The outstanding Spanish architect Antonio Gaudi is rightly called a genius. This man had a sparkling creative imagination, he was able to miraculously mix different styles, and his projects were often called architectural madness.
The beginning of the career of Antonio Gaudi
Antonio Gaudi Young Gaudi arrived in Barcelona in the middle of the XIX century. Here he began to work as a draftsman and studied crafts. The capital of Catalonia at that time looked in the neo-Gothic style.
House Vicens As his first projects, the young architect worked on the creation of the summer residence of El Capriccio on the territory of the Cantabrian coast and the private residential building of Vicenç. These buildings were made by Gaudi in a modern style. For the construction of the Vicente House, the architect used rough stone and ceramic tiles. He used these materials to create floral and chess patterns. Vicente's house is decorated with bay windows and turrets, protruding balconies and facades, fenced with lattices of an unusual shape.
El Capriccio Mansion The El Capriccio mansion is a kind of building, from where picturesque views of the valley and the sea open. For its cladding, Gaudi used multi-colored ceramic tiles and bricks.
The main architectural projects of Gaudi
Guell Palace The novice architect began to patronize the textile tycoon Eusebi Güell, who really liked the extraordinary architectural designs of Gaudi. Now Antonio could fully demonstrate his unique talent, without following generally recognized rules and without restricting the flight of his imagination. Gaudi began to develop his own recognizable style. He took up the construction of the Palace of Guell, which the philanthropist eventually received as a gift from his ward. This building belongs to the best works of the architect.
Gaudi worked on the creation of a palace on the street. Carrer Nou de la Rambla. Now it is under the protection of UNESCO. In developing his project, the architect managed to combine flat Byzantine vaults with decorative steel structures. The gate for the passage of horse-drawn carriages acted as a bright decorative element. The same can be said of carved decorative ceilings, decorated with silver and gold details. The chimneys on the roof of the building have different shapes and look like unusual shapes.
In the interiors of the palace, unusual furniture specially made for them, elegantly furnished rooms with multi-colored chimneys, and grandiose parabolic arches stand out.
Mila's House After completing work on the Guell Palace, Gaudi became a well-known architect in the city and received many orders from wealthy Barcelonaers. He created for them unusual residential buildings that were different from each other. For example, the House of Mila, which is located at the intersection of Carrer de Provenza and Passage de Gracia, was created by the architect for the Mila family. This is the first building of the XX century, taken under the protection of UNESCO.
Sagrada Familia Cathedral - The main project of the great architect, thanks to which they found out about him in all corners of the world. At first, they entrusted the construction of the temple to the unknown architect Francesco Villar, as well as to his assistant Joan Mortarello. A few years later, the architects were replaced by Antonio Gaudi.
The construction of the cathedral has not been completed to this day. Modern architects will have to deal with its internal decoration, the construction of domes, outbuildings and grandiose towers. The Spanish government has promised that the construction of the temple will be completed by 2026.
The architect was constantly working on improving the plan of the cathedral. He changed it several times. The construction of the cathedral did not rarely stop. At the same time, in the northern district of the city you can now see a unique Christian temple, which has the appearance of a stalactite cave.
Sagrada Familia Cathedral inside This religious building surprises with its architectural ensemble. Gaudi managed to complete the work on creating the facade of Christmas, which includes three portals that are symbols of Orthodox shrines - Faith, Hope and Love. They are decorated with sculptures depicting biblical scenes. For example, above the portal of Hope, there is a scene of the betrothal of Joseph and Mary, as well as Mount Montserrat, which is a famous Catalan shrine. All towers have an unusual shape and symbolize the apostles. To design the bell towers, spiers were used that adorn stylized images symbolizing the episcopal dignity. The exterior decor of the cathedral consists of biblical quotes and liturgical texts. The interior design of the temple is distinguished by smooth lines and geometric patterns, presented in the form of an ellipsoid, conoid, helicoid, hyperbolic paraboloid and hyperboloid. The cathedral is decorated with stars, helicoidal stairs, hyperbolic vaults and round stained-glass windows.
