Park Güell was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984. UNESCO recognizes it as part of the World Heritage property “Works of Antoni Gaudí,” rather than treating the park as an entirely separate inscription.
The designation reflects the park’s unusual combination of architecture, landscape design, sculpture, and engineering. Gaudí created it for the industrialist and patron Eusebi Güell on Barcelona’s Carmel Hill, where construction took place from 1900 to 1914. Its curved forms, ceramic mosaics, viaducts, stairways, and organic structures demonstrate Gaudí’s mature naturalist style.
A common mix-up is the date 2005. That year UNESCO extended the original “Works of Antoni Gaudí” property to include additional sites; it was not the year Park Güell first received World Heritage recognition. The park later became public after the private housing project failed, opening officially as a municipal park in 1926.