11 Things You Didn’t Know About Antoni Gaudí

Knowledge can be gained at any age. After having a detailed study on topics there are things unknown to us. So, we at Abirpothi present before you the lesser-known facts about artists around the world.

Antoni Gaudí

Gothic art is imperfect, only half resolved; it is a style created by the compasses, a formulaic industrial repetition. Its stability depends on constant propping up by the buttresses: it is a defective body held up on crutches….The proof that Gothic works are of deficient plasticity is that they produce their greatest emotional effect when they are mutilated, covered in ivy and lit by the moon.

Antoni Gaudí

Portrait of Antoni Gaudí.

Antoni Gaudí was a Catalan architect and pioneer of 19th-century architecture. He was among the most influential modern artists in Spain, whose sensational architecture represented Barcelona’s interpretation of Art Nouveau: Modernisme. His exceptional ground-breaking genius made him the inventor of a unique, personal and incomparable architectural language that defies classification. Gaudí’s architecture transcended the Modernista movement that he was originally a part of, which culminated in a style that was influenced by the organic forms of nature. Antoni Gaudí’s buildings were very rarely designed from sketches, but rather from scale models.

View of Casa Milà, designed by Antoni Gaudí

Antoni Gaudí was born in 1852 in the coastal town of Reus where he lived for the first 16 years of his life in a small house with his parents Francesc Gaudí and Antònia Cornet. Antoni Gaudí is a name that is synonymous with Barcelona. During his lifetime, Gaudí worked in many styles. These included Orientalism, Neo-Gothic, Gothic Revival, Naturalism, and overarching Modernism. Gaudi disliked straight lines and angles because they don’t often appear naturally. Instead, he based his design on the swirling curves of nature. Gaudí didn’t just use the natural world for inspiration, he used it to develop architectural techniques. He analyzed plants, animals, and geothermal formations to see how they naturally supported shapes and weight. The orbit of the stars was used to design the helicoidal columns. He was known for integrating ceramics, stained glass, wrought ironwork forging, and carpentry into his designs. 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.

Photograph of Park Güell designed by Antoni Gaudí in Barcelona

The most famous works by Antoni Gaudí are Casa Vicens, Park Güell, the restoration of Mallorca Cathedral, the church on the Güell Estate, Casa Batlló, La Pedrera, and last but not least, the Basílica de la Sagrada Família, also known as the Sagrada Família. Casa Vicens is the first important commission Antoni Gaudí received that sowed the seeds of all his later architectural works. Manel Vicens I Montaner, a stock and currency broker, entrusted the young architect with designing his summer garden home in the former village of Gràcia. Built between 1883 and 1885 the Casa Vicens is one of the first buildings to kick off the Modernisme movement in Catalonia and Europe.

Casa Vicens, designed by Antoni Gaudí

Gaudí has attracted and influenced generations of architects and even engineers as the best-known – and most unique – representation of Catalan Modernisme (Art Nouveau). With some of the most original, eccentric, and iconic designs of all time, his work now has a global audience.

11 lesser-known facts about Antoni Gaudi

Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, designed by Antoni Gaudi.

1. Unlike most architects, Gaudí wasn’t a fan of sketching out ideas. He preferred to mold them as 3-D models and revise the shapes and forms as he went until he was satisfied.
2. When he graduated in 1878 from Barcelona’s School of Architecture (BAS), its director, Elies Rogent said: “I do not know if we have awarded this degree to a madman or to a genius; only time will tell.” Roof architecture at Casa Batllò, designed by Antoni Gaudí;
3. He preferred the organic swirling curves of nature to man-made straight lines. He rarely ever used straight lines in any of his works.
4. 7 of Gaudí’s works have been declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites. ‘Trencadis’ technique in parc Güell by Antoni Gaudi
5. Gaudí didn’t like the new shoes. He always gave them to his brother to wear first.
6. While Gaudí was alive many people hated his work. Some of whom included Pablo Picasso and George Orwell. Orwell called La Sagrada Familia one of the world’s most hideous buildings.
7. The Nativity Wall was designed as a visual Bible for those who could not read.
8. Gaudi is called the father of Catalan Modernism. Park Guell, Barcelona – Spain
9. Gaudi died in a traffic accident in 1926. Because of his shabby appearance, he was mistaken for a beggar and did not receive immediate medical attention.
10. His most famous work and masterpiece, the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, is still incomplete. Gaudi took over the construction of the church in 1883, and worked on it until he died. The present design being worked on is based on models he left. Depending on who you ask, the estimated completion date for the massive church is 2026. Gaudí’s lamps in Plaça Reial
11. His nickname is \’God\’s Architect\’ due to the many religious images that are seen in his works.