Dome

Fence that leads to the caretaker's house; Gaudí's first important buildings reveal an imaginative experimentation with ornament and construction, exploiting local building techniques, materials and craftsmanship along Arts and Crafts principles, albeit at first with an Islamic flavour. His use of azulejos (glazed tiles) in particular helped to revitalize the local art of tile-making. At the lodge, stables and entrance gate (1887) to the Finca Güell, Pedralbes, Barcelona, Gaudí used parabolic arches and vaults to develop a complete roofing system for the stables, achieving varied natural lighting effects through the arch openings. Here also is the fantastic wrought-iron dragon gate guarding the entrance to the estate. Both buildings have look-out towers with heavily corbelled platforms reminiscent of early Islamic free-standing minarets, their cylindrical surfaces patterned in rich green azulejos. Source: Grove Art Online; http://www.oxfordartonline.com/ (accessed 7/13/2010)