Word: catalanes
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...best-known master was, of course, Antonio Gaudi (1852-1926). A descendant of Catalan metalsmiths, Gaudi introduced a wholly new idea of built space: an organic kind of space, not bounded by rigid lines, that undulates, flares, inflates, twists and contains stunning metaphors and moments of theater. The basement of the palace he built off the Ramblas for his main patron, Eusebi Guell, could serve as a set for The Ring -- not surprisingly, since Catalans in the 1880s were crazy for Wagner, the newest of new composers. Gaudi's Casa Mila, on Passeig de Gracia, known to Barcelonans...
Tradition -- and tourism -- insists the Sagrada Familia is Gaudi's masterpiece. It is not. The Casa Mila and the crypt of the Colonia Guell, among others, are superior. But in any case, not all the best modernista building and decor are by Gaudi. Other and hardly lesser Catalan architects await discovery by the visitor. Two names in particular stand out: Lluis Domenech i Montaner (1850-1923) and Josep Puig i Cadafalch...
...Domenech, a man obsessed with the history of Catalunya, to % design what may be the most extreme Art Nouveau building in Europe. This is the Palau de la Musica Catalana (1905-08). It was built for the Orfeo Catala, a choral-music society. Pablo Casals and Montserrat Caballe, both Catalans, began their careers here. From the mosaic-sheathed ticket office to the stupendous inverted bell of a stained-glass skylight in the auditorium, from the sculpted Valkyries riding across the proscenium arch to the encrustations of ceramic roses (each the size of a cabbage) on the ceiling, it takes decor...
...gets a gradual sense of the aspirations of the Catalan Renaixenca by walking the streets of Barcelona, noticing things, but the grid of the Eixample is vast and hard on the feet. Here in Domenech's choral theater, it is baptism by total immersion. The "new Barcelona" may not, in the end, produce any buildings that rival those of the late 19th century. But the fact of bringing the old ones back to civic life, in all their splendor, would be achievement enough for any city administration, Games or no Games...
...Olympic Games begin again, the historic Catalan capital readies itself for a five-ring spectacle...