Antoni Gaudí
- fantasy transformed into masterpieces of stone
South of the Pyrenees, in Catalonia, Antoni
Gaudí i Cornet was born in 1852. Consequently this year 2002 is the 150-year Gaudí
jubilee celebrated in the northernmost region of Spain. Catalonia has her own capital
Barcelona, and her own language catalá. And the future architect and artist of
worldwide fame was given a Catalan name by his father, the coppersmith in the small
village of Reus. Antoni himself chose architecture as his life and profession.
But not
without distinctive work of sculpture and designs of interiors. The buildings were - and
are - magnificent work of art and showed at an early stage to be a complete change of
concept in architecture and structural design.
Gaudí worked as an architect until his death in 1926 when he was in the middle of
constructing the renowned La Sagrada Familia, a cathedral in the honour of the
sacred family. He "interfered" in everything during the periods of construction.
Some of his buildings were created more than a hundred years ago and still they look
totally surreal and avantgardistic. No wonder then that he was severly mocked and critized
by both collegues and people in general at the time. Pink houses looking like vegetation
with bulky balconies and ventilation systems in the shape of fantasy figures and animals,
what was the point? What irritated the critics was probably that much of his constructive
work was comfortable and practical to live in, that even intimacy and privacy was taken
into consideration when windows and rooms were drawn, measured and put up.
Art Noveau had its own Spanish twist thanks to Gaudí. The mosaics in his
houses and parks (The Güell Park) were brave and ahead of its time. Can we as quilters
take a giant step into the unknown like he did, in colours and design? Search on his name,
also with Spanish as chosen language, and you´ll find a lot of smashing photos to enjoy
as well as forms, shapes and colour combinations to imitate. Great art in more ways than
one…
