Park Güell
Antoni Gaudí · Barcelona, Spain · 1914
Antoni Gaudí designed Park Güell as part of an ambitious residential development on a hillside above Barcelona. The housing scheme largely failed, but its shared infrastructure became one of the city's defining public landscapes. Built between 1900 and 1914, the park combines sloping paths, rough-stone viaducts, a columned market hall and a broad terrace edged by a serpentine mosaic bench. Architecture repeatedly merges with the terrain rather than treating the hillside as a flat building plot. Look beyond the famous entrance stair to the quieter porticoes and retaining structures. Visiting: Tourist admission is ticketed. Local access arrangements and exemptions differ.