Crypt Gaudi The great architect passed away at the age of 74. He was hit by a tram that passed near the Sagrada Familia Cathedral. The crypt in the unfinished temple became the place of burial of Gaudi.
Bellesguard Tower
Bellesguard Tower Near Mount Tibidabo, you can see the tower Belshguard. This is a small but significant architectural work of Gaudi with straight facade lines. For the interior design of this object, the architect used his characteristic architectural eccentricities, which were inspired by medieval legends associated with the king of Catalonia Marty the Merciful. It was he who called this city Barcelona. For Gaudi, this object turned into a testing ground for his own innovations, which were later used by the architect in the construction of the Holy Family Temple.
The customer of the construction of the tower in 1900 was the rich widow Maria Sages. They began to erect it at the place where the ruined palace of King Marty was previously located. The work was completed in 1909. It is worth noting that the inner courtyard of Bellesguard keeps the ruins of the royal palace, to which there was a medieval castle with catacombs, where the legendary Catalan robber of the Sierralonga was hidden. Now in the tower house the Giler family lives, which opened this building for tourists in 2013.
The word "Bellesguard" is translated as "beautiful view."
The tower house has the features of a medieval castle, consisting of a gallery protected by battlements on the last floor, miniature semicircular balconies that adorn stone festoons, narrow long loopholes and powerful walls. The architect installed a voluminous cross on the tower.
The tower is built with a base in the shape of a square, all sides of which are 15 m long. The house has elevated floors. Because of this, the effect of a tower soaring upwards is created. The entrance to the house is decorated with three balconies, which are distinguished by openwork metal forging, a curious masonry of the pediment and mosaic benches with fish. Inside the tower is quite spacious and sunny. The room is decorated with numerous colored stained-glass windows, anthropomorphic ceilings, ceramic tiles, wrought iron details and other outlandish accents that the architect loved so much.
The tower is surrounded by a small picturesque garden with a gatekeeper's house, bars and a water pump. Nearby street is the location of the viaduct, similar to the load-bearing wall, the authorship of Gaudi.
A spiral staircase leads you to the tower, from where you can admire the cityscapes, the Sarria area and Mount Tibidabo.
Also, for a more detailed acquaintance with the heritage of the great architect, it is worth visiting the Museum “Gaudi Space”, the house-museum of the architect and Casa Batlló.
Antonio Gaudi Born June 25, 1852 in the small town of Reus, near Tarragona in Catalonia (Spain). Gaudi’s childhood passed by the sea. He carried his impressions of the first architectural experiments throughout his life, so some of his houses resemble sand castles. Due to rheumatism, the boy could not play with children and often remained alone, spent a lot of time communicating with nature. Limited mobility due to illness aggravated the observation of the future architect, opened him to the natural world, which became the main source of inspiration in solving both artistic and design, as well as constructive tasks. Antonio loved to watch mountains, clouds, flowers, snails for a long time. Gaudi's mother instilled in the boy a love of religion. She told him that since the Lord had left him his life, then Antonio must definitely find out why.
In the seventies of the XIX century, Gaudi moved to Barcelona, \u200b\u200bwhere after five years of preparatory courses he was admitted to the Higher School of Architecture, which he graduated in 1878. It was a new type of educational institution in which teachers did everything so that training did not turn into a routine. At the School, students were encouraged to have the opportunity to participate in these projects, and practical experience is always very valuable for the architect. Antonio studied with pleasure and enthusiasm, sat in the library in the evenings, learned German and French, in order to be able to read literature on the profile. Antonio was one of the best students, but was never loved.
In the years 1870-1882, Antonio Gaudi worked under the supervision of architects Emilio Sala and Francisco Villar as a draftsman, unsuccessfully participating in competitions; studied crafts, performing many small works (fences, lights, etc.), also designed furniture for his own home.
