Barcelona & Gaudi
One of the most famous Spanish architects, Antoni Gaudí
is the most internationally prestigious figure in Catalan architecture. This
stature is due to his capacity for synthesizing tradition and for the
originality and audacity of his technical solutions as well as his use of
brilliant, unique, and creative ornamentation.
Antoni Plàcid Guillem Gaudí Cornet was born on
Wednesday, June 25, 1852 in Reus, the province of Tarragona.
His school years began in the preschool of teacher
Francesc Berenguer, located on the roof of a house on Carrer dels Monterols, in
Reus. At age eleven (1863-64 school year) he entered the Col.legi de les Escoles
Píes (Pious School) in Reus, located in the ancient convent of Sant Francesc.
From this moment on it seems that his intellectual growth was substantial, since
he achieved very good grades in Geometry. His "religiousness" probably
began there, because every Saturday evening, the Oficio del Parvo de la Virgen
was recited. His academic transcript is still kept there. It makes it clear that
he was not a genius in school, but with the years of study he made notable
improvements, eventually earning some "excellent" grades.
At the age of 16 Gaudi left his hometown Reus to
join the school of architecture of Barcelona. At that time Barcelona was a fast-growing
city because of the start of its industry. It was the main city of Catalunya
where at the time Gaudi arrived there was a large anarchist independence
movement.
 Like
the followers of this movement Gaudi loved Catalunya above everything else. For
that reason the major influences on his work were mauresque, oriental and gothic
architecture, all of them traditional Catalonian styles. Although he did not
travel around Europe he was aquantanced with French avantgarde movements because
of the tight relationships between Barcelona and France. New foreign movements
like the preraphaelites, arts and crafts, gothic revival, impressionism and Art
Nouveau were also discussed in the intellectual modernist society. Gaudi met his
friends regularly at the "cercle St. Luke" and "Ateneu Club".
Art Nouveau is the movement that influenced Gaudi the most, stimulating him to
experiment with new materials and new shapes, thereby helping him to give up
imitating historical styles and find his own way.
His first important job was the Casa Vicens in
Barcelona (1883-1888). This summer residence of a ceramics dealer is a clear
example of the furious work Gaudí did, which was reflected in the huge amount
of details. Gaudí formed a strong relationship with the Güells, a family of
industrialists who commissioned him with a good number of works and helped him
gain prestige among Barcelona circles. The work he did for this family includes
the Pavellons Guell (1884-1887) Palau Guell (1886-1888), Guell
Cellars (1895-1898), the Crypt of the Colonia Guell (1898-1908) and the
fantastic Park Guell (1901-1914). Gaudí’s other distinctive buildings include
the austere Teresian College (1888-1889), Casa Calvet (1898-1900), one of the
only works for which Gaudí won an award, Bellesguard villa (1900-1905), Casa
Batllo (1904-1906), where he remade the facade into a brilliant work of color
and texture, and Casa Mila (1904-1906), also known as La Pedrera and the
architect's last civil work
 At
the end of his life, Gaudi reached through his work a high state of personality
and he became more and more isolated, building the work of his life: the
"Sagrada Familia". When he was ran over by a trolleybus, nobody
recognized this tramp, so no one took care. He died few weeks after the accident
in the hospital where he was driven too late.
One could caracterize his work by an oriental,
mauresc and gothic influence, an effort in plan design, a renewal in structure
design, an overwhelming inspiration of organic nature (animals and plants).
For instance, see the tree-columns of House Calvet or
Crypte Guëll: Gaudi was inspired by the natural tight relationship between
shape and structure, decoration and function. See also the highly resistant
shell structures. The use of parabolic arch is a result of an efficiency
structure research with models. The enhancement of gothic columns to in leaned,
self carrying columns avoiding flying buttresses. The materials used by Gaudi
ranged from stone, ceramics and tiles to wrought iron, glass and bricks. He
invented solutions that proves his genius like for the snaked bench in Guëll
Park. He used broken tiles for technical and financial reasons: square tiles
could not match such a wavy shape and square tiles would have cost to much. It
was cheaper to use broken tiles from the ceramics fabrics. The result is an
absolute marvel.
His work has been forgotten till the fifties. Most of
Gaudi's works are still uncompleted because of their costs. The Sagrada Familia
is still under construction. Gaudi left a work that could not let unconcerned.
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