It’s Thursday morning here, and we’re getting packed up to head to the station to catch the high speed train to Madrid. I was just too tired to write my blog post last night, and realized most of you wouldn’t be looking at it until much later today anyway.
Needless to say, I’d be lying if I told you that I’m not feeling a little sad that our time in Spain is drawing to a close…
Yesterday we did our best to pack in everything that we hadn’t seen yet. We stopped at Casa Milà first, but the lines were so long we decided to put it off until the end of the day. From there, we walked up to another Modernisme building, known as Casa de les Punxes (house of spires):
It’s considered the structure that established Modernisme as a full-fledged movement. Here’s a detail of the kind of brick and tile work that is so typical of the style:
As we walked to the subway from there, I remembered to nab a shot of these great streetlights all along the Carrer de la Gracia, the street along which the majority of the famous buildings sit:
We then took in the Hospital de Sant Pau, another important Modernisme landmark:
As you can see at the bottom of that photo, the place is undergoing restoration work, so we couldn’t get a comprehensive tour. I did manage to find some more lovely stained glass though:
The day’s forecast was cloudy with a good chance of rain, but at midday we got an unexpected dose of sunshine, which just happened to coincide with our walk through a park near the old part of town…
When we decided to grab some lunch, we found a great little restaurant for their menu del dia. Here’s a shot of Mallory enjoying her cafe con leche afterward:
Next, we had a 3 o’clock tour at the Palao Mùsica Catalona (the Palace of Music, Catalonia), yet another amazing piece of Modernisme! It is absolutely gorgeous, with so much incredible sculpture, tile and glasswork…
Probably the most impressive element in the building is this ~20′ x 40′ stained glass ‘lightbox’ in the ceiling:
Around the perimeter of the hall is elaborate tile work, ‘sunflower’ chandeliers that tilt toward the outside light just like real sunflowers and more stained glass:
More of the same surrounds the stage, as well as many fantastical sculptures, including 18 ‘muses’, each playing an instrument representing a different part of the world or period of history. Another pano details it all…
It had begun to rain while we were in the Palao de Mùsica. We worked our way back to Casa Milà, and to our delight, there was no line!
Unfortunately, we quickly discovered it was due to the fact that they had closed the rooftop (with its many whimsical chimneys) because of the rain. We went in anyway, and were not disappointed.
While this building isn’t nearly as innovative (in my opinion) as Casa Batlló, it’s still impressive. If you google it, you’ll see lots if images of its two asymmetrical interior light shafts/courtyards…
Once inside, they let you tour the attic and one apartment. Interestingly, the attic contains comprehensive multimedia displays about not only Casa Milà, but the entirety of Gaudi’s career.
The attic contains the roof’s support structure, which like so many of Gaudi’s works, consists of thin catenary arches. Early in his career, he discovered that these forms allowed him to avoid using the more conventional (and bulky) buttresses and flying buttresses used in many large buildings up that point, particularly cathedrals. Here are a couple of details of what they look like in Casa Milà:
From the attic, we went down one floor into an apartment they have furnished with furniture and belongings from the early 1900’s when it was new. Once again, we were impressed with the myriad details and craftsmanship at every turn. The next two photos show the playful hand-formed plaster detailing surrounding every door and window, and an example of a ceiling treated with a combination of plaster relief and a painted mural. Every ceiling has some form of plaster relief, sometimes simple ripples and sometimes organic forms…
At one point, I found a window onto the interior light shaft which afforded me a view of a couple of the rooftop chimneys:
I also want to mention a couple of examples of the fascinating details we found in the attic exhibition. First, a model of Casa Batlló, in cross section, showing how Gaudi used color gradations in the tile work lining the interior light shafts to modulate the light. The darker tiles at the top absorb light, tempering the light coming into the upper floors, while the lighter tiles toward the bottom reflect more of the light into the lower floors. You’ll also notice that the size of the windows that open into the light shaft vary in size to forward the same goal…
This photo is hard to see, but it shows an example of how Gaudi experimented with the use of catenary arches. As you may know, a catenary curve is defined by the shape a rope or chain makes when draped from two points. Gaudi realized that he could create detailed scale models, consisting of many linked catenary curves, by draping sections of small chain from a board with the main floor plan drawn on it. He would then suspend the entire construction above a mirror to visualize the final structure, right-side-up. This photo shows the reflection of one such model in the mirror below:
It’s now about three hours later, and we’re aboard the high speed train to Madrid. The information board says we’re going as fast as 300 km/h (upwards of 186 mph).
We’ll get into Madrid at about 1:45, and spend the afternoon trying to make up for missing the Prado and other museums that were closed when we arrived in Madrid sixteen days ago!
Wish us luck!
