Nature, Parc Güell and Antoni Gaudi

Gaudi’s amazing and mystical integration of nature and architecture is ultimately exemplified in the designs executed for Eusebi Güell’s planned garden community – today known as Parc Güell. The landscape is hilly and alive with such plants as fig trees, palms, aloe and agaves. The strange columns, rough and rock hewn, imitate plant life and provide layers of light and form. The park promenade is designed to catch rainwater. By filtering the water through rocks and sand it is directed down the columns underneath to a giant cistern below the colonnade. The functional yet decorative power of Gaudi’s imagery evokes the connection of man-made object to nature. My intent is to magnify this mystical sense of natural proportion and disproportion though symmetry and color.