The Curves and Bits of Barcelona
I love Barcelona’s curves and lines and organic forms. Flow and movement are ever-present, on every corner and up and down its avenues. And while Gaudi’s massive masterpieces are stunning to behold in their entirety, what moves me the most in this city are its details: the grooves between mosaic bits, the imperfect bumps in surfaces, the intricate wiring.
I see and sense the world in fragments, beautiful or broken in their own ways, all contributing to create the setting and narrative of my life. The different steps, the various angles, the many possibilities. And so I appreciate Barcelona not just for its grandeur—for what we see when we stand back, for what we ultimately create—but for all the pieces I can touch up close, and all the tiny things that ostensibly don’t matter, but really do.
Here, it’s about absorbing minutiae and magnificence at once, which is a wonderful way to experience a place.
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- Sagrada Familia.
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- La Pedrera.
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- La Pedrera.
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- Casa Batllo.
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- La Pedrera.
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- La Pedrera.
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- Parc Guell.
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- Passeig de Gràcia.
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- Parc Guell.
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- Sagrada Familia.
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- La Pedrera.
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- La Pedrera.
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- Casa Museu Gaudi.
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- Parc Guell.
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- Sagrada Familia.
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- Casa Museu Gaudi.
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- Casa Museu Gaudi.
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- Passeig de Gràcia.
Jun 18, 2012 @ 21:40:49
These are so beautiful, Cheri. I love travelogues like this that tackle a place in a series of well-executed variations on a theme. Lovely, lovely. Makes me even more excited to hit up Barcelona at some point.
Jun 19, 2012 @ 02:22:25
Thanks, Miya. While Barcelona isn’t my favorite city in Spain, it’s so visually stunning — I love the stories the buildings tell. So whimsical, so grand.
Jun 25, 2012 @ 09:38:36
These words and images, and the story they weave, are the definition of how to stir wanderlust.
Jun 28, 2012 @ 11:56:18
Indeed, Roxanne. Interesting how the curves and surfaces and intricacies tell their own rich stories!