Influences of Gaudi\'s Works

¶ … Gaudi's Works

Antonio Gaudi was born 25th June 1852 and went on to be a known Spanish Catalan architect. Antonio Gaudi was a remarkable architect whose true value only came forward a while after he created the buildings. He has also been known as the Spanish Catalan and the symbol for Catalian Modernism. Just as the people of the city were attempting to make their own mark in science and art, Gaudi's exceptional and unique style came. His work and the buildings he made were criticized by most of the people at first, yet their unique production and architecture added the true beauty of Barcelona. It has also been stated that the works of Gaudi are actually inseparable from Barcelona city. (Sola-Morales 5). The buildings that Gaudi made like Casa Mila, Parque Giell, and Sagrada Familia changed the way architecture was done in Barcelona. The buildings added to the beauty of the city and have become a huge tourist attraction. Many people at time thought that the works of Gaudi do not actually belong in Barcelona because they went against and argued with the current conventions of that time. (Cline, 2011)

Even since Gaudi was a child, he was fond of getting to know more about architecture. Any opportunity he could he looked at varied artistic movements and design that made his mind even more creative. Even when he was taking in information from different artists, Gaudi didn't really care whether they were accepted or rejected at that time. Gaudi's work was made by many influences. As it visible that his work and unique, it is often wondered what exactly shaped his works and the tough behind it. When it comes to movements, his work was generally inspired from the Art Nouveau movement, Gothic movement and Renaissance movement. However, Gaudi who loved and admired nature has been shown to add that into his works as well. Apart from that since Gaudi had a personal attachment to Barcelona and its people, he knew that eventually they would be the one using the buildings. Thus he made sure that the works he made have a correlation to the cultural and social life of the people of Barcelona. (Cline, 2011) Gaudi also made sure that each of his work had a specific correlation with the history and time of that period. For instance, how Gaudi started off the "Sagrada Familia" in 1883 shows the significance of that era by use of cement in the production of the Church. It was during those days that the first Cement factory was opened in Poland. The factory was made by Eusebi Guell who was a friend of Gaudi and it was because of that bond that the material became incorporated in the building. The first parts of the building which were made of concrete.

Gaudi as an artist gave a lot of importance to the specialty of a language after it becomes a poem instead of just plain clauses. Just as there is something close to reality of the normal phrases, the ones that are poetry show a more fantasy and creative side. Gaudi's work had the conventional and constructive productions but also a unique style that showed his way of making buildings. (Raventos-Pons, 2002) Most of Gaudi's work had nature depicted in a lot of the pieces. The work depicted the land characteristic of the Mountains of Montserrat and the olive trees that are usually found there. There is some influence of the jagged Costa Brava and the grottoes. The impact of Nature is quite visible in the Park Guell in Barcelona that was made between 1900 and 1914. The iron gates of the park open up into the beauty garden and beautiful greenery right up front. The walkway just as one enters is shown to depict rock pillars but they actually look like trees growing out of the ground. In little ways as these, Gaudi made sure that nature was a prominent part of his work. The paths and the videacts are merged with nature. This park is one of the works where nature and architecture really blend together and Gaudi here tries to show that the simple things in life can be incorporated into master pieces of art. (Gari, 1998) There a lot of other signs and portraits in the park that show Gaudi was affected by nature and really wanted into be alive. The colors and texture he has utilized in his piece showed the importance of weather as both the color and the design merge together to give a very poetic look. This links us earlier to the fact that Gaudi also made sure that his work was like a form of poetry and thus totally unique. (Raventos-Pons, 2002)

People argue that the work of Gaudi brought forward the smell, touch and even feeling of nature in Barcelona. It turned Barcelona's culture more alive and only unique of the city. As mentioned earlier, the tree like columns were never the less linked to nature. The way the passages are paved show that this sort of work was made after the keeping the curviness of hills in mind. Gaudi also believed that there should always be use of color in all architecture sine all the buildings that were there, were there to put beauty to the place. He stated that nothing that is there in nature is of one color and thus he gave examples of animals, plants and land forms. Learning from that he learned to put contrasts and shades of color in all or most of the buildings he made. (Raves-Pons, 2002) The colors that Gaudi makes use of in his work have some link to the churches that were made keeping the Gothic and Romanesque style in mind. Much more attention is given to the wood panels or sculptures of the aforementioned styles. Seeing how Gaudi had a Mediterranean back ground, he linked linking his works to that as well. Thus parts of the colors that he utilized in his works were often bright and gave a Mediterranean touch as well.

