Gaudi: Visionary Architect

by Philippe Thiébaut

One of the best-known architects of the 20th century, Antoni Gaudí (1852– 1926) was at the forefront of the Art Nouveau movement in Barcelona where his exuberant and revolutionary organic style led to the creation of some of the city's most notable landmarks. This introduction to all of Gaudí's amazing designs, technological innovations, and building methods is substantial and illuminating, and a delightful companion volume for travelers.

Genres: Architecture, Nonfiction, Art

128 pages, Paperback

Published April 1, 2002

Reviews

[Elena Papadopol · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Ornamentatia a fost si va fi colorata. Natura nu ne infatiseaza niciun obiect care sa nu fie colorat: in vegetatie, geologie, topografie, regnul animal, totul este un contrast mai mult sau mai putin viu de culori. De aceea, orice element arhitectonic trebuie sa fie colorat."

[Roy Lotz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beauty is the mirror of truth, and since art is beauty, without truth there is no art.
—Antoni Gaudí

Gaudí has the distinction of being among the few genuinely famous and popular architects in history. Along with Gustave Eiffel and Frank Lloyd Wright, he is among the handful of architects that average tourists can be expected to know of. His works are intensely popular. More tourists flock to the Sagrada Familia every year than to the Alhambra—even if many of these gapers mistakenly believe that it is a cathedral (it is an expiatory temple).

And he wasn’t just some popular hack. Gaudí’s stature in the history of art is equally monumental. This wasn’t always the case, however. Both George Orwell and Gerald Brenan, two cultured men, thought that his work was pretentious rubbish. (Orwell regretted that it wasn’t blown up during the Spanish Civil War, and Brenan evinced his work as proof that Catalonia was culturally behind Spain.) I admit that I had misgivings upon first seeing some of Gaudí’s work. It struck me as exaggerated and theatrical, too mindlessly showy.

But this impression disappears as soon as one begins to inspect Gaudi’s work with any circumspection: for the man was undeniably a genius of the highest order. And it is especially enthralling to encounter a genius architect. For, unlike a painter or a novelist, you can literally step into a world created by Gaudí. You can immerse yourself in his work—see it, hear it, touch it, even smell it.

And Gaudí’s world is incredibly rich. He was the capstone of modernisme, the Catalan version of Art Nouveau, an art movement that was preoccupied with rich decoration. Gaudí’s art developed this preoccupation into an explosion; his works burst with ornament. To achieve his typically overwhelming effect, he combined several crafts: sculpture, landscaping, stained glass, ceramics, mosaics, carpentry, blacksmithing, among others. And underlying this passionate drive to beautify was a keen sense of space—the architect’s fundamental aptitude—making his works remarkable on both the macro and micro scale.

His method of working was famously unconventional. He seemed to operate by instinct rather than calculation, even when dealing with complex problems of structure. Gaudí thought spatially: instead of drawing plans he preferred to build models (many of which were burned during the Civil War). Most famously he hung weights from strings to study the optimal angles for weight-bearing arcs. Thus he was a kind of unconscious geometrician, and underneath the seemingly heavy ornaments are beautifully elegant forms.

One of Gaudí’s central passions was nature. A deeply religious man, he considered the natural world to be the work of God; thus he thought that architects should strive to emulate the original creation. Consequently you will look in vain for any straight lines in his works, since perfectly straight lines are seldom found in the natural world. This also helps to explain his use of color: how often are natural landscapes black and white?

A severe and passionate Catholic (not to mention a fervent Catalan nationalist), at first glance it is perplexing that a man so avant-garde in art could be so conservative in every other sphere of life. This is no paradox, of course, and only seems strange because we have come to associate cutting-edge art with the left—a historical and not a logical connection. In any case, Gaudí is yet another example of the truism that great artists manage to be both traditional and innovative in the same moment.

This little book is a nice companion and introduction to the man’s work. For my taste, the text consists too much of dense descriptions of buildings and not enough of biography or history; but any book of this length is bound to leave a lot out. The photos are excellent to have; and the final section, which includes several different interpretations of Gaudí’s work (including Dalí’s Surrealist-Freudian take on it), was very welcome.

[Hakan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ünlü ve sıradışı Katalan mimar Gaudi'nin eserleri ve sanatı hakkında bilgilendirici küçük bir kitap. Özellikle Barcelona'ya gideceklerin öncesinde okumasında fayda var.

[քամի · Rating 2 out of 5]

աստուատ, ի՞նչ գոթական ճարտարապետութիւն, գի՞ժ էք։

[Alejandra Muñoz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un libro introductorio, con muy buenas fotos y explicaciones tal vez demasiado técnicas para el público al que está destinado, con una prosa demasiado florida a veces.

[Marcos Buigues · Rating 3 out of 5]

En poco espacio (el libro cabe en un bolsillo grande) cuenta mucho sobre la obra de Gaudí, con muchas imágenes (aunque algo pequeñas) y un completo relato de la evolución del arquitecto.
La parte que se me hizo más pesada son los últimos capítulos a modo de anexos, centrado en lo que otros arquitectos y fotógrafos cuentan sobre Gaudí.
En todo caso, en general es una buena introducción sobre el genial arquitecto.

[Annie]

I'd love to see some of his buildings in Barcelona!!

[Ayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overview of life of Gaudi and his most notable works - translated rather wordily from the French.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just the right size for introducing Gaudi's life and work.