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Primary sourceArtifact1900-1914, opened 1926

Park Güell

Antoni Gaudí · 1900-1914, opened 1926

A park and failed luxury housing project in Barcelona designed by Gaudí for his patron Eusebi Güell, combining landscape and Catalan symbolism.

Gaudí designed this park and failed housing estate for his patron Eusebi Güell.

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Monumental staircase with a central dragon-like mosaic fountain at Park Güell in Barcelona, flanked by tiled, wave-crested walls, with a colonnaded hall with tall columns behind, palm trees and blue sky.
Antoni Gaudí, Park Güell, 1900-1914. Barcelona, Spain.

About this source

What it is

Park Güell is a park in Barcelona built between 1900 and 1914 and opened to the public in 1926. It was commissioned by the industrialist Eusebi Güell, who wanted a garden-city development of luxury homes inspired by the English garden city movement, and designed by Antoni Gaudí with contributions from Josep Maria Jujol, who designed the famous curving mosaic bench.

Why it matters

Although planned as sixty building plots for the wealthy, only two houses were ever built, and the project failed as housing before becoming a municipal park. It shows Gaudí's naturalist period, using inclined stone columns and inverted arches modelled on tree trunks, and mixing political Catalan and Catholic symbolism. Gaudí himself lived in one of the unsold show homes.

Look closer

  • What clues in the park's design still show it was originally meant to be a housing estate?
  • Why might the project have failed to attract buyers?
  • What symbols of Catalonia or religion can you spot, and what might they have meant to visitors at the time?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Antonio Gaudí on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Wide view of Casa Milà, a wavy, undulating stone apartment building with many irregular window openings, wrought-iron balconies, and sculpted rooftop chimneys under a clear blue sky. Street trees and pedestrians stand in front.Artifact

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Evening view of Casa Batlló in Barcelona, a building with a wavy, mosaic-covered facade in blues and greens, a bone-like balcony structure, and a tiled roof topped by a cross. Pedestrians and trees stand in the street below.Artifact

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Casa Batlló

Antoni Gaudí · remodelled 1904-1906

Street-level view of the stone facade of the Palau Güell in Barcelona, with a green cypress-like finial on the roof, ornate wrought-iron balconies and window grilles, and a large arched entrance on the ground floor. Pedestrians walk on the sidewalk in front.Artifact

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Palau Güell

Antoni Gaudí · 1886-1888

Front facade of Casa Vicens, a colorful brick and tile house in Barcelona with striped checkered towers, red and white banding, brown stone-like panels, ornate wrought-iron balconies, and a blue sky above.Artifact

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Casa Vicens

Antoni Gaudí · 1883-1885

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