BARCELONA - MODERNISM OF GAUDI: PALAU GÜELL ~ Beautiful places of Barcelona and Catalonia

lunes, 7 de noviembre de 2011

BARCELONA - MODERNISM OF GAUDI: PALAU GÜELL

After having spoken about El Raval in a previous post, today I would like to give you more information about a beautiful modernist building you could see in that post: El Palau Güell.

Barcelona’s Palau Güell was designed by the young Antoni Gaudí and is a wonderful blend of the architect’s unique exuberant style. The palace, located in El Raval next to La Rambla, was the private residence of Gaudí’s patron, Count Güell.

The wealthy industrialist, landowner and politician Eusebi Güell was Antoni Gaudí’s main patron. In 1885, when the architect was still unknown, Count Güell commissioned him to design his private residence, which would become Barcelona’s Palau Güell in 1890.

Gaudí was aware that Güell wanted to show off his wealth to his friends and acquaintances and he created an unusual, bold architectural project. He made innovative use of traditional building techniques, as well a wide variety of materials, with particular emphasis on more expensive ones such as marble.

In Palau Güell, Gaudí combined the typical square structure of Catalan medieval palazzos and exquisite wooden coffered ceilings with innovations such as the parabolic arch, which became a hallmark of his work

Detail of the parabolic arch, where it can be distinguished the G from Güell

Phoenix rising from the ashes, the symbol of the Catalan Renaissance

Antoni Gaudí didn’t just create a palazzo in Barcelona, he created a metaphor too, as the building rises up, like Güell, from poor beginnings, represented by the austerity of the basement and ground floor, to wealth, as embodied by the riot of colour on the roof

The ground floor, with its simple grey marble, contrasts magically with the interplay of colours and forms of the 20 sculptural chimneys on the roof, which are covered in broken pieces of ceramic tile, marble and stained glass and are the iconic symbols of the Palau Güell

The stables of El Palau Güell, characterised by pillars with mushrooms-shaped capitals

This staircase leads to the mezzanine, a floor used to manage the business affaires of the Güell family. At the end, a stained glass window designed by Gaudí