Climbing up the mountain to Park Guell via steep sidewalks and finally, thankfully, several escalators, one begins to wonder: what in the world possessed Gaudi and Eusebi Guell, his wealthy industrialist friend, to build a “Park” way up here at the turning of the 20th century? Of course, the views were even more spectacular back in 1913 when the trees blocking the view of Sagrada Familia were much shorter and Gaudi could look down from his house perch and mark the progress of his beloved Sagrada Familia basilica project, but my God, did they really expect the wealthy and moderate home buyers to trudge their groceries daily up to these steep hills? I suppose help was cheap but it does seem a quixotic project. But, anyway, the World Wars came along and blew up any economic chances the new modernist housing development might have had and the project was halted and considered a failure. Only the Guell and Gaudi houses and a couple of model homes remain and they are the main attractions of Park Guell aside from the fascinating landscape features with spooky stone teeth grimacing atop twisting columns and warped passageways resembling ear canals wending into the jungle surroundings complete with parrots chattering in the plane trees. The models intended for modest income housing are so quirky that perhaps only a Who from Whoville might feel at home here.
This bold modernist dream wasn’t to be but what if it had and modular Gaudi homes became a commonplace all over Barcelona? Would it have cheapened or degraded Gaudi’s genius? The fantastical Casa Batllo, a specially commissioned townhouse of four stories, is such a glorious, sensuous work of art in every inch of its creation that I cannot imagine it replicated even twice.
I will post pictures of Casa Batllo and Park Guell as soon as I am able to access a “real” computer.
