An instinctive, imaginative builder with an experimental approach, who left an indelible mark on Barcelona at the turn of the century.
[Antoni Gaudí
1852-1926. Architecture, ideology and politics] Antoni Gaudí (1852-1928) was a builder by instinct and in practice, with an imaginative, baroque sensibility, fond of the bright colors and sculptural forms of the Mediterranean tradition. He represents an isolated episode which critics were late in recognizing in all its prophetic value, due to the difficulties of inserting in the contemporary lines of development of the Modern Movement. Gaudí’s experience, composed of an eclecticism that mixed the forms of the past in a daring, complex experimentation with spaces, materials and decorations, was made possible by particular conditions, including the economic prosperity of Barcelona and the existence in Catalonia of highly skilled craftsmen.
This book systematically retraces his work, from Palacio Guell to the park of the same name, to his unfinished masterpiece, the Sagrada Familia, interpreted in the light of critical analysis of drawings and texts.