Gaudí, Antoni

b. 1852, Reus; d. 1926, Barcelona

   Architect

   A mythical figure of Catalan Modernism, Gaudí is the most celebrated Iberian architect of all time. From his student days, he showed exceptional talent for design and for the mathematics of structures. In his youth he was influenced by the ideas of Viollet-le-Duc on the scholarly use of historic styles, ideas which were defended in Barcelona in the second half of the nineteenth century by Elias Regent. Gaudí never forgot Regent's teaching, though its importance diminished over the years. Moreover, his work as a whole becomes increasingly distanced from the modernist movement, despite the fact that it was Gaudí who provided the most spectacular examples of it. His idiosyncratic style defies easy categorization. In the early period of his activity, mudéjar (Moorish) influences are recognizable, despite his fervent Catholicism, as well as some elements derived from Mackintosh, the preeminent representative in Britain of the "Modern Style". In the second phase of his career, his buildings express a complex vision dominated by a quasi-organic sculptural "tectonics". Among the manifestations of this are the links between natural and built structures, decoration based on complex geometry, polychromy, unusual juxtapositions of materials, historical allusion, the metaphor of myth, and the representation of the spiritual. Apart from some isolated projects, his activity was centred on Barcelona and its environs. As a young architect, Gaudí gained the support of a rich aristocratic patron, Eusebi Güell, who became more and more involved in the bold enterprises proposed by his protégé. This relationship goes some way to explain Gaudí"s development, since it fostered his idiosyncrasy and caused him to reflect even more deeply on questions of creativity. His individualism, the result of a growing mystical fervour, helped to turn him into an artiste maudit in the romantic tradition.

   Among his first creations the most notable are the Casa Vicens (1883–5, Barcelona), the Palau Güell (1886–8, Barcelona) the Casa Calvet (1898– 1902, Barcelona) the façade of which was to become a model for other modernist architects, and the Torre Bellesguard (1900–9, Barcelona). The church of the Sagrada Familia, emblematic of Barcelona, is a work of colossal proportions, which absorbed him from 1883 until his death in 1926. This building, where he lived for the last twelve years of his life, remained unfinished at the end of the twentieth century, having been worked on sporadically in the 1980s and generated considerable controversy about the appropriateness of continuing the work. Equally famous are the Casa Batlló, an extraordinary zoomorphic creation on the most elegant avenue in Barcelona, the Passeig de Gràcia (1904–6), the very sculptural Casa Mila known as La Pedrera situated on the same avenue (1906–10), the internal refurbishment of the Cathedral of Palma de Mallorca (1904–14), the Parc Güell (1900–14, Barcelona) and the Cripta Güell (1908–16, Colonia Güell, Barcelona). Among his associates and followers are the noted architects Jujol, Francesc Berenguer and César Martinell.

   See also: architects; architecture

   Further reading

   - Bohigas, O. (1973) Arquitectura Modernista, Barcelona: Lumen (an important study by a leading Catalan architect).

   - Loyer, F. (1991) L'art nouveau en Catalogne, Paris: Biblio. Arts, Le Septième Fou (a comprehensive overview).

   - Moldoveanu, M. (1996) Barcelona: Architectures of Exuberance, Barcelona: Lunwerg (an overview of different periods and styles, richly illustrated with photographs by the author).

   MIHAIL MOLDOVEANU