Park Guell - Barcelona, Spain
Posted by: manchanegra
N 41° 24.809 E 002° 09.187
31T E 429222 N 4585005
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 named after the Count Eusebi Güell. It is part of the UNESCO World.
Waymark Code: WMC8ZW
Location: Cataluña, Spain
Date Posted: 08/10/2011
Views: 45
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