Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Conical Trencadís Chimney Stack with Diamond-Shaped Vents at the Palau Güell

2054

Early Catalan Modernisme, 1886–1888

A chimney stack from the rooftop terrace of the Palau Güell, designed by Antoni Gaudí and constructed 1886–1888. The chimney rises from a cylindrical lower shaft wrapped in blue-and-white patterned ceramics derived from broken tableware, steps up through a projecting geometric corbelled collar and wide flared brim, and terminates in a long tapering conical cap. The conical cap is organized by regular diamond-shaped ventilation apertures, each framed in dark grout and intersected by curving cobalt blue mosaic bands that weave across the surface like ribbons. The mosaic fields between the ventilation apertures radiate in vivid yellow and cobalt blue trencadís. The overall form is clean and geometric in profile while chaotically varied in surface detail.