I’ve been travelling after the end of my program and had some trouble posting to the blog, but I’m back now and able to share some thoughts on art and nature from my time in Barcelona, Spain:

Barcelona is a city bursting with color! In many ways, the tall buildings with ornate, curling balconies and sycamore-lined streets are very reminiscent of Paris, but the city also has a deeply vibrant yet grounded energy to it. It felt like we saw art everywhere we went, from the tiles designed by Gaudí on the sidewalks to the street vendors selling vibrant portraits outside of the famous pedestrian street, La Rambla. Gaudí’s nature-inspired architecture all over the city was my favorite thing that I’ve seen on this trip—his famous designs of the Sagrada Familia, Parc Güell, Casa Milà, and Casa Batlló all showcase the beauty that emerges when artists notice, respect, and appreciate the environment around them. Gaudí depicted the environment through architecture and landscape design, creating art that was solid, long-lasting, and could be experienced and interacted with. Some of the tiles on the sidewalks in Barcelona were designed by Gaudí around 1905. These tiles, called panot tiles, took inspiration from the underwater world. The hexagonal panot tiles are meant to look like a turtle’s shell from afar, and up close I could see shells and starfish imprinted into the tiles, reminding me of fossilized rocks. Casa Batlló is similarly aquatic inspired, with organically shaped walls, beautiful stained glass inspired by mollusks, and windows that make it seem like you’re underwater. Barcelona’s location on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea has significantly influenced the culture and lifeways of the people who live here (as demonstrated by the abundance of fresh seafood we’ve been able to eat), which in turn became inspiration for Catalan artists like Gaudí. I learned that Gaudí was deeply religious, seeing nature as God’s perfect design and God as the ultimate artist. His devotion to religion meant that the environment was depicted in his works in a deeply reverential and spiritual manner. Although I’m not religious, I felt very inspired by Gaudí’s innovative and beautiful designs, reminidng me to take the time to notice the art and beauty in the natural world all around me.

 

Panot tiles designed by Gaudí

 

Glass at Casa Batlló with an ‘underwater’ effect