornate cast-iron filigree. Nowadays it’s a museum to Gaudí’s early work, with lots of yummy facts about this delectable house itself.
Carrer de les Carolines, Vila de Gràcia
casavicens.org
