Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
pleasing courtyards and decorated external staircases. They mostly went through a gentle
baroque makeover in later years.
The Arabs invented the ancient technique oftrencadís,but Gaudí was the first architect
to revive it. The procedure involves taking ceramic tiles or fragments of broken pottery or
glass and creating a mosaic-like sheath on roofs, ceilings, chimneys, benches, sculptures
or any other surface.
Modernisme
Barcelona's Modernista buildings arose during La Renaixença, a period of great artistic and
political fervor that was deeply connected to Catalan identity, and transformed early-20th-
century Barcelona into a showcase for avant-garde architecture. Aiming to establish a new
Catalan archetype, Antoni Gaudí and other visionary architects drew inspiration from the
past, using elements from the Spanish vernacular - shapes, details and brickwork reminis-
cent of Islamic, Gothic and Renaissance designs.
The Modernistas also revived traditional artisan trades, which you can see in the exquisite
stonework and stained-glass windows, and in their artful use of wrought iron, ceramics and
mosaic tiles. Nature was celebrated and imitated to perfection in Gaudí's organic forms:
leaning tree-like columns, walls that undulate like the sea, and the use of native plants as
decorative elements. Inside these buildings, the artistry and imaginative design continues.
For many, Modernisme is synonymous with Gaudí (1852-1926), but he was by no means
alone. Lluís Domènech i Montaner (1850-1923) and Josep Puig i Cadafalch (1867-1957)
left a wealth of remarkable buildings across the city. The Rome-trained sculptor Eusebi
Arnau (1864-1934) was one of the most popular figures called upon to decorate Barcelona's
Modernista piles. The appearance of the Hospital de la Santa Creu i de Sant Pau is one of
his legacies and he also had a hand in the Palau de la Música Catalana and Casa Amatller.
For more information on Modernistas, particularly the celebrated works of Antoni Gaudí,
see
Click here
.
