Major Works of Gaudi

This summer I had the enormous pleasure to visit Barcelona. With an unbeatable location, between the Mediterranean seaboard and the hills of Montjuic, Barcelona has definitely a unique aesthetic identity. Here you can see architecture dating from the 4th century (like Romanesque churches), from the 13th – 15th centuries (a whole Gothic neighborhood replete with Cathedral, plazas, streets and churches) or from late 19th and early 20th century (modernism buildings by Antonio Gaudí and other masters). But the most impressive structures belongs, in my opinion, to Antonio Gaudi, the Spanish Catalan architect who belonged to the Modernist style movement and who was famous for his unique and highly individualistic designs. Below, I will try to remember his major works which remained in my memory for their color, curvy and imaginative structure.

Casa Vicens (1884–1885). Casa Vicens is a family residence in Barcelona, designed by Gaudi and built for industrialist Manuel Vicens. It was his first important work, which was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Works of Antoni Gaudí" in 2005.

Palau Guell (1885–1889). The Palau Guell is a town mansion designed by the architect for the Catalan industrial tycoon Eusebi Guell. Part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, it was used in Antonioni's film The Passenger as a backdrop for the first meeting between Jack Nicholson and Maria Schneider.

Crypt of the Church of Colonia Guell (1898–1916). The Church of Colonia Guell, Gaudi's unfinished work, was built as a place of worship for the people in a manufactured suburb in Santa Coloma de Cervello, near Barcelona. Colonia Guell was the brainchild of Count Eusebi de Guell. However with Guell losing profits from his business, the money ran out and only the crypt was completed.

Casa Calvet (1899–1904). This building was designed for a textile manufacturer which served as both a commercial property (in the basement and on the ground floor) and a residence.

Casa Batllo (1905–1907). Casa Batllo is a building restored by Antoni Gaudi and Josep Maria Jujol, built in the year 1877 and remodelled in the years 1904–1906. The local name for the building is Casa dels ossos (House of Bones), and indeed it does have a visceral, skeletal organic quality. It was originally designed for a middle-class family and situated in a prosperous district of Barcelona.

Casa Mila (La Pedrera) (1905–1907). Casa Mila, better known as La Pedrera, is a building designed by the Catalan architect which was considered officially completed in 1912. It was built for the married couple, Rosario Segimon and Pere Milà. Rosario Segimon was the wealthy widow of José Guardiola, an Indiano, a term applied locally to the Catalans returning from the American colonies with tremendous wealth.

Park Guell (1900–1914). Park Güell is a garden complex with architectural elements situated on the hill of el Carmel in the Gràcia district of Barcelona. It was designed and built from 1900 to 1914 and it is also part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Works of Antoni Gaudí".

Sagrada Familia (1884 - still under construction in 2009). The Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia (official Catalan name), often simply called the Sagrada Familia, is a massive, privately-funded Roman Catholic church that has been under construction since 1882 and is not expected to be complete until at least 2026. A portion of the building's interior is scheduled to open for public worship and tours by September 2010. Considered the master-work of Gaudi, the project's vast scale and idiosyncratic design have made it one of Barcelona's (and Spain's) top tourist attractions for many years.