In Europe at that time, an extraordinary flowering was observed. neo-gothic style , and young Gaudi enthusiastically followed the ideas of neo-Gothic enthusiasts - French architect and writer Violet le Duc (the largest restorer of the Gothic cathedrals in the 19th century who restored the Notre Dame Cathedral) and the English critic and art critic John Ruskin. The declaration declared by them, "Decorativeity is the beginning of architecture," fully corresponded to Gaudi’s own thoughts and ideas, whose creative style has become completely unique over the years, architecture is as far from generally accepted as Lobachevsky’s geometry is from classical Euclidean.
In the period of early creativity, marked by the influences of the architecture of Barcelona, \u200b\u200bas well as the Spanish architect Martorel, his first, richly decorated, relating to early modernism projects were built: “stylistic twins” - elegant House Vicens (Barcelona) and the quaint El Capricho (Comillas, Cantabria):
In accordance with the owner’s desire to see the "kingdom of ceramics" in his suburban residence, Gaudi covered the walls of the house with multicolored iridescent majolica tiles, decorated the ceilings with hanging stucco "stalactites", filled the yard with bizarre gazebos and lanterns. Garden buildings and a residential building made up a magnificent ensemble, in the forms of which the architect first tried out his favorite tricks:
● an abundance of ceramic finishes;
● plasticity, fluidity of forms;
● bold combinations of different elements;
● contrasting combinations of light and dark, horizontal and vertical.
El Capricho (Comillas, Cantabria):
Outside, the building is lined with rows of bricks and ceramic tiles. The first floor is lined with wide rows of multi-colored bricks alternating with narrow strips of majolica tiles with embossed casts of sunflower inflorescences.
The compromise pseudo-baroque period belongs to the same period. House Calvet (Barcelona) - the only building recognized and loved by citizens during his lifetime:
Also in these years the following projects appear:
● The school at the monastery of St. Theresa (Barcelona) in a restrained Gothic, even “serf” style:
● Neo-Gothic Episcopal Palace in the city of Astorga (Castilla, Leon):
● Neo-Gothic Botines House (Leon):
However, his meeting with Eusebi Guell . Gaudi later became a friend of Guell. This textile tycoon, the richest man in Catalonia, not alien to aesthetic inspirations, could afford to order any dream, and Gaudi got what every creator dreams of: freedom of expression without regard to estimates. Antonio carries out for the Guell family projects of manor pavilions in Pedralbes near Barcelona; wine cellars in Garraf, chapels and crypts of the Colony of Guell (Santa Coloma de Cervello); Fantastic Park Guell (Barcelona). In these works, Gaudi goes beyond the dominant historical styles within the eclecticism of the 19th century, declaring war on a straight line and forever moving to the world of curved surfaces to form his own, unmistakably recognizable style.
Once Güell conceived the reconstruction of his summer suburban residence. For this purpose, he expands his holdings, acquiring several more plots. He gives the order for the reconstruction of the country house to Antonio Gaudi, instructing him to remake the park, reform the country house, erect a fence with gates, build new pavilions at the entrance to the estate, the architect was also instructed to build a stable with a covered arena. Now this complex is called Park Guell .
Like all subsequent Gaudi works, these buildings are deeply symbolic, there are no random details. The architect’s plan was based on the myth of the Hesperides magic garden. This myth is reflected in the poem “Atlantis” of the Catalan author Jacint Verdager, who often visited the Guell manor. The poem describes one of the exploits of Hercules, whom King Mycenae, wanting to test the strength of Hercules, ordered to get golden apples from the garden, which was carefully guarded. The most interesting, preserved part of the estate is the gate in the form of a dragon. According to legend, the bloodthirsty dragon Ladon guarded the entrance to the garden, where a tree grew with golden apples, giving eternal youth and immortality.
