Park Guell - Barcelona, Spain - People-Named Places on Waymarking.com

The Place:
Park Güell is a garden complex with architectural elements situated on the hill of el Carmel in Barcelona, Spain. It was designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí and built in the years 1900 to 1914. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage.

The park was originally part of a commercially unsuccessful housing site, the idea of Count Eusebi Güell, whom the park was named after. It was inspired by the English garden city movement; hence the original English name Park (in the Catalan language spoken in Catalonia where Barcelona is located, the word for "Park" is "Parc", and the name of the place is "Parc Güell" in its original language). The site was a rocky hill with little vegetation and few trees, called Muntanya Pelada (Bare Mountain). It already included a large country house called Larrard House or Muntaner de Dalt House, and was next to a neighborhood of upper class houses called La Salut (The Health). The intention was to exploit the fresh air (well away from smoky factories) and beautiful views from the site, with sixty triangular lots being provided for luxury houses. Count Eusebi Güell added to the prestige of the development by moving in 1906 to live in Larrard House. Ultimately, only two houses were built, neither designed by Gaudí. One was intended to be a show house, but on being completed in 1904 was put up for sale, and as no buyers came forward, Gaudí, at Güell's suggestion, bought it with his savings and moved in with his family and his father in 1906. This house, where Gaudi lived from 1906 to 1926, was built by Francesc Berenguer in 1904. It contains original works by Gaudi and several of his collaborators. It is now the Gaudí Museum (Casa Museu Gaudí) since 1963. In 1969 it was declared a historical artistic monument of national interest.

The person:
Eusebi Güell i Bacigalupi, 1st Count of Güell was a Catalan patriarch who profited greatly from the industrial revolution in Catalonia in the late 19th Century. He married a daughter of the second Marquis of Comillas.

Güell became a 'Mediciesque' patron to architect Antoni Gaudí. They met at the start of the latter's career and found that they had mutual interests, including religion (both were devout Catholics). Güell saw Gaudí as the man who could provide him with uniquely designed buildings.

Reportedly on one occasion Gaudí said to Güell, "Sometimes I think we are the only people who like this architecture." Güell replied, "I don't like your architecture, I respect it."

Güell was a great industrialist, but cheaper production methods elsewhere in Spain caused a slow but steady erosion of profit. Güell bought land in Barcelona and employed Gaudí to build an estate for the rich (Park Guell). However, Gaudí's architecture was not very popular among the elite of his own time and place, and there were few takers: only two houses were built. In 1923, the Güell family gave the land to the city, as Park Güell. Inadvertently, this immortalised Güell as a great patron and benefactor to Barcelona.

King Alfonso XIII ennobled Eusebi Güell as count 1911. His son Juan Antonio Gûell (1878-1958) became in 1925 the third Marquis de Comillas after his maternal grandfather. Many members of Güell family have been prominent business and culture personalities. Marquis Alfonso Güell of Comillas (1933-) has served as a board member of the Central Bank of Spain


From Wikipedia

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