Barcelona in Focus - Discover Barcelona: Experience the Best of Barcelona - page 530

The Modernistas
The second wave of Catalan creativity, also carried on the wind of boom times, came
around the turn of the 20th century. The urban expansion program known as L'Eixample
(the Extension), designed to free the choking population from the city's bursting medieval
confines, coincided with a blossoming of unfettered thinking in architecture that arrived in
the back-draft of the 1888 International Exposition of Barcelona.
The vitality and rebelliousness of the Modernistas is best summed up in the epithets
modern, new, liberty, youth and secession. A key uniting element was the sensuous curve,
implying movement, lightness and vitality. But the movement never stood still. Gaudí, in
particular, repeatedly forged his own path. As he became more adventurous he appeared a
lone wolf. With age he became almost exclusively motivated by stark religious conviction
and devoted much of the latter part of his life to what remains Barcelona's call sign - the
unfinished La Sagrada Família.
Paradoxically, Modernista architects often looked to the past for inspiration. Gothic,
Islamic and Renaissance design all had something to offer. At its most playful, Modernisme
was able to intelligently flout the rule books of these styles and create exciting new cock-
tails.
Antoni Gaudí
Leading the way was Antoni Gaudí. Born in Reus to a long line of coppersmiths, Gaudí
was initially trained in metalwork. In childhood he suffered from poor health, including
rheumatism, and became an early adopter of a vegetarian diet. He was not a promising stu-
dent. In 1878, when he obtained his architecture degree the school's headmaster is reputed
to have said: 'Who knows if we have given a diploma to a nutcase or a genius. Time will
tell.'
As a young man, what most delighted Gaudí was being outdoors, and he became fascin-
ated by the plants, animals and geology beyond his door. This deep admiration for the nat-
ural world would heavily influence his designs. 'This tree is my teacher,' he once said.
'Everything comes from the book of nature.' Throughout his work, he sought to emulate
the harmony he observed in the natural world, eschewing the straight line and favouring
curvaceous forms and more organic shapes.