Gaudi Walk-Through

Gaudi Church inside. This is in Barcelona, Spain.

Gaudi Church inside. This is in Barcelona, Spain.

Antoni Plàcid Guillem Gaudí i Cornet (1852 – 1926) – sometimes referred to by the Spanish translation of his name, Antonio Gaudí – was a Spanish, Catalan architect, who belonged to the   more...Modernisme (Art Nouveau) movement and was famous for his unique style and highly individualistic designs
Gaudí was born in the province of Tarragona in southern Catalonia, Spain in 1852. While there is some dispute as to his birthplace – official documents state that he was born in the town of Reus, whereas others claim he was born in Riudoms, a small village 3 miles from Reus, it is certain that he was baptized in Reus a day after his birth. The artist's parents, Francesc Gaudí Serra and Antònia Cornet Bertran, both came from families of metalsmiths.
The youngest of five, Gaudí found he was too lame to play with friends his own age because of rheumatism. Because he was in considerable pain, he was rarely able to walk on foot and was forced to ride a donkey when he wanted to venture from his home. The fact that he remained close to home allowed him substantial free time to inspect nature and its design. It has been hypothesized that it was this exposure to nature at an early age that began to hone two of his greatest qualities: observation and the analysis of nature.
On June 7, 1926, Gaudí was run over by a tram. Because of his ragged attire and empty pockets, many 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 three days later on June 10, 1926, half of Barcelona mourning his death. He was buried in the midst of La Sagrada Família, although Gaudi was constantly changing his mind and recreating his blue prints. The only existing copy of his last recorded blue prints were destroyed by the anarchists in 1938 at the height of Franco's invasion of Barcelona. This has made it very difficult for his workers to complete the cathedral in the same fashion as Gaudí most likely would have wished. It is for this that Gaudí is known to many as "God's Architect". La Sagrada Família is now being completed but differences between his work and the new additions can be seen.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750) was a prolific German composer and organist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity. Although he introduced no new forms, he enriched the prevailing German style with a robust contrapuntal technique, a control of harmonic and motivic organisation from the smallest to the largest scales, and the adaptation of rhythms and textures from abroad, particularly Italy and France.

My wife Patricia insists I mention her for her part in photographing this famous cathedral. She can be seen behind the camera in one image.  less

Gaudi Park & Sagrada Familia