Gaudi

The great architect

of Barcelona

Outline

Introduction
Part I. Gaudis life
Part II. His work
Part III. Barcelona
Conclusion
References

Introduction

The master Antoni Gaud, architect, artist and designer

lived during the splendor of "Modernisme", the
architectural and artistic movement in Catalonia, that had
correspondence with "Art Nouveau" in France and
"Jugendstil" in Germany
Antoni Gaud executed most of his work in the city of
Barcelona including the famous Sagrada Familia
Gaud was an important participant in the Catalan
Renaixensa, an artistic revival of the arts and crafts
combined with a political revival in the form of fervent
anti-Castilian "Catalanism."

Part I. Gaudis life

Gaud y Cornet, Antoni (1852-1926), Spanish architect

Born June 25, 1852, in Reus, Catalonia, Gaud was the son
of a coppersmith
He attended the School of Architecture in Barcelona in
1874, where he spent his life; graduated in 1878
In 1883 Gaud was appointed official architect of the huge
Church of the Holy Family
Gaudi never married and devoted his life entirely to his art
He was deeply involved in Catalan nationalism, of which
he was a leader. He died June 10, 1926, in Barcelona

Part II. His work

His style is often described as a blend of neo-Gothic and

art nouveau, but it also has surrealist and cubist elements
The spires of El Templo Expiatorio de la Sagrada Famlia
(Church of the Sacred Family), each more than 100 m tall,
dominate the skyline of Barcelona, Spain
In 1891, nine years after construction started on the neoGothic cathedral, Gaud took over as official architect and
made the project a personal obsession
When Gaud died in a trolley accident in 1926, the
cathedral was left unfinished
Among Gaud's other celebrated works are two apartment
buildings, the Casa Batll (1907) and the Casa Mil (1907)
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Part III. Barcelona

Almost the entire professional activity of Gaudi occurred

in Barcelona, the greater part of his work is there
The religious symbol of the Renaixensa in Barcelona was
the church of the Holy Family, a project that was to occupy
Gaud throughout his entire career
Barcelona, city, northeastern Spain, capital of Barcelona
Province and the autonomous region of Catalonia, a
seaport on the Mediterranean Sea
Gaud experimented with the Baroque in the Casa Calvet
at Barcelona (1898-1904)
In his Villa Bell Esguard (1900-02) and the Gell Park
(1900-14), in Barcelona, and in the Colonia Gell Church
(1898-c. 1915), south of that city, he arrived at a type of
structure that has come to be called equilibrated

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La Sagrada Familia

Gaudi dedicated more than forty years of his life as an

architect to the Neo-Gothic unfinished cathedral
He transformed the original design into a fantastical,
soaring work that incorporates Gothic, Moorish, African,
and purely imaginative influences into its structure
Despite controversy over whether the cathedral should
remain in its uncompleted form as a monument to the
architect, construction began again in 1979, closely
following Gauds original plan
The temple has a basilical floor-plan, with five naves and
three transepts. The interior is 90m long and the transept
60m wide; the central nave measures 15m
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Conclusion

Gaudi was totally dedicated to architecture; his personal

and professional lives were one
Influenced by Violet-Le-Duc and Ruskin, he was one of the
basic architects of Art Nouveau, where he is classified
After some years of criticism generated by the
"Noucentisme" (artistic way opposed to Art Nouveau
developed in Catalonia between 1910 and 1936), by the
1960s, he came to be revered by professionals and laymen
alike for his boundless and tenacious imagination
Today the prestige of Gaud is a fact accepted all around
the world by specialists and people

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References

http://encarta.msn.com/find/Concise.asp?z=1&pg=2&ti=7615
76127&cid=3#p3
http://www.raingod.com/angus/Gallery/Photos/Europe/Spain/
Barcelona.html
http://www.raingod.com/angus/Gallery/Photos/Europe/Spain/
Barcelona.html
http://www.cyberspain.com/passion/gaudi.htm
http://www.gaudiallgaudi.com/AA002.htm
http://www.lexised.com/architecture/gaudi/bio.html
http://www.op.net/~jmeltzer/Gaudi/about.html
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