Back to Parc Güell in Barcelona this week. But first a bit of a confession: I’m not really that into architecture. It’s not that I dislike it or anything, and Parc Güell was definitely a sight to see. The whole place was a mixture of wild colour schemes and fluid curving shapes. Not a straight line to be seen. In my memory it was divided into separate zones, each with its own vibe, distinct from the others but integrated into the whole with a unifying ‘other-worldliness’.
I think it would be fair to say I don’t get it. The fault is entirely mine the place is a marvel. Go see it if you get the chance, then come back and tell me all the ways that I’ve got it wrong.
Beyond the arch the sun glowed gently through rich, damp vegetation. A soft breeze carried through moist air, cool and refreshing on Jay’s face. It was a stark contrast to the dry, dusty desert heat on his side. The dense thicket of lush greenery was breath-taking. So many plants in one place was utterly outwith Jay’s experience. On his side of the arch plants were spiky and grew in loose clumps, no more than a dozen in one place.
He’d been out playing with his brothers when they’d stumbled upon these ruins. Well, ruins wasn’t really the right word. Jay didn’t know what to call them though. The buildings, if that’s what they were, seemed at first glance to be crumbling to the edge of collapse. Up close though the rough, wavy stonework was solid and looked well maintained, despite the unnerving tilts and overhangs to the columns and walls. Maintained by who though? That was the question. The buildings sprawled massively in all directions, but there were no signs of life beyond Jay and his brothers. As they’d explored the sounds of their sandals echoed weirdly from the stonework and shortly after from the chasm walls beyond. Their voices called back to them eerily as they played among the stones. They would have heard if anyone else was there but when their playing ebbed in the afternoon heat the site fell silent as a tomb.
Jay wished he hadn’t had that last thought and shivered in the sun’s blazing heat. He wondered what it would feel like through the archway. He stalked closer to it, weaving back and forth so he could see more of the impossible landscape. Glancing to his right, he could see a completely different environment through that arch. That way lay wide grasslands as far as the eye could see. Just as alien in its way but somehow more comprehensible to Jay.
It occurred to him then that he should go get his brothers. Maybe they’d know what to make of these strange vistas. He shook his head as if to dislodge the thought. Being the youngest he was always last to everything. This time would be different. This time he’d be the one to go first. The one who knew what the others still had to learn.
A smile danced on his lips and lit his eyes as he rested his hand on the pillar that divided the two archways. Which one to choose? It wasn’t really a question, was it? He wanted to know what it was like to walk among trees. Leaning forward he could see the ground was made of a rich brown soil. Jay wondered what it would feel like between his toes. Not at all like the gritty burn from desert sands, he was sure.
He climbed the low stone wall under the archway and hung his toes out over the alien land. Behind him he could hear Marrom, his eldest brother, shouting his name. Should he go back? At least to tell his brothers about his find. No. This was his discovery. He wouldn’t loose it to them nor to anyone. He set his lips resolutely and jumped in.
Brandon Lim 