ANTONIO GAUDI

By Lucy Boult

Who is Gaudi?

Antonio Gaudi was Born on 25 June 1852 and Died 10 June aged 73.

Much of Gaudi's work was marked by his four life passions: architecture, nature, religion and love for Catalonia. he was very skilled at things such as ceramics, stained glass, forging and carpentry. He introduced new techniques in the treatment of materials, such as his well known trencadís, made of waste ceramic pieces. After a few years under the influence of neo-Gothic art and Oriental techniques, Gaudi became part of the Catalan Modernista. Rarely did Gaudi draw detailed plans of his works, instead preferring to create them as three-dimensional scale models and moulding the details as he was seeing them in his mind.

Gaudi’s early life Gaudi was born in Riudoms, to the industrial boilermaker Francesc Gaudi

(1813–1906) and Antònia Cornet (1819–1876). He was the youngest of five children, but only three survived to adulthood: Rosa (1844–1879), Francesc (1851–1876) and Antoni. Gaudi's family originated in the Auvergne region in southern France. One of his ancestors, Joan Gaudi, a hawker, moved to Catalonia in the 17th century; possible origins of Gaudi's family name include Gaudy or Gaudin.

Gaudi's exact birthplace is unknown because no supporting documents survive, leading to a controversy about whether he was born in Reus or Riudoms, Most of Gaudi's identification documents from both his student and professional years gave Reus as his birthplace. Gaudi stated on various occasions that he was born in Riudoms, his paternal family's village Gaudi was baptised in the church of Sant Pere Apòstol in Reus the day after his birth under the name "Antoni Plàcid Guillem Gaudi”.

Young Gaudi suffered from poor health, including rheumatism. His religious faith and strict vegetarianism led him to undertake several lengthy and severe fasts. These fasts were often unhealthy and occasionally, as in 1894, led to life-threatening illness.

Student life Gaudi attended a nursery school run by Francesc Berenguer, whose son,

also called Francesc, later became one of Gaudi's main assistants. He enrolled in the Piarists school in Reus where he displayed his artistic talents via drawings. During this time he worked as an apprentice in the "Vapor Nou" textile mill in Reus. In 1868 he moved to Barcelona to study teaching in the Convent del Carme.

In his adult years Gaudi became interested in utopian socialism . Between

1875 and 1878, Gaudi completed his compulsory military service in the infantry regiment in Barcelona as a Military Administrator. Most of his service was spent on sick leave, enabling him to continue his studies. His poor health kept him from having to fight in the Third Carlist War, which lasted from 1872 to 1876.In 1876. Gaudi's mother died at the age of 57, as did his 25-year-old brother Francesc, who had just graduated as a physician. During this time Gaudi studied architecture at the Llotja School and the Barcelona Higher School of Architecture, graduating in 1878. To finance his studies, Gaudi worked as a draughtsman for various architects and constructors such as Leandre Serrallach, Joan Martorell, Emili Sala Cortés, Francisco de Paula del Villar y Lozano and Josep Fontserè. In addition to his architecture classes, he studied French, history, economics, philosophy and aesthetics. His grades were average and he occasionally failed courses.

His work

List of his heritage buildingsName Photo Location Date built

Sagrada Familia

Barcelona 1882

Casa Vicens Barcelona 1883–1888

Park Güell Barcelona 1883–1888

Palau Güell Barcelona 1885–1890

Casa Milà Barcelona 1905–1907

Casa Batlló Barcelona 1905–1907

List of his other buildingsname Photo Location Date built

Hotel Attraction New York 1908 (unbuilt)

Episcopal Palace of Astorga

Astorga (León) 1883–1913

El Capricho Comillas (Cantabria) 1883-1985

Güell Pavilions Barcelona 1884–1887

Colegio de las Teresianas

Barcelona 1888–1889

Casa Botines León 1891

Franciscan Missions in Tangier

Tangier 1892 (unbuilt)

Bodegas Güell Sitges 1895–1897

Casa Calvet Barcelona 1898–1900

Bellesguard Barcelona 1900–1909

Thankyou for watching my presentation on:

Antonio Gaudi

By Lucy Boult