Another building of Gaudi for his patron and friend is the manufacturer’s house in Barcelona, \u200b\u200bthe so-called Guell Palace :
With the completion of the construction of the palace, Antonio Gaudi ceased to be an anonymous builder, quickly becoming the most fashionable architect in Barcelona, \u200b\u200band soon turned into a "practically inadmissible luxury."
At that time, Antonio Gaudi still worked as a draftsman in the architectural bureau of his former teacher at the Higher School of Architecture, Villar. This also played an interesting role in the future life of Gaudi. The fact is that construction Temple of the Holy Family (Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família) in Barcelona has been going for several years. And when the question arose of replacing the architect, Villar proposed the candidacy of Gaudi. Oddly enough, the Church Council accepted it. Antonio founded his architectural bureau, recruited a staff of assistants and plunged headlong into work ()
Customers who were ready to throw half-estate on the construction, initially believed in the genius of the architect, without any effort paving a new path in architecture. For the bourgeois of Barcelona, \u200b\u200bhe built houses one more unusual than the other. One of these houses was the house Casa Mila - the space that is born and develops, expanding and moving, like living matter. The house is better known as La Pedrera, which translates as a quarry. The project was commissioned by entrepreneur Pedro Mila i Camps. He needed a house whose apartments he could rent out. Gaudi planned a wavy facade. Iron structures were faced with hewn stone, which was cut down nearby in the province of Barcelona:
Design began in 1906, and the architect, with his characteristic scrupulousness, checked all the lines. He designed the space so that the neighbors felt as isolated as possible from each other, moreover, if the landlord wanted to turn it into a hotel, then there should not have been any problems. Nevertheless, Pedro Mila expressed impatience and strongly urged. But obstacles arose at every turn. So, the regulatory authorities were dissatisfied with the column, which half a meter was issued on the sidewalk. They demanded to remove her. Gaudi fought for every detail of his project. He threatened that if he still had to remove the column, then at the place where it was supposed to be, he would write who was guilty of its absence.
Then there were size problems. The height of the building was four meters higher than allowed. There was a requirement to cut the attic. In case of non-compliance with the requirement, the owner was fined, which corresponded to one fifth of the entire project. A commission was created that recognized the building as a tremendous value and thus all this disagreement with the law was resolved.
Mila's house was built for three years. While work was going on, the rich Pere Mila became poor, as he had already paid 100 thousand pesetas for the architect's violation of all building codes. Therefore, closer to completion, he could not stand it and said: "I will not pay." Gaudi replied: "Well, then finish building it yourself." Then they parted, patting their empty pockets, tearing each other and transferring the case to court. But subsequent generations can now be inspired and enjoy a beautiful monument of architecture.
A similar spirit project by Gaudi - Casa Batlló (Casa Batlló) - a living trembling creature, the fruit of a bizarre fantasy of unusual origin: it developed a plot - St. George kills a dragon. The first two floors resemble the bones and skeleton of a dragon, the texture of the wall is its skin, and the roof of a complex pattern is its ridge. Above the roof rises a tower in the form of a spear, piercing the dragon's body. Casa Batlló is also known as the "House of Bones":
FROM holy Family - Sagrada Familia - became the most famous work of Antonio Gaudi, although he did not begin to build it and he did not finish it. But for the architect himself, this work was the culmination of his life and work. Attaching particular importance to this building as a monumental symbol of the national and social revival of Catalonia, Antogio Gaudi completely concentrated on it since 1910, having placed his workshop here.
According to Gaudi, the temple of the Holy Family was to become a symbol building, a grand allegory of the Nativity of Christ, represented by three facades. Eastern is dedicated to Christmas; western - to the Passion of Christ, southern, the most impressive, should become the facade of the Resurrection. The portals and towers of the Sagrada Familia temple are equipped with an abundant sculpture that reproduces the whole living world, the dizzying complexity of profiles and details surpasses everything that was ever known to Gothic. This is a kind of Gothic Art Nouveau, which, however, is based on a plan of a purely medieval cathedral.
