A symphony of lights at Sant Pau
A mapping of the Catalan modernist ensemble will serve to celebrate the winter solstice
On a number of days starting on 23 December, the Sant Pau Catalan Modernist ensemble will be the stage for a video mapping that promises to be quite spectacular. Titled The Light of Sant Pau, it will be a luminous symphony that maps the façade of the Administration Pavilion in order to commemorate the winter solstice and celebrate the fact that days will now start to get longer as the sun wins its battle against the darkness.
According to the organisers, the pavilion, with its clock tower and richly ornamented façade, will be a kind of bridge between the earth and the sky – a metaphor for a tree that buries its roots in the earth and reaches for the sky with its branches in search of light. The mapping also pays tribute to Catalan modernist architecture and especially the figure of Lluís Domènech i Montaner, whose work characteristically reflected forms taken from nature.
The Light of Sant Pau will begin at 6.30pm and finish at 10.30pm and each projection will take place at thirty minute intervals. The projections are scheduled for the following days: 23, 24, 25, 26, 30 and 31 December and 1, 5 and 6 January. The organisers are inviting spectators to share their photos on social media with the hashtag #LlumSantPau.
The architectural ensemble known as the antic hospital de la Santa Creu i de Sant Pau, which opened in 1930 and was designed by Domènech i Montaner, was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1997, and is spread out over an area that is equivalent to nine block on Barcelona’s Eixample city grid. The large number of buildings, its ornamental wealth and level of conservation make it the greatest examples of the art-nouveau style known as Catalan modernism.