Another building that shows very close relation to nature is the Casa Mila. The way the windows are all curved with the jagged columns and the ironwork that is seen is very close to what is present in nature as well. The way that there are curves present in the Casa Mila shows relation to the curves present in water for instance. Gaudi was a naturalist and thus believed that the works should also show closeness to nature. Apart from having forms resembling natural creations like water or mountains, his works also aren't straight. Most of the buildings or pillars are either curved, leaning or not fully straight thus again depicting nature's impact on his work. (Cline, 2011) The Sagrada Familia was yet another building that was highly depictive of different forms of nature. There were sculptures of birds, reptiles, mammals, polyps, and different fruits and vegetables. (Duffy, 2003)

It was mentioned earlier that part of Gaudi's work seemed to be affected by unreal and fantasy world. Park Guell is yet another example of it as it appears that the opening of the gates open into a magical garden. With he paved pathways and pillars; it could reveal the certain long units of architecture that was prominent in many fairy tales of little children. The pavilions that are made after exiting the stairs are both guarded by a snake and dragon on the stair case. We all know that these two animals are very common in fantasy world and their shimmering presence by Gaudi shows how much he was influenced by Fantasy. The pavilions look somewhat like that ice cream houses that were common in fairy tales like the Brothers Grimm. It is because of its resemblance to such story like structures, Salvador Gali after seeing the park knew that this was a unique but amazing piece of work. (Permanyer, 1997) Thus in short, the paved ways, the iron gates, animals waiting at the staircase make up and represent important fairy tales and thus make it yet another attraction for tourists.

Another influence that has been noted in Gaudi's architecture is it's correlation with Art Nouveau style. The Art Nouveau was also known as Modernism at that time in Catalonia. It has been stated that Art Nouveau and Modernism are two different things. Modernism was actually a movement that came out forward to show the world especially the European neighboring countries that Catalonia had its own traditional and cultural independence. (Mackay, 1989) Gaudi along with artists like Juan Martorell, Puig I Cadafalch and many others became active part of this movement thus made their work that strayed from the traditional way of architecture. Thus, Modernism was yet another influence that was eon in the artist's work. What exactly constituted the Catalonian look or Modernism? The architectures at that time went on to experiment with organic firms, light which consisted both natural and artificial and new building products such as glass or iron. They made sure that they made their work stand out and look amazing with the use of simple ornaments like plaster and brick. Surely, one can imagine that the use of luxurious items like marble and gold has always been used to make a building pretty. Gaudi paid extra attention to the simpler and cheaper materials as well. Nevertheless, his buildings showed the use of fancy material like glass, marble and ceramic as well.

The influence of Art Nouveau is quite prominent in Gaudi's works. The basic principle of Art Nouveau is decoration mostly. The importance of decoration in this style is present to such an extent that it encompasses and stressed more on decoration rather than the style in which the building was made. Seeing how some of his work depicts fantasy and the fact that he uses an array of materials depicts impact of Art Nouveau. The craftsmen ship that was put in by Gaudi along with the plethora of geometrical and organic details depicts this form as well. It is true that Gaudi did study the gothic way of making buildings but he only did so to make the internal structures of his buildings stronger. While the artist was making the chapel of Colonia Guell, he showed a lot of technicalities and a somewhat mathematical approach to his work as well. As mentioned, Gaudi used mathematical techniques then it would ultimately result in a geometrical sort of building. That is exactly how the chapel and many other buildings turned out to be later. Geometrical shapes and figures such as ellipses, helicoids surfaces, hyperbolic parabolas and spiral forms of shapes and structures were incorporated in many of Gaudi's works. (Raventos-Pons, 2002)

Another interesting thing that is noted that Gaudi made this building to further enhance and put out the religious beliefs of the West. Thus religion was yet another factor that had an influence on Gaudi's works. The arcing in ceiling and pillars gave the place a very holy look nonetheless. (Raventos-Pons, 2002) The cave like and mysterious look that the building gave made it appear more close to traditions and rituals. The texture of the chapel log with the light that reaches make it seem very dramatic and powerful space at the same time. (Raventos-Pons, 2002) It should be noted that this chapel did not follow the styles of the Art Nouveau thus it can be safely said that no two buildings of Gaudi were due to similar influences.

