Antoni Gaudí (1852-1926)
SPAIN’S NATIONAL TREASURE
Unlike his contemporary Vincent van Gogh, Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí enjoyed popular success before his untimely death in 1926. The city of Barcelona is filled with Gaudí’s unique designs, which definitely follow their own set of rules. Inspired as a child by his artistic parents (both from families of metalsmiths), Gaudí incorporated shapes found in the natural world into his work. His playful style jumps between categories, simultaneously embracing the undulating lines and shapes of Art Nouveau and Surrealism and the soaring verticality of Gothic art. Doors, windows, and columns resemble human and animal bones. When looking at his giant stone animals embedded around his parks’ serpentine walkways, you might believe they are alive because their sparkly surfaces, entirely covered in irregular, colorful mosaics, shimmer in the sun.
Begun in 1882, the still unfinished mammoth church complex Sagrada Familia is perhaps Gaudí’s most well-known work. Resembling a desert rock formation carved by otherworldly hands, its 18 spiraling towers dedicated to the apostles and the Holy Family involved a large number of architects, sculptors, and craftsmen. Gaudí’s devotion to Catholicism caused him to eventually abandon all projects except his work on Sagrada Familia. The project completely engulfed him to the point where he moved his entire studio into the church, and he would have probably continued working on it had he not died from injuries sustained in a tragic trolley accident. Buried within his beloved Sagrada, Gaudí’s spirit continues to inspire work on the church, now estimated to be complete in 2033. —SBR
Gaudi's Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain.