Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The spiral of a nautilus shell can be seen in staircases and ceiling details, tight buds of
flowers in chimney pots and roof ornamentation. Meanwhile undulating arches evoke a
cavern, overlapping roof tiles mimic the scales of an armadillo and flowing walls re-
semble waves on the sea. Tree branches, spider webs, stalactites, honeycombs, starfish,
mushrooms, shimmering beetle wings and many other elements from nature - all were
part of the Gaudían vernacular.
Gaudí was a devout Catholic and a Catalan nationalist. In addition to nature, he drew
inspiration from Catalonia's great medieval churches and took pride in utilising the build-
ing materials of the countryside: clay, stone and timber. In contrast to his architecture,
Gaudí lived a simple life, and was not averse to knocking on doors, literally begging for
money to help fund construction on the cathedral.
His masterpiece was La Sagrada Família (begun in 1882), and in it you can see the cul-
minating vision of many ideas developed over the years. Its massive scale evokes the
grandeur of Catalonia's Gothic cathedrals, while organic elements foreground its harmony
with nature. As Gaudí became more adventurous he appeared as 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. He died in 1926, struck down by a streetcar while taking his daily walk to the
Sant Felip Neri church. Wearing ragged clothes with empty pockets - save for an orange
peel - Gaudí was initially taken for a beggar and taken to a nearby hospital where he was
left in a pauper's ward. He died two days later. Thousands attended his funeral, in a half-
mile procession to Sagrada Família where he was buried in the crypt.
Domènech i Montaner
Although overshadowed by Gaudí, Domènech i Montaner (1849-1923) was one of the
great masters of Modernisme. He was a widely travelled man of prodigious intellect, with
knowledge in everything from mineralogy to medieval heraldry, and he was an architec-
tural professor, a prolific writer and a nationalist politician. The question of Catalan iden-
tity and how to create a national architecture consumed Domènech i Montaner, who de-
signed over a dozen large-scale works in his lifetime.
The exuberant, steel-framed Palau de la Música Catalana is one of his masterpieces.
Adorning the facade are elaborate Gothic-style windows, floral designs (Domènech i
Search WWH ::
Custom Search