Discover the Brilliance of Antoni Gaudí

Antoni Gaudí i Cornet was a Catalan architect and designer from Spain known as the greatest exponent of Catalan Modernism. Gaudí's works have a highly individualized, sui generis style. Most are located in Barcelona, including his main work, the church of the Sagrada Família. Gaudí's work was influenced by his passions in life: architecture, nature, and religion. He considered every detail of his creations and integrated into his architecture such crafts as ceramics, stained glass, wrought ironwork forging and carpentry. He also introduced new techniques in the treatment of materials, such as trencadís which used waste ceramic pieces. Under the influence of neo-Gothic art and Oriental techniques, Gaudí became part of the Modernista movement which was reaching its peak in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His work transcended mainstream Modernisme, culminating in an organic style inspired by natural forms. Gaudí's work enjoys global popularity and continuing admiration and study by architects. His masterpiece, the still-incomplete Sagrada Família, is the most-visited monument in Spain. Between 1984 and 2005, seven of his works were declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. Gaudí's Catholic faith intensified during his life and religious images appear in many of his works. This earned him the nickname "God's Architect" and led to calls for his beatification.The Life and Work of Antoni Gaudí

Gaudí devoted his life to his profession and remained single, with the exception of being attracted to one woman, who did not reciprocate his feelings.
He was known to be friendly and polite, and had close relationships with his patrons and collaborators such as Eusebi Güell, the bishop of Vic, Joan Maragall, and Llorenç Matamala.
Gaudí had a deep attachment to his native Catalan language and incorporated elements of Catalan culture and identity into his works.
He was a part of the Catalan Renaissance movement, which aimed to restore Catalan language and arts, and he joined several Catalan associations.
Gaudí was beaten by police during a riot in a Catalan culture celebration and arrested during a demonstration against the banning of the Catalan language.
He died at the age of 73 after being hit by a tram while taking his daily walk to the Sant Felip Neri church.
Gaudí's professional life was distinctive in that he never ceased to investigate mechanical building structures and was inspired by oriental arts and neo-Gothic movement.
His works also reflect the Modernisme style, which was inspired by historic architecture and aimed to combine nationalism and cosmopolitanism.
Gaudí studied organic and anarchic geometric forms of nature thoroughly and used ruled geometrical forms such as the hyperbolic paraboloid, the hyperboloid, the helicoid, and the cone, which reflect the forms he found in nature.
He used catenary arches in his works, which were commonly used in suspension bridges at the time but had not been used in common architecture before.
Gaudí's works include the Sagrada Família, the Park Güell, the Casa Batlló, the Palau Güell, and the Torre Bellesguard.
He left hardly any written documents except for technical reports, some letters to friends, a few journal articles, and the Manuscrito de Reus, a kind of student diary in which he collected diverse impressions of architecture and decorating, putting forward his ideas on the subject.
Gaudí's personal appearance changed radically over the course of time, from dressing like a dandy in his youth to dressing in old, worn-out suits and neglecting his appearance to the extent that he was sometimes mistaken for a beggar.The Genius of Gaudi: A Summary of his Architectural Innovations
Gaudi's use of catenary curves and hyperboloid structures in his designs allowed for even distribution of weight and eliminated the need for buttresses.
Gaudi's spatial vision allowed him to design in three dimensions, and he preferred to work with scale models rather than drawings.
Gaudi's innovations in structural design were the result of his journey through various styles, culminating in his own unique and perfected style.
Gaudi's work had a deep influence on 20th-century architecture, inspiring architects such as Le Corbusier and Pier Luigi Nervi.
Gaudi was skilled in diverse crafts, including sculpture, carpentry, wrought ironwork, stained glass, ceramics, and plaster modelling.
Gaudi was an innovator in crafting techniques, such as his creation of ceramic mosaics made of waste pieces ("trencadís") in imaginative combinations.
Gaudi was a skilled interior decorator, and he designed all the elements of his works, from furnishings to illumination to wrought ironwork.
Gaudi aimed to integrate his constructions with their natural and architectural surroundings, and often used the local materials.
Gaudi's use of lighting was studied in detail, and he carefully adapted the gradient of light intensity to each specific environment.
Gaudi's work is classed as modernista, and he achieved his personal, organic style through a gradual process of assimilating and surpassing earlier styles.
Gaudi's early works stand out for the precision of their details, the use of geometry, and the prevalence of mechanical considerations in structural calculations.
Gaudi's professional career began while he was still a student, and he worked as a draughtsman for some of the most outstanding architects of the time.Antoni Gaudí's Early Works and Collaborations
Gaudí designed lampposts for the Plaça Reial, which were inaugurated during the Mercè festivities in 1879.
The Girossi newsstands project, which was never carried out, would have consisted of 20 newsstands, each including a public lavatory, a flower stand, glass panels for advertisements, and more.
Gaudí's first big project was the Cooperativa Obrera Mataronense, which was a factory, a worker's housing estate, a social centre, and a services building.
In May 1878, Gaudí designed a display cabinet for the Esteban Comella glove factory, which was exhibited in the Spanish pavilion at the Paris World Exhibition.
Gaudí designed furniture for the pantheon chapel of the Palacio de Sobrellano in Comillas, which included a chair, a bench, and a prayer stool.
Between 1879 and 1881, Gaudí drew up a proposal for the decoration of the church of Sant Pacià, belonging to the Colegio de Jesús-María in Sant Andreu del Palomar.
Gaudí was tasked with constructing a hunting lodge and wine cellars at a country residence known as La Cuadra, in Garraf (Sitges), property of baron Eusebi Güell.
Gaudí completely redesigned the Sagrada Família church project after taking over from Francisco de Paula del Villar y Lozano in 1883.
Gaudí constructed the Casa Vicens, a house with four floors, with façades on three sides and an extensive garden, including a monumental brick fountain, between 1883 and 1888.
Gaudí designed the Santísimo Sacramento chapel for the parish church of San Félix de Alella in 1883, as well as some topographical plans for the Can Rosell de la Llena country residence in Gelida.
Gaudí built El Capricho, a small annex to the Palacio de Sobrellano, for the Baron of Comillas, between 1883 and 1885.
Gaudí refurbished Eusebi Güell's country residence, constructing a wall and porter's lodge, and completed the stone wall with several entrances, including a main entrance with an iron gate in the shape of a dragon, with symbology allusive to the myths of Hercules and the Garden of the Hesperides.
In 1885, Gaudí accepted a commission from Josep Maria Bocabella for an altar in the oratory of the Bocabella family, who had obtained permission from the Pope to have an altar in their home.