The newly named architect immediately began to plan and design and would remain affiliated with the school his entire life.

Interests

Because of his rheumatism, the artist observed a strict vegetarian diet, used homeopathic drug therapy, underwent water therapy, and hiked regularly. Long walks, besides suppressing his rheumatism, further allowed him to experience nature.

Later years

Gaudí was an ardent Catholic, to the point that in his later years, he abandoned secular work and devoted his life to Catholicism and his Sagrada Família. It is for this that Gaudi is known to many in Spain as "God's Architect". Soon after, his closest family and friends began to die. His works slowed to a halt, and his attitude changed. Perhaps one of his closest family members – his niece Rosa Egea – died in 1912, only to be followed by a "faithful collaborator, Francesc Berenguer Mestres" two years later. After both tragedies, Barcelona fell on hard times, economically. The construction of La Sagrada Família slowed; the construction of La Colonia Güell ceased altogether. Four years later, Eusebi Güell, his patron, died.

Perhaps it was because of this unfortunate sequence of events that Gaudí changed. He became reluctant to talk with reporters or have his picture taken and solely concentrated on his masterpiece, La Sagrada Família.

On June 8 1926, Antoni Gaudí was run over by a tram. Because of his ragged attire and empty pockets, multiple cab drivers refused to pick him up for fear that he would be unable to pay the fare. He was eventually taken to a pauper's hospital in Barcelona. Nobody recognized the injured artist until his friends found him the next day. When they tried to move him into a nicer hospital, Gaudí refused, reportedly saying "I belong here among the poor." He died two days later on June 10th, 1926, half of Barcelona mourning his death. It was, perhaps, fitting that he was buried in the midst of his unfinished masterpiece, La Sagrada Família.

Artistic style

Gaudí's first works were designed in the style of gothic and traditional Spanish architectural modes, but he soon developed his own distinct sculptural style. French architect Eugene Viollet-le-Duc, who promoted an evolved form of gothic architecture, proved a major influence on Gaudí. But the student surpassed the master architect and contrived highly original designs – irregular and fantastically intricate. Some of his greatest works, most notably La Sagrada Família, have an almost hallucinatory power.

He integrated the parabolic arch, nature's organic shapes, and the fluidity of water into his architecture. While designing buildings, he observed the forces of gravity and related catenary principles. (Gaudí designed many of his arches upside down by hanging various weights on interconnected strings, using gravity to calculate catenaries for a natural curved arch.)

Using the Aragonese trencadís technique, Gaudí often decorated surfaces with broken tiles.

The architect's work has been categorized as Art Nouveau architecture, a precursor to modern architecture. But his adoption of biomorphic shapes rather than orthogonal lines put him in a category unto himself (in Latin, sui generis). His style was later echoed by that of Austrian architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser (1928–2000).

Though hailed as a genius, some hypothesize that Gaudí was color blind and that it was only in collaboration with Josep Maria Jujol – an architect twenty seven years his junior whom he acknowledged as a genius in his own right – that he produced his greatest works.

Popularity

Gaudí's originality was at first ridiculed by his peers. Indeed, he was first only supported by the rich industrialist Eusebi Güell. His fellow citizens referred to the Casa Milà as La Pedrera ("the quarry"), and George Orwell, who stayed at Barcelona during the Spanish Civil War, admittedly loathed his work. As time passed, though, his work became more famous, up to the point that he is now considered one of Spain's best and brightest.

Social and political influences

Major works

• Casa Vicens (1878-1880)
• Palau Güell (1885-1889)
• College of the Teresianas (1888-1890)
• Crypt of the Church of Colònia Güell (1898-1916)
• Casa Calvet (1899-1904)
• Casa Batlló (1905-1907)
• Casa Milà (La Pedrera) (1905-1907)
• Park Güell (1900-1914)
• Sagrada Família (1884-1926)

Influence

• Gaudí's abandoned plans for a New York skyscraper hotel influenced the redesign of the World Trade Center after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

• In 1992, five artists founded La Asociación pro Beatificación de Antoni Gaudí. The secular association has since pushed for the Catholic church to declare Gaudí blessed.Playà Maset, Josep. "The Vatican initiates the beatification process for Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí", in La Vanguardia, Barcelona, 12 March 2000. Reproduced at Gaudí and Barcelona Club. Retrieved 9 November 2005.

• Gaudí's life and work inspired The Alan Parsons Project to create the 1987 album Gaudí.

• Gaudi's work recently inspired a shop owner in Muswell Hill London to build a shopfront in the style of Casa Batlló.

• It has been suggested that the word "gaudy" (meaning cheap-looking, tawdry) derives from Gaudí, since some people find the architect's designs gaudy. However, this is incorrect, as the word "gaudy" in its current usage actually pre-dates the architect, and is derived from the Middle English gaude, meaning "ornament" or "trinket".

Notes