Antoni Gaudi, his life and his creations

On this page you will find a short biography of Gaudi and many photographs of the buildings he has designed. We have tried to visit all buildings designed and built by Gaudi in Barcelona, but we did not have enough time for that. In the future we will definitely continue working on this because we are completely thrilled by his architecture.

1852
Antoni Plàcid Guillem Gaudí Cornet is born on June 25, 1852, in Reus. He was the fifth and youngest son of a coppersmith. As a young boy he was fascinated by nature, it's shapes, colors and geometry.

1863
When he is eleven years old he attends the Collegi de les Escoles Píes in Reus, in the old monastery of Sant Francesc for his secundary education. He wasn't a brilliant student, but remarkably good in geometry.

1865
In 1865 (only 13 years old) Gaudi makes drawings for the magazine "El Arlequin". He makes friends with Toda, and together they make a blueprint for the reconstruction of the monastery of Poblet (which had been partially destroyed in 1835). These drawings are the first signs of his fondness of nature and the medieval arts.

1869
In 1868 Gaudi decides to study architecture in Barcelona. His father accompanies him and closes his workshop in Reus. Besides architecture, Gaudi also attends to lectures about philosophy, history, economy and esthetics, because he believed that the different architectonic styles were not only defined by ideas about beauty as well as by the social and political atmosphere of the time.

1876
Notes from a sort of diary have been preserved from this year. Between 1873 and 1876 both his brother Francesc and his mother died. His father had to sell the land he owned to pay for the study of his son.
Gaudi is very interested in the lectures of Francesc Llorens i Barba about philosophy and literature and the lectures of Pau Mila i Fontanals about the history of art. Gaudi works together with the architect Francisco de Paula del Villar on the monastery of Montserrat. He is also involved in making the decorations at the park La Ciuttadella in Barcelona (entrance gate) with the architect Josep Fontsere. He also works with the architect Joan Martorell Montells, who had a strong religious mind and many ideas about social reforms.

1878
In 1878, March 15, Gaudi graduates as an architect. In this year he also gets to know Eusebio Güell, the man who would become his most important customer and also his patron.

1878-1882
Gaudi makes his first designs, but biographers point this year out as an important one because he had a very disappointing experience in his love life. This should have brought about a profound spiritual change in him which would have a great influence on his whole life and his works.

1883
Gaudi makes a design for the chapel of the parish church of Alella, but the most important event is the denomination of him as architect of the Sagrada Familia. There had been established a committe in 1869 already, for the building of a 'temple of penance' and in 1882 the laying of the foundation stone took place. The first design was made by Francisco de Paula del Villar, but he renounced the job. Juan Martorell is suggested as his successor, but he hands the work over to Gaudi.

1883-1888
The first building projects of Gaudi: Casa Vicens at Barcelona where a clear Moorish influence can be seen with an abundant use of tiles and ironwork. The Moorish influences keep on strongly in Gaudi's later work, but integrated in a more personal style which Gaudi develops, in which certain aspects are emphasised and dramatised. Maybe the best way to describe it is by saying his style adapts to shapes common in nature, combined with a excuberant expressionism.
From 1884 on, Gaudi starts to carry out assignments for Eusebi Güell, like the pavilions at Pedalbres and Palace Güell in a side street of the Ramblas.

1888-1892
The name of Gaudi grows and he gets more assignments, also thanks to Eusebi Güell. In 1892 Gaudi makes a design for the catholic mission at Tanger and for the first time the pivot-like towers appear which would later dominate the image of the Sagrada Familia, an element which probably originated in Africa.1898-1914 As well as designing, restoring and rebuilding several houses (casa's: Casa Calvet, Bellesguard, Casa Batllo, Casa Mila and many others), Gaudi also often designs the furniture of these houses himself.
But the most important project in these years is undoubtedly Parc Güell. This park is situated on the Pelada-mountain and has a surface of 15 square hectares. Gaudi refuses to adapt the landscape, but let the art adapt to the existing nature. In 1905 he moved to the park to live there, with his father and his niece, in a house made by his colleague and friend Beringuer. Nowadays the house is a Gaudi-museum. Shortly afterwards his father died.
There are also 2 fairy-tale like houses in this park, but originally 60 of such houses had been planned. For lack of interest and financial reasons this project was stopped.

