Antoni Gaudi

Antoni Gaudi

Antoni Gaudi (1852 - 1926) was an architect from Spain who played a very important role in Catalan Modernism.  His works were usually marked by his passions in life and most of them can be found in Barcelona. 

Some of his works include his Magnum Opus and Sagrada Familia.  Gaudi was very diverse in skill.  He worked with many different materials like ceramics and stained glass.  Gaudi was extremely influenced by Neo-Gothic art. 







Gaudi's first project was to design the lampposts for Placa Reial in Barcelona and the unfinished Grossi newsstands.  He gained a lot of recognition when he was commissioned for the Casa Vicens.  In 1883 Gaudi was commissioned to build Barcelona a cathedral called the Sagrada Familia.  He changed the initial designs for the cathedral to his own designs.


La Sagrada Familia

For the 1888 World Fair, Gaudi presented a building that he designed for the Transatlantic company which led him to receive commissions from people and companies which were not only based in Spain but in many other European countries. (Information taken from http://www.tiendashop.com/copasgaudiTextIng.html)

At the beginning of the century, Gaudi began to shift to a more personal style. in 1900, Gaudi received an award for the best building of the year for his Casa Calvet.  Although most of his works and projects have been extremely successful, there have been some which were not and were stopped half way through.  For example, Park Guell which was an unsuccessful urbanization project.




Lamppost for Placa Reial

Gaudi was very inspired by the oriental arts.  He studied designers like John Ruskin and William Morris and was greatly influenced by them.  This influence can be seen in many of his works like in his Casa Vicens.