Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Sunburst Trencadís Mosaic Ceiling Medallions of the Hypostyle Hall of Park Güell by Antoni Gaudí and Josep Maria Jujol

2069

Catalan Modernisme, 1900–1914

A detail of the trencadís mosaic ceiling panels of the Hypostyle Hall (Sala Hipostíla) of Park Güell in Barcelona, designed by Antoni Gaudí and executed primarily by Josep Maria Jujol, constructed 1906–1914. The Hall is supported by 86 fluted Doric columns and covered by a stepped ceiling of circular and rectilinear vaulted panel fields, each densely surfaced with trencadís mosaic. Circular panels carry radiating sunburst compositions in white, gold, and blue, with embedded translucent glass roundels that admit filtered daylight from the rainwater drainage channels running above through the columns. The mosaic surfaces alternate between the radiating solar compositions and border fields of densely packed polychromatic shard patterns. The intense chromatic complexity of the mosaic, the varied protrusion of individual fragments, and the filtering of natural light through the glass roundels create a ceiling that appears to glow with internally generated luminosity.