Antoni Gaudí and his most important works

Antoni Gaudí and Cornet, highest representative of the Catalan modernism, is, without a doubt, the most famous and international architect. His great architectural solutions, based on the creation of a new architectural language based on the supremacy of the forms and their functionality, surprised by novelty and crossed borders to inspire creators from all corners of the world. world. That is why in this lesson from a TEACHER, Antoni Gaudí and his most important works, we will present a selection of the most important architectural works of him so that, in this way, you can know the reasons for his relevance.

Index

1. The genius Antonio Gaudí and his context
2. The Palau Güell (1886-1890)
3. The Casa Batlló (1904-1906)
4. Casa Milà or La Pedrera
5. Expiatory Temple of the Sagrada Família (1882-unfinished)

In this lesson from a PROFESSOR, Antoni Gaudí and his most important works, we will focus on his most emblematic works. Although first it should be noted that the genius of Antoni Gaudí not only stood out in the architectural field, but also in the design of furniture and interiors. An example of this is the furniture of the

And it is that, during the second half of the nineteenth century, a regenerative current shook the art scene across Europe. Numerous debates highlighted the need to create a new artistic language consistent with the industrial age of the moment.

In Catalonia, the epicenter of Gaudí's artistic creation, the fruit of Romanticism began to be collected, moment in which a certain liberal and enlightened bourgeoisie regained a nationalist sentiment that pushed it to look for a new spirit to position Catalan cities within the elitist group of modern capitals, industrialized with economic and cultural power in Europe, such as London or Paris.

That is how Catalan art, and especially his architecture, became the main vehicle to carry out this arduous task. Likewise, it is also thanks to the enthusiasm of artists such as Antoni Gaudí and his acceptance of foreign proposals, that such work came to fruition.

Image source: Slideshare

On the epicurean Nou de la Rambla street in Barcelona, between the year 1886 and until 1890, the genuine architect Antoni Gaudí built what would be the first of many projects with the industrialist, politician and patron Eusebi Güell, later known as Palau Güell. Considered by many historians the Europe's first modernist building, Palau Güell is a magnificent example of domestic architecture from the late 19th century. Likewise, it is a laboratory for its architect, who had the total and absolute approval of its owner.

Gaudí was commissioned to create a new urban palace that would connect with an old one located on Las Ramblas that Eusebi Güell had just inherited. The result was a functional palace, adapted to the needs of private life of the family, as well as, to the intense social and cultural life of him; but what, above all, stood out for its innovations regarding the conception of light and space. And it is that Gaudí, following previous experiments in the Calvet house, violates Vitruvian norms and breaks with the classic axis of symmetry by conceiving the space through almost modular volumes. Consequently, its luminosity is varied and, not at all, heterogeneous.

From then on, these innovations would be recurrent in the architect's designs, but not the only ones. The Palau Güell also stands out for its excellent and innovative decoration in applied arts, being recurrent the inspiration in the islamic and gothic world -Let's not forget that we come from Romanticism- and the sculptural conception of his chimneys is notorious. At the Palau Güell, Gaudí beautify fireplaces for the first time from its rooftops by means of its already universally known Trencadis to create the sensation of inhabiting a sculpture garden.

Located in the then illustrious Paseo de Gracia in Barcelona and being the protagonist of a delusional episode of populist rivalry known as La Discord's Apple, the Casa Batlló It was a commission that Antoni Gaudí received from Josep Batlló. In principle, the commission consisted of the demolition of an existing building, but as they say, Gaudí's audacity ruled out such a misdeed by reformulating the project by making a comprehensive reform of the façade, the patio of lights and, in general, its entire interior.

Thus, between 1904 and 1906, Gaudí carried out one of the most important works in the city of Barcelona, ​​valued, not only for its undeniable artistic value, but also for its huge functionality, more typical of the late twentieth century than his time. There are even those who see in it precursor elements of the architectural avant-garde Frank Lloyd Wright, as well as his companions from the late s. XX.

In Casa Batlló, organic forms inspired by nature prevail, which is why this Gaudinian period naturalistic stage. Again, Gaudí reveals structural solutions never seen before, taking his previous experiments on spatial conception and light to the extreme. The latter being the light, together with the color, who thanks to the absolute harmony of the combined work of the stained glass windows, trencadís also glazed and polychrome ceramics, claims all the prominence and gives the entire building a dreamlike atmosphere.

Better known by its nickname "The stone”, An ironic allusion to the Garraf limestone quarries, Casa Milà is one of Antoni Gaudí's most unique buildings and, once again, one of the most emblematic and characteristic buildings of the physiognomy of Barcelona. The work was commissioned by the Milà i Camps family, who wanted to build a multipurpose building that would function as family residence, at the same time that he endowed them with rental flats - a bit following in the wake of his also ambitious work, the Park Güell-.

Also located in the trendy area of ​​the Catalan bourgeoisie, Paseo de Gracia, Casa Milà it was the last civil construction of Antoni Gaudí and, therefore, a magnificent example of its most plethora of times, in which, despite following the same schemes established in the past, he refines the spatial forms until they become mere decorative silhouettes. Hand in hand with ancient neo-Gothic historicism reminiscent of Islamic art, passing through a naturalistic language singular belonging to modernism, Gaudí achieves his own language as a result of a constant intellectual search for that truthful.

In Casa Milà, despite finding the same structural solutions and even, as far as technique is concerned, also decorative, above all, we see an almost aggressive break with the language and aesthetics of the moment that forces us to realize the distance between Gaudí's artistic conceptions and his time.

In this lesson from a TEACHER, Antoni Gaudí and his most important works, we could not forget his work magna, The Expiatory Temple of the sacred Family, majestic basilica that escapes any classification within Gaudí's work.

Although his origins date back to 1866, it was not until 1882 that Gaudí began the construction of what would be his most important work, both as an architect and as a man; because Gaudí was always a fierce Catholic. East religious fervor pushed him, in the first place, to dedicate himself exclusively, especially at the end of his life, to the construction of the temple.

And in second place, to create a liturgical symbolism in each of the pieces that make up the basilica. Thus, the towers of the basilica symbolize, according to their formal characteristics, a biblical character or, as happened in the Middle Ages, the nave represents in a bucolic and fanciful way the Eucharist and other spaces represent the high spheres of the holy institution.

As we have seen previously, Gaudí always took his architectural experiences to the extreme and, how could it be otherwise, in the Sagrada Familia, his expiatory work, he applied all the successful motifs that he might have experienced in his previous buildings. In this way, the Sagrada Familia is the synthesis of all his architectural theory, as well as a reflection of his evolution throughout his career.

Its aesthetics ranges from a primitive neo-Gothic in the first constructions of the crypt and the apse, to more naturalistic and experimental forms in the rest of the construction.

If you want to read more articles similar to Antoni Gaudí and his most important works, we recommend that you enter our category of Story.