Culture Explorer Profile picture
May 3, 2024 18 tweets 6 min read Read on X
Let us uncover Barcelona's daring spirit through its architectural masterpieces, each a testament to the city's blend of history, art, and innovation.

Are there others we should add to this list of 15?
🧵⤵️ Temple of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Barcelona, Spain Credit: r/ArchitecturePorn @legwelkar on Reddit
1. Sagrada Família is a monumental Roman Catholic basilica famously designed by Antoni Gaudí, whose construction began in 1882 and remains incomplete. It's set to be completed by 2026, the centenary of Gaudí's death. Gaudí famously remarked about the prolonged construction, "My client is not in a hurry," referring to the divine.Credit: @othingstodo_com
2. Casa Batlló is a vibrant, imaginative building renovated by Gaudí, representing the apex of Modernisme. The facade is rumored to depict the legend of Saint George slaying the dragon, with the roof designed to mimic the dragon's back. Credit: ChristianSchd • CC BY-SA 3.0
3. La Pedrera (Casa Milà) is another Gaudí masterpiece, notable for its wavy stone facade and innovative wrought iron balconies. Its construction was controversial due to its bold design, and it initially faced criticism for its unconventional appearance. Credit: Thomas Ledl • CC BY-SA 4.0
4. Park Güell is a public park featuring gardens and architectural elements designed by Gaudí on Carmel Hill. Originally intended as a housing project, it was converted into a park after the project failed commercially. Credit: 📸 dazeydreamz
5. Palau de la Música Catalana, designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner, is a concert hall renowned for its stained glass and detailed mosaics. It stands out as the only concert hall in Europe illuminated entirely by natural light during the day. Credit: @Pili20569002 on X
6. Barcelona Cathedral, officially the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia, is a Gothic cathedral known for its elaborate facade. It houses a cloister with 13 white geese, representing the age of Saint Eulalia at her martyrdom. Credit:  r/ArchitecturePorn @Lma0-Zedong On Reddit
7. Santa María del Mar is an imposing church built in the Catalan Gothic style, famously constructed by the local shipbuilders and merchants within 55 years, a remarkably short period for its time. Image
8. Hospital de Sant Pau, a former hospital now serving as a museum, was designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner and is one of the largest Art Nouveau sites worldwide. It functioned as a hospital until 2009 and transitioned to a cultural site thereafter. Credit: Photo By Thomas Ledl - Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
9. Torre Glòries, formerly known as Torre Agbar, is a 38-story skyscraper known for its night-time illuminations that change colors for different occasions. It marks the gateway to Barcelona’s technological district. Credit: By Diliff - Own work, CC BY 2.5
10. Palau Güell is a mansion designed by Gaudí for the industrialist Eusebi Güell, featuring a unique central hall with a parabolic dome optimized for natural light, intended for high-society events. Ceiling in one of the rooms in his Palau Guell Credit: @timritchie
11. Museu Nacional Credit: 📸Museu Nacional
12. Arc de Triomf was built as the main access gate for the 1888 Barcelona World Fair, with friezes that depict Barcelona welcoming nations, showcasing a rich modernisme style. Credit: By Selbymay - Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
13. Casa Vicens was Gaudí's first significant project, a summer house that combines Catalan and Moorish styles and displays his early use of tiles and ironwork. Credit: By Canaan - Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
14. La Rambla is a famous street in central Barcelona, known for its vibrant atmosphere and cultural significance. It is a mosaic of shorter streets, each with its unique character. Credit: BCN-Travel
15. Magic Fountain of Montjuïc, built for the 1929 International Exhibition, is famed for its spectacular displays involving water, light, and music, often synchronized to various musical themes. By Avda - Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
If you enjoyed this thread, please share the initial post from the link below and follow us if you're not already doing so.

Additionally, you might want to subscribe to our weekly newsletter, sent every Friday - just click the website link in our profile to sign up.
This picture is credited to: @hikingview

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Culture Explorer

Culture Explorer Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @CultureExploreX

Jul 5
Most people visit Rome for the Colosseum or the Vatican.

But Rome is a city of cathedrals.

And these 18 churches aren’t just places of worship, they’re where architecture, power, and beauty collided to shape Western civilization.

You won’t believe #3 and #4. 🧵 Basilica de Santa Maria Maggiore, Roma, Italia. Credit: juans83
1. Sant’Agnese in Agone

Francesco Borromini’s boldest move.

