Antoni Gaudí

Antoni Gaudí (1852-1926), Catalan architect, one of the most creative practitioners of his art in modern times. His style is often described as a blend of neo-Gothic and art nouveau, but it also has surrealist and cubist elements.

Born June 25, 1852, in Reus, Catalonia, Antoni Gaudí i Cornet was the son of a coppersmith. He attended the School of Architecture in Barcelona (1874-1878), the city where he spent his life. As a student he was already involved in several building projects. His earliest major assignment was the Casa Vicens (1878-1880), a private home in Barcelona. This and other work brought him the patronage of an industrialist, Eusebio Güell, for whom he carried out many important commissions, including the Palacio Güell (1885-1889), distinguished by parabolic arches and rich ironwork, and the bizarre Park Güell (1900-1914), with its stone trees, reptilian fountains, and mosaics of broken ceramic pieces set in concrete.

In 1883 Gaudí was appointed official architect of the huge Templo Expiatorio de la Sagrada Família (Church of the Sacred Family), which, although still unfinished at his death, is acknowledged as his masterpiece. Its lofty semicubist towers, with mosaic-covered finials, dominate the Barcelona skyline, and its imaginative forms, colors, and textures are unmatched in European architecture. Construction began again on the church in 1979, following Gaudí’s original vision for the structure.

Among Gaudí's other celebrated works are two apartment buildings, the Casa Batlló (1907) and the Casa Milà (1905-1907). These large stone and iron structures minimize traditional straight lines and flat surfaces by the use of rounded, irregularly spaced openings and a roof and balconies that have a wavelike appearance.

Gaudí was deeply involved in Catalan nationalism, of which he was a leader. He died June 10, 1926, in Barcelona.