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Antoni Gaudi - his life and work |
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Antoni Plàcid Guillem Gaudí Cornet
1852–1926.
Barcelona's most famous architect and designer of seven properties in or near Barcelona, that are listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, is called Antoni Gaudí.
 Click here for location and information about Gaudi buildings in Barcelona
 Click here for pictures of Gaudi's architecture
His full name was Antoni Plàcid Guillem Gaudí Cornet and he was born in Reus near Tarragonna in Spain in 1852.
Gaudi combined gothicism, surrealism and modernist styles into his own uniquely peculiar and warped style, which can be described best at Gaudi'ism.
Gaudí’s first major project was the Mataró Cooperative (a project for housing factory workers), which was shown at the Paris World Fair in 1878. This project brought him a good measure of attention and led to a meeting with Eusebi Güell, a leading industrialist of the time, who would become a close friend and patron.
Güell became the biggest sponsor of Gaudi's work throughout his lifetime. He never attempted to impose limits or change on the architect's visions during the many years of their collaboration.
In 1882, Gaudí began work on his greatest as yet unfinished project, La Sagrada Familia church. This project was initially begun by Francisco de Paula del Villar. For the next 30 years, Gaudí worked on Sagrada Familia and other projects simultaneously. From 1911 onwards, he devoted himself exclusively to the cathedral.
 Gaudí was a lifelong bachelor, a vegetarian, an archconservative and fervent Catalonian nationalist. He lived with his family until they all passed away. He then lived alone for the remainder of his life and actually lived in his studio very close to the Sagrada Familia.
Gaudí became increasingly shabby in his final years. When he was tragically struck down by a tram 7th June in 1926 at the junction of the streets Gran Via and Bailen in Barcelona (click here for map)
Gaudi was so poorly dressed that was not recognized as the famous architect. The taxi drivers refused to take this "vagabond" to the hospital and they were later fined by the police.
He was eventually taken to the Barcelona¡s hospital for the poor called Antic Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau in the street Carrer de l'Hospital, 56 (click here for map) close to the Ramblas. Still unrecognised he was left with the indigent patients.
Three days later on 10th June 1926, he died from his injuries. His last words were: 'Amen, my God, my God'. The whole city of Barcelona accompanied his casket to the Sagrada Familia where he lies buried in the crypt of the still unfinished masterpiece, La Sagrada Familia, to which he had devoted 44 years of his life.
As is the case with many visionaries, Gaudí was not truly acknowledged during his lifetime. Official organizations refused many times to support or applaud his unique talent. Indeed the City of Barcelona tried many times, but thankfully without success to block or change Gaudí's works, because it failed to conform to city regulations.
The only project the City ever assigned him was that of designing streetlights and he only ever received the Building of the Year award for one of his lesser works, the Casa Calvet.
Click on the names of the seven properties below that are in or near Barcelona and which are listed as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO:
-Parc Güell
-Palau Güell
-La Pedrera (also known as Casa Mila)
-Casa Vicens
-The Sagrada Familia cathedral
-Casa Batlló
-The Crypt in Colonia Güell
Other significant Gaudi works include:
-The "Casa Calvet"
-The "Colegio Teresiano"
-The Bellesguard Building
-Lampposts for the City of Barcelona, which can be seen on Plaza Real.
Click here for more Gaudi links with information, photographs in BarcelonaYellow directory
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