Gaudi was also influenced by the Catalan Gothic style as well. (Cline, 2011) The diaphragm arches that are used in many of the internal buildings such as the Casa Mila show that was affected by Gothic style as well. This form of architecture was prior to Gaudi's interest in modernism however. As mentioned earlier, the use of geometry was quite visible in his work. Gaudi put out the shapes in form of architecture or decoration; regardless he did not consider it necessary to hide the shapes in any of his works. (Cline, 2011) When talking about Gothic influence of Gaudi's works, there was also a time period in which he was shown different forms of French Gothic ideas. It has been stated that it was either his education or his early teachers that made him more aware of this form of architecture. Gaudi had visited the walled city of Carcassonne which had the beaked towers as a prominent feature. Subsequent to that, he also paid a visit to the Tour St. Martin with the same sort of towers. The presence of similar towers in the Sagrada Familia, another work of Gaudi's, is a good indication of the fact that he was influenced by French Gothic architecture. (Cline, 2011)

Before Gaudi became the popular architect there, everyone followed the rigid rules of making buildings. Gaudi was surely an exception when it comes to all the architects as a whole. Along with keeping his Catalan style glued to his work, he learned a language of nature and spoke it through his works. Even though there is no neatness, calculations, or planning available in the works he has done, they are all amazing. (Gough, 2002) The designs that Gaudi made were such that he made them as went forward. So it can be said that Gaudi was one of those architects who did not need a ruler and sketchbook to make his masterpieces stand out. (Gough, 2002)

Gaudi himself mentioned that the model for one of his works was a true with the branches and the tree going. The Sagrada Familia is kept analogous to a growing tree. (Gough, 2002) The Sagrada Familia was the architect's last project as he was hit by a tram when the work was going on. It has been stated that during his last years he lived in the workshop and only worked on the project. His condition wasn't so great with ragged clothes and poverty hitting him hard, but his sincerity to his work was remarkable. In the Sagrada Familia, the piers and the vaults were seen as combined things. Where he added ramifying columns, he also put in inclined and dynamic links amidst the two sides. The use of parabolic arches in the building showed the Gaudi did not want his liking for the gothic style either. An interesting thing about Gaudi was that regardless of which he was working on, it was always to be influenced by more than one thing.

As mentioned earlier, Gaudi did not believing in making things perfect and he preferred them to be an amalgamation of different styles rather than be purely one form. This is visible by the fact that the building showed of the cathedral-Gothic style along with a complicated forest look as well. Where there was a hyperbolic ceiling in view, the sidewalls and vaults also depicted geometrical influence as well. (Katsenelinboigen, 2007).

During his time as an architect, Gaudi worked to enhance the Roman Catholic faith in the people there. He was even named God's architect mainly on the basis of having so many religious indications in the works that he made. (Tremlett, 2003) Many even say this building has such power to convert people into the Catholic faith. Many even challenge the fact that despite being in such horrible conditions, how Gaudi even made the building in his last years. Of the Sagrada Familia, only the four towers of Nativity were done by the time the architect passed away. There were four bells installed in the towers which supposedly had to have many chimes just as Gaudi wanted. (Descharnes&Prevost, 1982) The presence of sculptures which were actually of living things yet they were made of stone showed the contrast between dream and reality. Here again, Gaudi brings out the two ways in his works are most prominent. They either provide a sense of realism or they hint at fantasy world. Gaudi wanted the people to feel an amazing religious experience, feel like they could talk to God and just feel blessed when they entered the building. Another influence of religion is seen in the fact that the Sagrada Familia's tower has an upward movement. This can be explained that when keeping religion in mind, all the souls and messages have to move up towards the sky and heavens. (Raventhos-Pon, 2002)

Lastly, the Catalonian culture was also another influence on the work of Antonio Gaudi. When looked at Casa Batllo, which was made between 1905 and 1907, influences from religion, nature and the culture come out right in front. The columns that are visible in this building strike out as bones or skulls especially due to the fact that they are ivory in color. This portrays the fact that the trees and mountains was not the only form of nature used and he liked to show forms like human body as well. (Raventos-Pons, 2002)

The green ceiling of the building could either go on to depict the mountains, a dragon or a hat. The legend of Saint George who was a patron of Barcelona is depicted in this building as well. If looked closely, it could be seen that the roof is actually two scales of the dragon and the spire. This is linked to St. George in the way that he fights the dragon. The presence of the cross on top of the building could go on depict the victory as is seen in the legend and show that good won over evil. Another link to the culture there is the way this building depicts the carnival. The crest present could be represented to a Harlequin hat with the facade could be the confetti and the balconies could on to represent masks (Chandler, 2002) It is the little Thus it can be seen that when the building is looked at and admired closely, so many correlations could be figured out. It is merely the creativity that Gaudi offered that paved so many possibilities of figuring out what influenced his work. It shouldn't be forgotten that all the perceptions are limited to the eyes of the viewer and it is possible that many people wouldn't see the links mentioned. (Pevsner, 1976)