Despite the fact that Gaudi built the temple of Sagrada Familia for thirty-five years, he managed to erect and design only the Christmas facade, which is structurally an eastern part of the transept, and four towers above it. The western part of the apse, which makes up most of this magnificent building, is still not completed. More than seventy years after the death of Gaudi, the construction of the cathedral Sagrada Familia continues in our time. The spiers are gradually being erected (only one was completed during the life of the architect), facades with figures of the apostles and evangelists, scenes of the ascetic life and the atoning death of the Savior are formed. The construction of the Holy Family Temple is expected to be completed by 2030.
The model of the future Temple of the Holy Family (Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família) in Barcelona, \u200b\u200bmade up of suspended sandbags, could only be read by modern computers! By connecting the dots, the researchers obtained a spatial model of the cathedral. In addition, in order not to "cut" the room into parts, Gaudi came up with his own unsupported ceiling system, and only 100 years later a computer program appeared capable of performing such operations. It was a NASA program calculating the trajectories of space flights.
In recent years, the architect spent as an ascetic hermit, completely devoting all his strength and energy to creating the immortal Cathedral of the Holy Family - Sagrada Familia, which became the highest embodiment of not only his unique talent, but also his faith. He so carefully finished the completion of the temple towers, so that the angels were pleased to look at them.
At the end of life Antonio Gaudi became very ill. He caught brucellosis or Maltese fever, which is difficult to diagnose today. Doctors believe that “brucellosis is characterized by sharp changes in mood, leading to suicidal depression. Alternating with outbursts of anger and periods of distraction, this depressed mood is accompanied by physical exhaustion, excruciating headaches, and painful arthritis. ” There was no cure for this disease. Perhaps this can explain why Gaudi has changed so much for the worse. He walked around in sagging jackets, and trousers dangled around his legs, which he wrapped with bandages from the cold ... And no underwear! However, he did not change his outer clothing until she turned into rags. The great architect was eating something that he would put in his hand on the go - a piece of bread, for example. If you didn't pop anything, you didn't eat anything. When he ate nothing for a very long time, he lay down and began to die. But one of the students came, changed clothes on him, fed ...
On June 7, 1926, 73-year-old Gaudi was hit by a tram and lost consciousness. The cabmen refused to take to the hospital an untidy, unknown old man without money and documents, for fear of non-payment for the trip. Gaudi died shortly after his injuries.
Watch a video presentation of the most famous works of Gaudi:
Gaudi is an outstanding Catalan architect who has created many famous buildings in Barcelona. World history does not know so many architects who so strongly influenced the views of their cities and created something so significant for their national culture. Gaudi is the most famous architect in Spain. His work marked the peak of Spanish Art Nouveau. A feature of his style is that the architect's sources of fantasy were natural forms (trees, clouds, animals, rocks). It was nature, in the first place, that determined the work of the sculptor and architect Gaudi in solving various tasks, both artistic and constructive.
The architect did not like enclosed spaces, as well as geometrically regular shapes. Therefore, he fundamentally refused direct lines. He believed that the straight line is the product of man, while the circle is the product of God. Therefore, Antonio Gaudi used only curved surfaces, creating his own original style. The architect Gaudi and his houses are known far beyond Catalonia and Spain.
Life and work of Gaudi
The architect was born on 06/25/1852 near Barcelona. His family belonged to the dynasty of hereditary masons. In 1868 he moved to Barcelona and there in 1873-78. studied at the Higher Technical School of Architecture, and also mastered various crafts (blacksmithing, carpentry, etc.) in the workshop of E. Punti.
In the years 1870-82. engaged in the implementation of applied orders (sketches of lamps, fences, etc.) in the workshop of F. Villar and E. Sala. Its first construction, which can be considered independent (a fountain on Catalan square in 1877), demonstrated the brightness and bizarre imagination of Gaudi.
