Even if you were just passively listening in your History of Architecture II class you will remember one name in connection with Barcelona … Gaudi. Antonio Gaudi was born in 1852 and worked during the “Modernismo” period in Catalonia, similar to the Art Nouveau movements in other parts of the world. Considered a golden age of design for this region of Spain, “Modernismo” created a simply amazing body of work that still exists in Barcelona today.Gaudi is considered the heart and soul of Modernismo design in Barcelona, and you literally cannot walk down the street without seeing references to him as even the sidewalk tile patterns are one of his designs. One of the most famous and intriguing of all his works is the church named Sagrada Familia (The Holy Family). Famous for its elaborate, intricate, and expressive design, the Sagrada Familia has an enormous physical presence in the Eixample district of Barcelona. It is intriguing to me because it was neither started nor finished by Gaudi – and is in fact still not finished.
Sagrada Familia was started in 1882 under the direction of parish architect Francisco de Villar. After a couple of months of construction there were disagreements with the society that commissioned the church and in 1883 Antonio Gaudi, at the age of 31, was asked to take over the project. While he completed many other spectacular spaces in Barcelona, this was to become his life’s work. At age 74 he was crossing the street to leave the unfinished church, which he was then living in, and was hit by a tram. A dramatic story to say the least but, what if anything can we learn from this church and from this story as a designers? Keep reading tomorrow to find out…
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