The Architect’s Dilemma

Gaudí was prolific during the city’s building boom in the 1880s, and is therefore responsible for some of its most enduring landmarks: the still-unfinished Sagrada Familia cathedral, Casa Milà, and the must-visit Park Güell. But he merely set the tone. Barcelona is a city that embraces the dramatic, and for architecture buffs, there’s more than just Gaudi to be excited about. For example, the Fondatió Joan Miró is a trippy cubist campus designed by the artist’s friend, Josep Lluís Sert, famous for designing the pavilion where Picasso’s “Guernica” was first displayed. And just a short walk from there is the Barcelona Pavilion, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s German entry in the 1929 International Exhibition, which still stands as the definitive work of modern architecture (and is, incidentally, the building that gave its name to those famous chairs). In Barcelona, you will come to know the name Antoni Gaudí. You should know others, too