Antonio Gaudi died tragically on 07/07/1926 in Barcelona. He was hit by a tram not far from the Holy Family Cathedral. The architect at the end of his life behaved strangely, went unkemptly, so he was brought to the hospital for the poor, in which he died. He was buried in the Holy Family Cathedral.
The origins of the architect’s own style
In Western Europe at that moment the neo-Gothic reigned. In his youth, Gaudi adhered to the ideas of such neo-Gothic representatives as the French architect Viollet-le-Duc (the largest restoration of Gothic temples in the 19th century, which restored, in particular, Notre Dame Cathedral) and the English art historian John Ruskin, author of the article “Ornamental - the beginning architecture ”, which completely coincided with the thoughts of Gaudi himself and for many years was the code of his work. However, he was most influenced by Catalan Gothic, in which European and Moorish motifs were combined in an interesting way. It is this combination that penetrates the architecture of Antonio Gaudi.
This building was built in 1880-83. During its construction, the architect applied the polychrome effects inherent in ceramic cladding. The buildings of Gaudi, built in his "mature" period, are distinguished by the use of such a technique. This Gaudi house was built for the owner of the ceramic factory M. Wiesens and resembled a fabulous palace. In an effort to fulfill the desire of the customer of the building, the industrialist Wiesens, to see the “kingdom of ceramics” in this house, the architect used iridescent multi-color majolica tiles to cover the walls, decorated the ceilings with stucco “stalactites”, and installed fancy arbors and lanterns in the courtyard.
The apartment building itself and the buildings in the garden made up a wonderful architectural ensemble, for the creation of which Gaudi first tested his crown techniques for the first time: ceramic finishes in large numbers, plastic flowing forms, bold combinations of elements of different styles, contrasts of dark and light, vertical and horizontal elements etc.
In 1891, the architect received an order for a new cathedral in Barcelona - the temple (that is, the church of the "Holy Family"). This building was the maximum manifestation of his imagination. Realizing the great importance of this building as a symbol of the entire national revival of Catalonia, Gaudi completely concentrated on its construction since 1910, having set up his own workshop here.
The style of the cathedral is similar to Gothic, but it also contains something new, more modern. This building can accommodate a choir of 1,500 singers, 5 organs, as well as a children's choir of 700 people. The cathedral was to become a major center of Catholicism. Its construction was supported by the then Pope Leon of the 13th.
Although Gaudi had been building this temple for 35 years, he managed to build and design only the Christmas facade, which in a constructive sense represents the eastern part of the transept, with 4 towers above it, while the western part of the apse, which makes up most of the monumental cathedral , still remains unfinished. The construction of the Sagrada Familia continues to this day.
Casa Batlló
This is one of the most famous buildings of Gaudi, built in 1904-06. and which became the fruit of his original fantasy, which was of purely literary origin. The house is the embodiment of the plot of St. George, killing a dragon. The lower 2 floors resemble the skeleton of a dragon, the wall - dragon skin, the roof with a peculiar pattern - a dragon's spine. On the roof there is a small tower and chimneys, which have various intricate shapes. They are decorated with ceramics and combined into several groups.
The project was masterfully used color harmony and plasticity of the material. The sculptural decoration of the building looks as if it consists of living forms that froze only for a moment. The completion of this decor is the design of the roof, which resembles a dragon's back.
Gaudi’s architectural masterpieces include (1906-10) - the famous Art Nouveau building, which received the nickname "La Pedrera" (ie, "quarry") because of its quirkiness. It is a 6-story apartment building located on the corner, which has 2 courtyards and 6 light wells.
The entire building as a whole and each individual apartment in it have a curvilinear complex layout. Initially, the architect tried to make every inner partition curvilinear, but later he had to abandon this idea and give them a broken shape, which creates a contrast with the wavy facade. For Casa Mila, new solutions were used in terms of design: the absence of load-bearing internal walls, the support of interfloor ceilings with external walls and columns, the important constructive value of balconies.