My husband, the architect, and I went to Barcelona to research Antoni Gaudi... the flamboyant and brilliant, if a bit bizarre, Spanish architect of the late 19th and early 20th century.

Around most of the world the design "virus" going around at that time was Art Nouveau, a curvy, vegetal style that gave way to a more geometric Art Deco style when Carter opened King Tut's tomb and changed the design world on a par with the impact Farrah Faucet’s hair style had on young women in the 70’s. It wasn't long after Carter’s discovery that the Chrysler building was sporting ziggurat shapes and Art Nouveau was over. Before its demise, there were movements in most parts of Europe and even extending into America in a few avante garde pockets.

Guaranty / Prudential Building
Buffalo, New York

Ansonia Building
Buffalo, New York

Ornament from Louis Sullivan's Carson Pirie Scott Building
Chicago, Illinois

Slightly aligned with that was something called the Aesthetic Style which pretty much describes the Whistler rooms in the Freer Galley in Washington D.C..

Suffice it to say, the overall taste in Gaudi's heyday was twisty, vining, tendrils of wood and inlays. In Barcelona, where he lived and worked, there was and still is a long cultural tradition of fanciful shapes which had been used on pottery, and other ornamental elements... a tradition which didn't just influence Gaudi. Fellow Catalans such as Picasso, Miro, and today, Valencian, Javier Mariscal, all incorporate whimsical shapes into their work that amuse and also suggest universal forms.

The Kiss by Pablo Picasso

Hand Catching a Bird by Joan Miro

Cobi, the little Mariscal dog that was the motif of the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 is a good example of these whimsical motifs.

So, with Gaudi in mind when we debarked at the Barcelona airport, we were a bit surprised that our first stop, even before checking in at our hotel, was at a park which was Gaudi-less. But the reason our driver stopped at this lovely park had nothing to do with the ancient history of Barcelona. Having heard us chatting about our architectural pilgrimage, he asked, "Would you like to see the Barcelona Pavilion by Mies van der Rohe?"

No two people ever climbed over luggage and out of an SUV faster than we did. Despite sleep deprivation, museum fatigue, and having gone without nourishment for way too long... nothing could have held us back.

Now THAT is architectural bliss!! Before immersing ourselves in what we knew would be intricate, ornate, challenging to our taste preconceptions, and generally convoluted design by Gaudi we were blessed with an opportunity to experience purity.

I was dumbstruck... this elegantly simple structure was flooded with early afternoon light which was an even light, casting minimal shadows and revealing all. The condition of the building revealed the respect with which this iconic work is treated. It was gleaming.

Or was that gleam the sparkle in our eyes? What a magic architectural moment for both me and Cole... we stood in each area, quiet and contemplative, appreciating the shapes, the materials, the restrained yet elegant details. It was especially surprising to experience the rather small spaces and the sense that, although small, it was “enough.” Everything was wonderfully human-scale, airy and that the rooms, which had looked so large in architectural books, were cozy; yet the interiors felt spacious because of the open plan, the glass walls, and the reflecting pools on either side of the low slung building.

And sitting right where Mies planned, there were some Barcelona chairs, in Barcelona of all places!

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