Gaudí, the art nouveau architect.

By Núria Terés

Antoni Gaudí i Cornet was a Catalan architect who has become internationally recognised as one of the top exponents of the modernism. He was born on the 25th of June 1852 in Reus, but some biographers claim that he was born in Riudorms, a small village near Reus where his family used to spend summer holidays. He was raised by a family of coppersmiths and that fact allowed Gaudí to develop a special skill for working with space and volume. As a result of spending much time in Riudorms, the architect found the essence and the meaning of this art by following patterns that exist in nature and by respecting its laws.

In 1870, he moved to Barcelona to pursue his academic career in architecture, working at various jobs at once in order to pay on his own his studies. At the Paris World’s Fair of 1878, Gaudí displayed a showcase he had produced that lead him to work on the Güell Estate and Güell Palace, among others. That year, he obtained his degree at the School of Architecture too.

During his mature period, followed one after another. The Bellesguard Tower, Park Güell, the restoration of Mallorca cathedral, Casa Batlló and La Pedrera are examples of some of his impressive contributions to architecture, however in 1883, Gaudí was charged with the construction of a Barcelona cathedral called Basilica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia (Basilica and Expiatory Church of the Holy Family), which would become in his most outstanding project.

Gaudí died on the 10th of June 1926, in Barcelona, after being knocked down by a tramway while making his usual way. In that moment, he hadn’t finished working on la Sagrada Familia but he left instructions on how he had imagined the building. Nowadays, the cathedral is still under construction and the extraordinary structure has a final completion target date of 2026, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the architect’s passing.

Two of the architect's best-knwon masterpieces are the "Casa Batlló" and the "Casa Milà" also known as "La Pedrera". Watch the videos to admire the beauty of this magnificent architecture.