Hospital de San Pau

Well, I ended up delaying this post, partially for lack of sleep, partially to carve out some time to paint, partially because of too much work, but mostly because it was so hard to choose which photos to use!

The place is amazing, it was designed by Domènech i Muntanyer - one of Guadí's contemporaries and it is quite something.....

The front of the building, which was closed last time I tried to visit...this entire area was fenced off for restoration.  These first images are from this building, the main administrative center.

Inside the front hall.

Just off the front hall. This was one of these places with so much to look at that you don't really know where to point your camera.

The roof of the theater/lecture hall.

The floors were calmer, they definitely wanted you looking UP.  Also, it's a hospital, they have to make it easy to clean, and that most decidedly includes the floor.

At the bottom of that beautiful walking street is Sagrada Família, we think they drove the street through specifically to connect the two.

There were rainbows coming into one of the rooms!

Looks like an isopod to me!

The hospital had a neat design, that the different departments would be housed in different buildings, and they would be connected by tunnels, in some ways a good idea, allows for beautiful gardens and spaces, stunning buildings, easy connections for the patients and staff and good access to mechanical systems.  However, not widely adopted...certainly not as easy to design.

These are some of the tunnels.

The inside of one of the other buildings

It is now an office.

This building hasn't been restored yet.

Though at the end they had a photo of the place when it was a hospital.

Now these photos are taken from the gardens and courtyards....of the various buildings that housed different departments.

Inside another building.

They did know how to design a corner so you could get it clean!

Then we walked back down towards the metro, and past Sagrada Família, that silver tower there is made of titanium and is very controversial, as Gaudí would not have called for that in the plans.  That said, I am not sure I am all that fussed.

Neat seeing an arch going up.

New place to visit in BCN, after the 16th it'll be a museum!