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| One of the most
famous architects, Antoni Gaudi i Cornet is the most internationally prestigious
figure in Catalonian architecture. He was born on June 25 1852, in the
city of Reus of a family of coppersmiths. He was the last of five brothers
and although he did not follow the traditional occupation of the family,
he always proclaimed and recognised in the profession of his father his
own personal conception of space and volume. After his first studies in
Reus, Gaudi moved to Barcelona, where he began and finished the career
of architect. |
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| Gaudí's education and development
was influenced by the theories of Viollet-le-Duc and Ruskin as well as
the though of the "modernista" generation, the Catalan movement
corresponding to Art Nouveau which formed around the 1888 Barcelona World
Fair. Soon, however, the architect would go beyond the dominant historical
styles within the 19th century eclecticism to formulate his own aesthetic,
one which would make his style quite unmistakable, and at the same time,
one difficult to classify. The originality and the profound character of
the work which he raised have made of him and his realisations a theme
of continued controversy. Refering to his figure it has been said that
humanity only produces an original, new architecture capable of changing
everything, every 7 or 8 centuries. It is truly this when one has to confront
the work of Gaudi. |
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