David´s house

Gaudi.s Casa Mila

To me, it seems that David and his father Joaquim have checked out nearly every children´s book in the Sicamous and Salmon Arm branches of the Okanagan Library System. I know that is not the case, but they are certainly ¨frequent flyers¨.

Last Spring they checked out a children´s book about construction work. Soon after, David was found outside of Grandma Arta´s garage, 2 feet or so from the door, digging a large hole. He explained, he was working on the hole for the foundation of his own house.

His efforts seemed like a great start. I hope he realizes his dream one day - a home built by himself in Annis Bay.

Before he gets too far in his plans, I hope to get him hooked on Gaudi. Arta and I visited another one of his works today, Casa Milà also known as La Pedrera. During our visit, we saw a film about Gaudi, what was happening during his life in science, technology, and art as well as reactions to his work. Apparently some loved his architecture and others did not. We got to see a cartoon in a newspaper of the time where his building had animals hanging out of each window, like it was a zoo. I would have and still do fall in with the crowd who are completely enchanted by his work.

There was a wonderful display of things from nature that likely inspired much of his work. This included objects such as bones, skulls, pine cones, gourds, the bowl of a palm tree, and a Sea Fan (beautiful fractal). It was a treat for the eye to see the curves and angles in his work mirroring nature, such as the pillars in the Sagrada Familia that look like trees that branch out at various points to hold up the sky/ceiling. The following quote is attributed to Gaudi.

Those who look for the laws of Nature as a support for their new works collaborate with the creator.

Glen´s name popped into my mind when we were on the roof of La Pedrera. There was a beautiful green ornamental structure on the roof. I believe it´s function was a chimney. As I got closer, I could see that the green glass was actually all broken glass from tall bottles. I wondered if David will get his Great Uncle to collaborate with him on the ornamental parts of his home he builds. The chimney would be named, Annis Bay Brewery.