Life and works of antoni gaudi biography

Catalan architect (1852–1926)

"Gaudi" redirects here. For other uses, see Gaudi (disambiguation).

In this Catalan name, the first or paternal surname is Gaudí and the second or maternal family name is Cornet; both are generally joined by the conjunction "i".

Antoni Gaudí i Cornet (gow-DEE, GOW-dee, Catalan:[ənˈtɔniɣəwˈði]; 25 June 1852 – 10 June 1926) was a Spanish architect and designer, known as the greatest exponent of Catalan Modernisme. Gaudí's works have a sui generis style. Most are located in Barcelona, including his main work, the Sagrada Família church.

Gaudí's work was influenced by his passions in life: architecture, nature, and religion. He considered every detail of his creations. His work combined crafts such as ceramics, stained glass, wrought ironworkforging, and carpentry. He 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 peaked in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His work transcended mainstream Modernisme, culminating in a style inspired by natural forms. Gaudí rarely drew detailed plans of his works, instead preferring to create them as three-dimensionalscale models and moulding the details as he conceived them.

Gaudí's work enjoys global popularity and continuing admiration and study. His masterpiece, the still-incomplete Sagrada Família, is the most-visited monument in Spain. Between 1984 and 2005, seven of his works were declared UNESCOWorld Heritage Sites.

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". His cause for canonization was opened in the Archdiocese of Barcelona in 2003.

Life

The b

Who is Antoni Gaudí

A leading contributor to modern art, Antoni Gaudí was a Catalan architect and pioneer of 19th-century architecture. He was among the most influential modern artists in Spain, whose sensational architecture represented Barcelona’s interpretation of Art Nouveau: Modernisme.

Gaudí studied structure as a way to convey imaginative forms while flawlessly combining natural ornamentation with architectural elements influenced by religion while designing structures with unprecedented modernity. In the end, his building designs were a product of his intense Catholic faith, his dedication to Spanish culture, and his obsession with the structural logic of nature.

The most famous works by Antoni Gaudí are Casa Vicens, Park Güell, the restoration of Mallorca Cathedral, the church on the Güell Estate, Casa Batlló, La Pedrera, and last but not least, the Basílica de la Sagrada Família, also known as the Sagrada Família.

Biography of Antoni Gaudí

Born in Reus, Catalonia, Spain on June 25, 1852, Gaudí was trained as a craftsman in ornamental and utilitarian copperwork and metalsmithing by his father. His natural orientation towards a hands-on approach to both the design and the production processes was well suited to his future architectural profession.

He studied architecture in Barcelona during a time when Catalonia experienced a period of cultural and political rebirth, also known as the Renaixença. Economic and urban growth benefited the bourgeoisie, who thrived on patronizing artists from the region and wanted not to mix with European currents. Gaudí’s first commission from the Barcelona City Council came in 1879 for designing public lampposts and his mark on the city just continued to grow in the 1880s as he refined his visual vocabulary of architecture and decorative art. By the time he executed some of his best-known structures in the early 20th century like Park Güell or Casa Batll

Antoni Gaudí i Cornet created a style of architecture so unique that it is difficult to imitate. In doing so, he brought attention not only to Spain but also to his native region of Catalonia. Most often described as blending Art Nouveau with neo-Gothic, the two main architectural movements of his day, his architecture is more accurately described as living sculpture. Using the parabola and motifs found in nature, Gaudí designed using scale models as well as architectural drawings and plans. Gaudí incorporated elements of art—color, form, and texture—into his architecture. His work is known for its use of ornate ironwork, wide parabolic arches, and symmetrical designs emphasizing open interior space. His greatest achievement was the development of the “slanted” column to replace the flying buttresses used in Gothic and Romanesque cathedrals. His columns lean at a slight angle and branch at the top to further support the ceiling stresses of the tall and open buildings that he created.

Gaudí was born in Reus, Spain on 25 June 1852. He was plagued by rheumatic ailments from an early age. Unable to play with other children, he spent time observing the world around him and drawing what he saw. Perhaps it was during this time that he developed his keen observation of the elements in nature that would influence his architectural designs.

Gaudí first showed an interest in architecture and design while attending secondary school in 1867. With the help of two friends, he drew up plans and a proposal for the restoration of the monastery of Poblet, which at the time was abandoned and in ruins. César Martinell, in "Gaudí: His Life, His Theories, His Work," describes the fascination that the ruins had on the youth and its lifelong influence on his vocation: “The crumbling vaults and arches revealed in skeletal form the mechanics of architectural structure which he had never seen so explicitly in well-preserved buildings.”

In 1873, at

Who is Antoni Gaudí?

Considered to be the main exponent of Catalan Modernism, Antoni Gaudí is one of the most important architects in history. His works stand out for the incorporation of structural solutions inspired by nature, as well as for including a deep religious symbolism. In fact, Gaudí’s biography is very much influenced by Catholicism, which determined all the aspects of the architect’s personality.

Gaudí’s most  important works in Barcelona are Sagrada Familia, Casa Vicens, Güell Palace, Casa Batlló, Park Güell and La Pedrera. All these monuments, along with the crypt in the Colonia Güell, located in Santa Coloma de Cervelló, form part of the list of World Heritage sites of Unesco.

The history of Gaudí: childhood and studies

Antoni Gaudí i Cornet was born on the 25 of June in 1852 in Reus, the capital of the region of Baix Camp, an area to the south of Catalonia. Gaudí’s mother, Antònia Cornet i Bertran, was the daughter of a boiler manufacturer, just like the architect’s father, Francesc Gaudí i Serra, a boilermaker from Riudoms, a small town located just a few kilometres from Reus.

Gaudí lived with his parents and his older sister and brother, Rosa and Francesc, in a modest house in the centre of Reus, although they frequently went to Riudoms, where the family had a property called Mas de la Calderera. After starting his primary school studies in a school directed by Francesc Berenguer, father of one of his future collaborators, in 1863 Antoni Gaudí enrolled in the Escuelas Pías de Reus, where he met two of his closest childhood friends, Josep Ribera Sans and Eduard Toda i Güell, with whom he collaborated on the publication of the satirical magazine El Arlequínand on the blueprint of a utopian project for the restoration of the Monastery of Poblet.

In 1868, Gaudí moved to Barcelona to finish his secondary school studies. The