Thursday, July 3, 2008

Antoni Gaudi

I mentioned Antoni Gaudi yesterday but I think I need to tell you more about him. He was a pretty terrific architect with a style unlike anyone else.

Gaudi was born in Spain in 1852. He studied architecture in Barcelona, Spain at the Escola Tecnica Superior d’Arquitectura but he was not a very good student. After five years, in 1878, Gaudi officially became an architect.

He began designing small projects but soon met Eusebi Guell. Guell became Gaudi’s patron and the architect designed buildings and parks in his name. You saw a picture of Parque Guell yesterday. Go click through the photos at the main Palau Guell website. I especially like the chimneys that grow atop the building like colorful trees.

You can see the characteristics of Art Nouveau in Gaudi’s work. There are bright tile mosaics and curving lines. He was very influenced by nature as you can see in the chimneys at Palau Guell.

The building that Antoni Gaudi is best known for, though, is La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona (shown below). He began this huge church in 1882 and he worked on it until he died in 1926. It still has not been finished. Gaudi designed and redesigned this building. He was forever tinkering with the plans. Unfortunately, the last blueprint he drew was destroyed in 1938 so the architects who are currently working on the building don’t know exactly what Gaudi had in mind for the church. Click here for more pictures.
One of Gaudi’s buildings, Casa Vicens, is for sale. This means that you can go to the website and see pictures of the inside and outside. Make sure to look at the original blueprints, too. It’s neat to compare the blueprint for the facades (the outsides) of the building to the pictures shown.

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14 comments:

PeterParis said...

Bravo for having found about the Casa Vicens and the fabulous site about it!

Jessica said...

I thought it was fun to be able to look at Gaudi's blueprint. It's not often you get the chance for something like that. I'm glad you liked it, too!

Unknown said...

Wow thanks for this info! At school I have to do a research about Antoni Gaudi, and thanks for explaining so well! It helped me allot!

Anonymous said...

Thanks! This helped me allot because at school I have to do a research about him and this article helped me wih understanding his work! Thanks ;)

Anonymous said...

THIS IS A GREAT WEBSIT THANK YOU VERY MUCH!! :D

Anonymous said...

good info i needed it all for school thanks it saved me alot of time ;) !!!

Anonymous said...

thanks man helped TONES have homework in for my art teacher so chears man

Stephanie said...

It is SUPERB info but I wish it had MORE ! Other than that its great !

Anonymous said...

this is a great website for art homework thanks so much :-)

Anonymous said...

thanks but i would have liked a timeline on gaudi.....!

jess said...

thanks this help my alot with homework :) x

Anonymous said...

thanksss this helped a bit for my art project - maybe you could make it a little more intresting to read with more facts ?! :)

Kikidee said...

studing him at school, great facts! Really usful!! Soo, thanks alot for this! xoxox

Anonymous said...

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!! THIS REALLY HELPED ME DO MY HOMEWORK SO I AM VERY GRATEFUL I FOUND THIS SITE! (and relieved because this h/w has to go in tommorow...) :S but thanks again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!