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Antoni Gaudí; (25 June 1852 – 10 June 1926) was a Catalan architect from Spain known as the greatest exponent of Catalan Modernism. Gaudí’s works have a highly individualized, sui generis style. Most are located in Barcelona, including his main work, the church of the Sagrada Família.
According to some biographers, Antoni Gaud was born on June 25, 1852, in Reus; however, other biographers assert that his birthplace was Riudoms, a little village close to Reus where his family spent the summers. Due to his ancestry as a boilermaker, young Gaud was able to assist his father and grandparents at the family workshop, where he developed a specific talent for working with space and volume. His ability to create spaces and alter materials expanded and flourished until it eventually transformed into a true knack for three-dimensional creation.
Gaudí’s work was influenced by his passions in life: architecture, nature, and religion. He considered every detail of his creations and integrated into his architecture such crafts as ceramics, stained glass, wrought ironwork forging and carpentry. He also introduced new techniques in the treatment of materials, such as trencadís which used waste ceramic pieces.
Under the influence of neo-Gothic art and Oriental techniques, Gaudí became part of the Modernista movement which was reaching its peak in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His work transcended mainstream Modernisme, culminating in an organic style inspired by natural forms. Gaudí rarely drew detailed plans of his works, instead preferring to create them as three-dimensional scale models and moulding the details as he conceived them.
Gaudí’s work enjoys global popularity and continuing admiration and study by architects. His masterpiece, the still-incomplete Sagrada Família, is the most-visited monument in Spain. Between 1984 and 2005, seven of his works were declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. Gaudí’s Roman Catholic faith intensified during his life and religious images appear in many of his works. This earned him the nickname “God’s Architect” and led to calls for his beatification.
Gaudí is best known for his intricate structures throughout Barcelona, with the storied Basílica de la Sagrada Família having become one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe in the last century.
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