A Garden With No Night

"A garden with no night" is how one artist described it.

Palau de la Música Catalana

I have to start this footprint with a quote from My Lovely. Amy said,

"Of all the palaces I have been in, this is the most beautiful building."

For my part, I am simply amazed that every fixture, every post, every backdrop is either a piece of art or a part of a piece of art.

In an intro video on the tour, one of the performers said that she would catch herself enjoying the art as she performed.

Regardless, everywhere you look there is art, from sculptures to mosaics to glass art. Every single thing is art.

The central point of the building is natural light. The building was constructed of steel, but the steel was covered in art, with an emphasis on glass and light.

The central piece is the stained glass ceiling with the inverted dome - the "Sun" (The Glow Worm).

This palace is the only UNESCO World Heritage site that is a music hall.

The palace, Palau de la Música Catalana, is privately owned and was built with no government funds. The cost of construction was less than $300,000 in today's money. But with that said, this building could not be built today for a billion dollars.

The building was built with "cheap material." In this case, 'cheap' means locally sourced materials and common materials.

The central feature of the stage's architecture is an organ, comprising 3,900 pipes. During the tour, they played a piece as we stood on stage. It began ever so softly, then slowly built to a crescendo. It was awe inspiring. Bringing involuntary gasps of joy and tears to our eyes.

Built as part of the music hall are three apartments. One of the apartments was for the owner. He had a keyboard that was connected to the organ so that he could play.

There is a circular balcony directly above the stage. That balcony is in the living room of the owner's apartment. He could look directly down on the stageRead more