Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
tional, and full of light inside. The actual museum collection is pricey and worthwhile only
for Tàpies fans.
The
Hotel Casa Fuster
is another fine Modernista building by Lluís Domènech i
Montaner (directly across the boulevard called Diagonal from the top of Passeig de Gràcia,
at the far end of the small park, Passeig de Gràcia 132).
Nearby are two works by Josep Puig i Cadafalch (a few blocks east from the top of Pas-
seig de Gràcia on Diagonal).
Palau Baró de Quadras
(at #373, on the right) today houses
CasaÀsia.Anotherblockandahalfdownisthedistinctively turretedCasaTerrades—better
known as
Casa de les Punxes
(“House of Spikes,” at #416, on the left).
▲▲▲
Architect Antoni Gaudí's most famous and awe-inspiring work is this unfinished, super-
sizedchurch.Withitscake-in-the-rain facadeandotherworldlyspires,thechurchisnotonly
an icon of Barcelona and its trademark Modernista style, but also a symbol of this period's
greatestpractitioner.Asanarchitect,Gaudí'sfoundationswereclassics,nature,andreligion.
The church represents all three.
Gaudí labored on the Sagrada Família for 43 years, from 1883 until his death in 1926.
Nearly a century after his death, people continue to toil to bring Gaudí's designs to life.
There'ssomethingpowerfulaboutacommunityofcommittedpeoplewithavision,working
on a church that won't be finished in their lifetime—as was standard in the Gothic age. The
progressofthisremarkablebuildingisatestamenttothegenerationsofarchitects,sculptors,
stonecutters, fund-raisers, and donors who've been caught up in the audacity of Gaudí's as-
tonishing vision. After paying the steep admission price (becoming a partner in this building
project), you will actually feel good. If there's any building on earth I'd like to see, it's the
Sagrada Família...finished.
