Delta Sky Magazine

Barcelonaspain's sleepless city

1 City 5 Ways: Gaudí Pilgrim

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Where to stay // The Mandarin Hotel

This new Mandarin outpost is across from Antoni Gaudí’s Casa Batlló, one of the Catalan architect’s famous family residences.

Morning // Sagrada Familia

This church has been under construction since 1882, and it’s right on schedule to be completed in 2026. Though unfinished, the church will be consecrated by Pope Benedict this November.

Photo courtesy of Turisme de Barcelona

Lunch // Alkimia

Tucked behind the Sagrada is Jordi Vilà’s Alkimia. Vilà is a proponent of Ferran Adria’s New Catalan gastronomy—basically, ironic takes on traditional Catalan dishes.

Afternoon // Casa Milá and Parc Güell

Gaudí was an unusual guy who estranged himself as he became more obsessed with the Sagrada Família. But these projects showcase his most humanist impulses, infusing a sense of evolutionary potential with naturalistic whimsy.

Photo courtesy of Turisme de Barcelona

Palau de la Música

Gaudí wasn’t the only modern architect in town, of course. The Palau de la Música was designed by Gaudí’s contemporary, modernista Lluís Domènech i Montaner, during the height of Catalonia’s Beaux Arts renaixença.

Photo courtesy of Antoni Bofill

Dinner // Carballeira

Barcelona’s finest Galician-style seafood restaurant adheres to a fisherman’s austerity—though the room has its charm.

Photo by Siqui Sánchez

The buildings of Catalan starchitect Antoni Gaudí, a saint in design circles, are seemingly pulled out of a techno-organic future that's yet to arrive.

In this slideshow:
The Mandarin Hotel

Sagrada Família

Alkimia

Casa Milá and Parc Güell

Carballeira

Text by Steve Marsh