Eixample

The Eixample is a district of Barcelona between the old city (Ciutat Vella) and what were once surrounding small towns (Sants, Gracia, Sant Andreu etc.). Constructed in the 19th and early 20th centuries, some parts of the Eixample were heavily influenced by modernist architects, chief among whom is Antoni Gaudi. His work in the Eixample includes the Casa Mila (nicknamed La Pedrera) and the Casa Batllo, both of which are on the wide Passeig de Gracia, as well as the Sagrada Familia. The Casa Terrades most known as Casa de les Punxes is a really nice building designed by the modern architect Puig i Cadafalch.

The Casa Batllo is part of a block called the Illa de la Discordia, along with two other notable Modernisme works, Lluis Domenech i Montaner's Casa Lleo Morera and Josep Puig i Cadafalch's Casa Amatller. The block is so named due to the visual clash between the buildings; its Spanish name, Manzana de la Discordia, is also a pun on Eris's Apple of Discord - manzana means both "apple" and "city block".

The Eixample is characterized by long straight streets, a strict grid pattern crossed by wide avenues, and truncated square blocks (named illes in Catalan, manzanas in Spanish). This was a visionary, pioneering design by Ildefons Cerda, who considered traffic and transport along with sunlighting and ventilation in coming up with his characteristic octagon-shaped blocks, where the streets broaden at every intersection making for greater visibility, better ventilation and (today) some short stay parking space. The corners were cut off to allow horse drawn carts an area in which to turn around. The grid pattern remains as a hallmark of Barcelona, but many of his other provisions were unfortunately ignored: the four sides of the blocks and the inner space were built instead of the planned two or three sides around a garden; the streets were narrower; only one of the two diagonal avenues were realized; the inhabitants were of a higher class than the mixed composition dreamed of by Cerda. The important needs of the inhabitants were incorporated into his plan which called for markets, schools, hospitals every so many blocks. Today, most of the markets remain open in the spots they have been from the beginning.

The most important avenues in the Eixample are Passeig de Gracia (that links centric Placa Catalunya with the old town of Gracia), Avinguda Diagonal (that cuts the grid diagonally), and Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes (that crosses all Barcelona from southwest to northeast). Other wide avenues in the area include Carrer d'Arago, Carrer de Balmes and Passeig de Sant Joan. Some parts of the Eixample are rather well-to-do neighbourhoods, especially around the central Passeig de Gracia, but the Eixample also contains many decaying buildings inhabited by lonely aged tenants on the verge of poverty, especially in the fringe areas. Source wikipedia

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