Barcelona’s most famous and brilliant modernist architect, Antoni Gaudí (1852-1926), built his best works in this city. The next four entries describe those you really should make a point of seeing.

PARC GÜELL

Olot, s/n, Tel. 93 213 04 88. 24,25. Opening hours: 10am to 9pm. One of Barcelona’s large urban parks, originally intended to be an English style garden city. The familiar Gaudí curves and mosaic work are in full evidence all over the park, from the benches to the porticoes. This is a great place to get a good view of Barcelona from up high looking towards the sea.

CASA BATLLÓ

Passeig de Gràcia at Aragó. Passeig de Gràcia. 7,16,17,18,22,24,28. On the Passeig de Gràcia, and right beside two of Barcelona’s other architectural jewels stands this simply incredible building. The curved shapes and antropomorphic suggestions make it an eerie sight when it is illuminated at night. All Gaudi’s favourite materials are used here, such as ceramic tiles (on the roof) and mosaic (on the façade).

SAGRADA FAMILIA

Pl. Sagrada Familia, Tel. 93 455 02 47. Sagrada Familia. 18,19,33,34,43,44, 48,50,51. Visiting hours: Daily 9am to 9pm. Begun over 100 years ago in 1882, and still less than half completed, this is undoubtedly one of Barcelona’s most characteristic buildings. You can visit the structure and climb up some of the towers if you have a head for heights, and there is a museum that has models of what the final structure will look like, with a massive central tower that soars 200 feet above and between the current towers. There are 3 façades: the Passion, the Nativity and the Gloria with sculptural contributions from different sculptors, including Japanese artist Etsuro Sotoo whose work can be seen on the Nativity facade. On the Passion facade is the controversial work of local sculptor Josep M. Subirachs, which seems to stand apart from the rest of the work to most observers and therefore is the focus of great criticism from some quarters and praise from others.

CASA MILÁ (LA PEDRERA)

Passeig de Gràcia, 92, Tel. 93 484-5900, Diagonal. 7,16,17,18,22,24,28. Also on Passeig de Gràcia a few blocks higher up, although on the opposite side of the street, this building is Gaudí’s most immediately recognizable work, along with the Sagrada Familia temple, and is generally considered to be his most accomplished work and the pinnacle of modernist architecture. The ondulating balconies and windows and the interior, as impressive as the outside, were used in Antonioni’s film The Passenger. In 1986 La Pedrera was acquired by the Caixa de Catalunya (an important savings bank) with the intention of turning the building into a cultural and resource centre. Extensive restoration work was undertaken, lasting ten years, and the difference is spectacular. The façade, which was covered with black soot from urban pollution, now proudly shows of its sinuous curves and elaborate metalwork. The staircases and interior courtyards have also been restored to their original state with the careful recovery and restoration of the original mural paintings.

The most spectacular project was the recovery of the original attic, one of the most original aspects of Gaudí’s work. In the 1950’s the attic was converted into apartments (13 separate ones!) and to take them apart and recover the original structure was a slow and arduous task. The restoration of the roof, with the chimneys that are a symbol of Barcelona, involved cleaning by hand the thousands of pieces of tile fixed with mortar that Gaudí used as a kind of mosaic. Missing or damaged fragments of tile, glass or stonework were replaced using same kind of calcium mortar of the original work (the portland cement of other restorations was also replaced with this).

The attic needed structural consolidation as well as reconstruction of the diaphragmatic arches (see photo). The attic was intended from the start of Caixa de Catalunya’s venture to become a public space. It was named Espai Gaudí (Gaudí Space) and it offers the most complete global vision of Antoni Gaudí’s life (in cultural and historical context), his work and the artistic and technical values he created, and last but not least a detailed study of the formal and structural elements of La Pedrera. The layout of the space and the drawings, models, photographs and audiovisual displays produced especially for this project allow the visitor to understand the architecture of Gaudí through historical context and reasoning. From the architect’s origins through his early work to detailed analyses of his main projects in Barcelona, to a stupendous series of models that explain the fusion of art and technique in Gaudí’s work, the tour finishes on the roof, with the silent sentry like chimneys and a magnificent view of the city. For educational purposes there is also a library and media library specialized in Gaudi’s work.

The Pedrera as a whole and the Gaudí Space in particular should not be missed by anyone visiting Barcelona with an interest in the city and it’s history and character. Hours are: Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 8pm, Sunday 10am to 3pm. Closed Mondays. By appointment: from Tuesday to Friday 10am to midday. Cost: 500 ptas; students and senior citizens 300 ptas, children under 11 don’t pay.