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Antoni Gaudi was at the forefront of the art nouveau movement in Barcelona. This is an introduction to all of Gaudi's designs, technological innovations and building methods.
An illuminating biography of one of the most famous--and most famously unfinished--buildings in the world, the Sagrada Familia of Barcelona. The scaffolding-cloaked spires of Antoni Gaudí's masterpiece, the Sagrada Familia, dominate the Barcelona skyline and draw in millions of visitors every year. More than a century after the first stone was laid in 1882, the Sagrada Familia remains unfinished, a testament to Gaudí's quixotic ambition, his religious devotion, and the sensuous eccentricity of his design. It has defied the critics, the penny-pinching accountants, the conservative town-planners, and the devotees of sterile modernism. It has enchanted and frustrated the citizens of Barcelona. And it has passed through the landmark changes of twentieth-century Spain, surviving two World Wars, the ravages of the Spanish Civil War, and the "Hunger Years" of Franco's rule. Gijs van Hensbergen's The Sagrada Familia explores the evolution of this remarkable building, working through the decades right up to the present day before looking beyond to the final stretch of its construction. Rich in detail and vast in scope, this is a revelatory chronicle of an iconic structure, its place in history, and the wild genius that created it.
Inspired by the natural beauty of his homeland of Catalonia, Antoni Gaudi became a celebrated and innovative architect through the unique structures he designed in Barcelona, having a significant impact on architecture as it was known.
Spanish architect and designer, Antoni Gaudí (1852-1926) was an important and influential figure in the history of contemporary Spanish art. His use of colour, application of a range of materials and the introduction of organic forms into his constructions were an innovation in the realm of architecture. In his journal, Gaudí freely expressed his own feelings on art, “the colours used in architecture have to be intense, logical and fertile.” His completed works (the Casa Batlló, 1905-1907 and the Casa Milà, 1905-1910) and his incomplete works (the restoration of the Poblet Monastery and the altarpiece of Alella in Barcelona) illustrate the importance of this philosophy. His furniture designs were conceived with the same philosophy, as shown, for example, in his own office (1878) or the lamps in the Plaza Real in Barcelona. The Sagrada Familia (1882-1926) was a monumental project which eventually took over his life (it was still incomplete at the time of his death).
"Antoni Gaudi was among the greatest architects of the modern age. In his lifetime, Gaudi pushed the architectural craft to its limits, mastering ever steeper curves and creating some of the world's most magical and sensual buildings. Illustrated with over 50 color images of his creations, including the massive Cathedral of the Sagrada Familia, the Park Guell, Casa Mila and Casa Battio, this book celebrates Gaudi's inimitable talent in vivid detail."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
A biography of Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí, known for his inventive and flamboyant style, from his colorful mosaics and unprecedented facades to his playful forms and bold buildings that make Barcelona shine.
This little story explains in an entertaining as well as thorough way the life and artistic career of the architect Antoni Gaudí. This Little story is available in the following languages: English, Spanish, Catalan, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Russian and Arabic. The Little Stories The series called Little Stories is an entertaining as well as thorough way of learning about the great names in Spanish culture: artists such as Dalí, Miró, Picasso, Frida Kahlo, Gaudí... Writers such as Federico García Lorca, Juan Ramón Jiménez, Antonio Machado, Cervantes, Pablo Neruda, Gabriela Mistral
An introduction by Daniel Giralt-Miracle, commissioner for the International year of Gaudi 2002, opens this book presenting the complete work of the brilliant architect Gaudi. It includes preliminary sketches and chapters about glasshouses, chimneys, 'trencadis' work, ceramic, doors, animals, etc... A 'must have' book.
Antoni Gaudí (1852-1928) was a builder by instinct and by practice, fanciful and baroque in his sensibility, in love with the bright colours and plastic forms of the Mediterranean tradition. Despite his considerable contributions, Gaudí was an isolated figure in the architecture of the modern era. Critics were slow to recognize the prophetic value of his work, owing to the difficulty in reconciling it with the development of the Modern Movement. Gaudí invented a new form of modernism that combined elements of art nouveau, Catalan nationalism, Gothic Revival and his own relentlessly original imagination. His eclectic experience was made possible by special historical circumstances such as the economic prosperity of Barcelona and the existence of highly skilled craftsmen in Catalonia. This volume covers Gaudí's work in systematic fashion, from the Güell Palace to the park of the same name, and finally to his unfinished masterpiece, the church of the Sagrada Familia. Author Juan José Lahuerta devotes an attentive critical re-examination of the architect's work through a thorough analysis of his designs and writings.
The work of Antoni Gaudí continues to fascinate us today as it fascinated Eusebi Güell in 1878 during his visit to the Universal Exposition in Paris. He was so struck by a glove display case he saw there that he determined to contact its unknown author, a man to whom he would eventually entrust the design of no less than five hugely significant architectural projects. Suffice to mention Sagrada Família, Gaudí's last and most famous work, which amazes visitors today as much as or more than it did in the early 20th century, when its first four towers were just beginning to emerge. But the mark of his genius in Barcelona, Catalonia and Spain and even in the projects he never saw to fruition, such as the skyscraper for Manhattan, is far broader and more nuanced than is generally thought. From El Capricho in Comillas to the schools at Sagrada Família, each building, column, piece of furniture and grille evokes the creativity of a privileged mind for architecture and design.Daniel Giralt-Miracle synthesizes in this easy-to-read book the essential aspects of Gaudí's life, his time, his ideology and his methods, at the same time as he summarises the most significant elements of each work, focusing precisely on that which places him at the pinnacle of world architectural achievement.This has not always been the case however. In the same way as Gaudí's oeuvre is still a work in progress (we are unlikely to see Sagrada Família in all its splendour until 2026, the centenary of his death), its appreciation has evolved over time until the present day, when the architect's exceptional work in ruled geometry can be explained better than ever through computerised design. The book summarises this evolution and brings what we thought we knew about Gaudí up to date with information that has come to light in recent years.