He took geometry, crushed it, and turned it into emotion.
Step inside and you’ll feel space bend. Image
2. Santa Maria Maddalena

Baroque at its most unhinged.
Designed by Carlo Fontana and Giuseppe Sardi who curved the façade like it was dancing.

Don’t blink. The walls almost move.
Read 21 tweets
Jul 3
Tomorrow is July 4th. Independence Day.

We’ll hear about Lexington. Muskets. War. But remember this:

The American Revolution didn’t begin with a gunshot; it began with a boycott.

Before the first shot fired, ordinary Americans had already overthrown British rule. 🧵 Detail from Washington Crossing the Delaware, an 1851 portrait by Emanuel Leutze depicting Washington and Continental Army troops crossing the river prior to the Battle of Trenton on the morning of December 26, 1776.
From 1765 to 1775, colonists ran a full-blown civil resistance campaign.

They shut down courts.
Refused to import goods.
Built parallel governments.

It wasn’t protest for show. It was rebellion in plain sight. Spirit of '76 by Archibald Willard
Britain passed the Stamp Act in 1765.

Americans didn’t riot.
They simply refused to comply.

Printers ran papers without stamps.
Lawyers stopped using courts.
Ports either closed or defied British orders. Burning of Stamp Act, Boston. 1 photomechanical print (postcard) : color.
Read 22 tweets
Jul 2
Latin America holds some of the most stunning architecture in the world.

Most of it was built by Europeans on top of Indigenous empires.

These 20 buildings reveal a continent shaped by beauty and conquest.

And the first three will leave you speechless. 🧵 Templo de Santo Domingo - Oaxaca, Mexico Credit: @kobe_sylvester
1. Las Lajas Cathedral – Colombia

It’s not built on a canyon.
It’s part of it.

Bridging cliffs like a miracle frozen in stone.

Built after a woman claimed the Virgin Mary appeared inside the gorge. Image
2. Church of San Francisco – Quito, Ecuador

500 years old.
Baroque on the outside.
Moorish on the inside.

And built by the hands of indigenous artisans during Spanish rule. Image
Read 23 tweets
Jul 1
We talk about globalization like it’s new.

But 2,000 years ago, merchants were already trading silk, spices, and stories from China to Italy.

Not through the internet.
Through deserts, mountains, and war zones.

Here are the 16 cities that shaped the Silk Road. 🧵 The Ark of Bukhara Credit: @fopminui on X
It began in Xi’an, China.

Not just the home of the Terracotta Army but the launchpad of the world’s most ambitious trade route.

Silk, porcelain, and even Buddhist monks left from here.

Every empire west of here would feel it. Credit: @archeohistories
Next stop: Lanzhou.

Sitting on the Yellow River, this city wasn’t just scenic, it was strategic.

If you controlled Lanzhou, you controlled the gateway west.

And everyone wanted it. Image
Read 19 tweets
Jun 30
What makes Russian literature unmatched?

It doesn’t escape pain.
It sits with it. Names it, breaks it open, redeems it.

Before War and Peace, Russian writers had already turned suffering into sacred text.

Let’s walk through it. Then we’ll get to Tolstoy. 🧵 Chekhov and Tolstoy, 1901
Dostoevsky doesn’t flinch.

In The Brothers Karamazov, Ivan demands justice from God.
A child is tortured. A murderer walks free.
There is no easy answer.

Faith isn’t comfort.
It’s a decision you make in the presence of unbearable truth. Image
Pushkin gave us beauty with blood underneath.

Eugene Onegin is a mirror held to wasted youth, pride, and regret.
Tatiana offers love. Onegin rejects her.
Years later, he begs for it. Too late.

In Russian fiction, the cost of love is always real. The pistol duel between Onegin and Lensky. Watercolour by Ilya Repin (1899)
Read 16 tweets
Jun 28
They look alive.

But every one of these sculptures is made of stone.

18 masterpieces that shatter the line between reality and illusion.

You won’t believe they’re real. 🧵👇 Modesty (La Pudicizia) by Antonio Corradini
1. Pietà – Michelangelo, 1499

She doesn’t weep.
She endures.

Michelangelo gave us a Madonna so full of sorrow, the marble itself seems to grieve.
2. The Abduction of Proserpina – Gian Lorenzo Bernini, 1622

Look at the hand.
The fingers sink into her thigh.

Look at the face.
Do you see the tear under the eye?

Stone isn’t supposed to do this.
Bernini was able to make marble scream. Image
Read 21 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(