1914-1926
The last 12 years of his life Gaudi dedicated himself totally to the construction of the Sagrada Familia. In his personal life he seems to turn his back more and more on the earthly world and turns more to the spiritual world which is clearly visible in the building activities at the cathedral. On June, 7th 1926 he is overrun by a tram and 5 days later he dies. Nobody had recognised him on the street and was neglected for the first few days in the hospital.

Casa Vicens was the first important building by Gaudi. It was build in assignment of the tile manufacturer Manuel Vicens Montaner. Gaudi recreates the mudejar-style, which was often used in Barcelona at that time, and surpasses it in this building. The combination of tiles and bricks is very eye-catching.

Between 1884 and 1887 Gaudi built the pavilions of the gatelodge and the horsestables on the land that the family Güell owned at Les Corts. This was the first assignment from Güell, who would later become his patron and best client. Unfortunately, the park was closed when we were there and we could only see what towered above the enclosure.

In the beginning of the 15th century, Martin I (the Humane) ordered a country house to be build at the bottom of the Collserola mountains which he called Belleguard (nice view). On the same spot Gaudi, five centuries later, constructed a building in a remarkable neogothic style, for Maria Saques Molins. We had no time left to visit it in 2001, but in 2004 we were in the neighbourhood and the gate was open.

The rich couple Mila-Segimon wanted a building on the Passeig de Gracia and hired the most famous (and most expensive) architect: Gaudi. The building not only created a monumental building, but also many differences of opinion between Gaudi and his customers. Gaudi was quite bitter by this and maybe that has made a contribution to the fact he never again made a non-religious building. More pictures will follow soon.

La Sagrada Familia is the life work of Gaudi, if only because he has been the main architect of this project for more than 40 years. The last 12 years of his life he was only working on this cathedral, not only as an architect, but also as an individual. The last years of his life it seemd as if the building directed his thinking and feeling more than the other way around. Gaudi shaped himself during the construction and the changes in the building plans seemed to affect and guide him personally. A human coming into being, never finished, always being formed and reformed.
Therefore, a lot of people are of the opinion the Sagrada should never be finished, if only for symbolic reasons. Architects either think the cathedral is hideous or are of the opnion that it's charms would be best showed by leaving it unfinished. And maybe that is how it would express Gaudi's views best. 'A finished painting is dead, it only lives while it is being painted,' Picasso once said (by the way, Gaudi detested Picasso). Maybe this is also true about this building. It is true the intended final result is based on sketches of Gaudi, and no matter how impressive the end result will be, it is certainly worth visiting this unfinished building while one still can fantasise about the result. The original building plans were lost during the Civil War.

The entrance to the cathedral is currently located at the "facade of suffering ". After an attack by the Malta fever in 1911, Gaudi said: "I am willing to sacrifice the same construction, break the vaults and cut through the pillars to give an idea of how cruel the sacrifice is." We have studied this sentence on several occasions but still do not know exactly what he meant. Was he somehow referring to his own fysical pain or something else?

In 2004, workeers are still busy building the cathedral. In a few years they have made quite some progress and this time we also see the cathedral at night. From 9 o'clock the front is put in the spotlight, a beautiful sight.
For more information about the Sagrada Familia and the perception Gaudi had of it, we refer to the websites mentioned below. For us it will always be a miracle anyone could have ever come up with this idea to shape a cathedral like this. We can only admire such a unique and brilliant architect who has left this unfinished legacy to the world and the future...

There is a lot to find about Gaudi on the net, but websites also disappear just like that. Below are a few links that are worth a visit to learn more about Gaudi and see photographs of his buildings: