Barcelona's Parc Güell: Upcycle Tripping

Parc Güell

I arrived in Barcelona on May 18, 2015, and tomorrow I return to the United States. I have spent a total of four weeks here in this whimsical city, as well as two weeks in Madrid and weekends in other places including País Vasco, Sitges, and Sorrento, Italy.

Of course, anyone who visits Barcelona is probably going to see either Parc Güell and/or the Basílica Sagrada Familia, both works of architect Antoni Gaudí (1852-1926). In fact, images of these places are somewhat of a touristic cliché. Really, in general, Barcelona has too much tourism for my liking, although I am lucky to have hung out with some actual Catalan people and to have done some sweet feminist/queer research in addition to touristic activities.

Granted, I don't know anything about architecture, and I know just a little about art history, so my understanding of Parc Güell is basically touristic. BUT, of course, this is a FABRIC blog, so I'm gonna make a connection to sewing eventually here, just be patient.

Anyway, so, Parc Güell is famous for all these mosaics made from broken ceramic tiles, a technique known as trencadís. On the one hand, this allows you to tile undulating surfaces:

broken tile pieces on a wavy bench

On the other, Gaudí was also able to use discarded materials  to adorn the park, which he started building in 1900 as a private housing community.

DUDE, PARC GUELL IS AN UPCYCLING PROJECT!!

Upcycling = adding value to old crap. That is, you take something that somebody else threw away, and you make into something cool. It is fun.

Some of the Parc Güell mosaics are made from broken crockery or bottles, and some from ceramic tiles. Obviously, tiles are all over the Mediterranean. Again, I am not that knowledgeable about architecture, etc., but you can observe the widespread presence of tiles in Spain and Italy, which is less common in the US. For one thing, they are nice and cool in the hot climate.

Check this out-- yo, what does this look like??

A restaurant sign in the Barceloneta neighborhood of Barcelona.

 Oh yeah, A QUILT.

Dude, I saw so many tiles in Southern Europe that look like quilt patterns.

But anyway, more Parc Güell:

According to Wikipedia, this technique also recalls surrealist collages or whatever. So, like, hallucinogens and Dalí. In the end, I think it is awesome how Gaudí took a common element found in Mediterranean architecture (the ceramic tile) and made it into something unique and unexpected. 

Get inspired by this color combo, yo.

Additionally, the design of the park is intended to reflect images and forms from nature:

Delicious starfish

Me making friends with the famous Parc Güell salamander.

So yeah, I just walked around this place and tried to figure out how I could reproduce Gaudí's ideas and style in fabric. Basically, I think if you get some upcycled fabric, cut it up and sew it back together, then it is kinda like that.

Thoughts about Parc Güell/Gaudí? Barcelona? About tiles and quilts?