BARCELONA MODERNISM

THE TIME OF SPECTACULAR EXPERIMENTATION

The city of Barcelona offers the contemporary  visitor very complex sensations.Past and present merge into  a whole that is at once  attractive and intriguing. Here Barcelona architecture expresses a joyous vitality, particularly the architecture of the turn of the century and some contemporary creations.
The fervour of Catalan Art Nouveau- that Modernism that turnet Barcelona into one of the capital cities of European art at the beginning of the century- has been taken up again in a contemporary counter movement whose affirmation is linked with the rise of Interiorism, an aesthetic movement of the 1980s and 90s. These two movements seem to posess surprising similitarities.

The Catalan rebirth often reminiscent of the atmosphere of spectacular experimentation generated by the Modernists.

It should be pointed out that this term Modernism took root against the wishes of the architects and artists concerned, by association with a group of writers and poets working under that name ,anavant garde which was close to the ideas of the Italian Futurist Manifesto that came a few years later. The architect and historian Josep Pi i Cadafalch, in particular, voiced his reservation about that extrapolation around 1905. The stated aim to be modern struck him as shared to some extent by both groups , however, he drew a critical distinction in terms of their attitude to history: whereas the literary group called for a total break with the past, Barcelona’s architects and artists intended to take it fully into account, exercising freedom in mixing together elements from that was stock as they pleased. Puig put forward another name ‘The Barcelona School’ but the works concerned were already known as modernist.

ANTONI GAUDI (Barcelona, 1852-1926)

Antoni Gaudi (1852 -1926) created a style of architecture that has been classified as “art nouveau” by some and “modernism” by others.

Gaudi was an architect with an innate sense of geometry and volume, as well as a great imagination that allowed mentally projecting the majority of his works before passing to the drawings. In fact, rarely performed detailed drawings of their works; preferred recreate on three-dimensional models, shaping every detail was thought about as mentally. On other occasions, was improvising on the fly, giving instructions to his staff about what they had to do.

Equipped with a strong intuition and creative ability, Gaudí conceived his buildings in a holistic manner, taking both the structural solutions such as functional and decorative. Looked to the smallest detail of his creations, integrating architecture in a variety of handicrafts that dominated himself to perfection: ceramics, glass, iron forging, carpentry, and so on. It also introduced new techniques in the treatment of materials, such as his famous “trencadís” made with scrap pieces of pottery.

After some early influenced by the neo-Gothic art, as well as certain trends orientalizantes, Gaudi led to Modernism in its period of greatest upheaval, between the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth century. However, the architect Reus was beyond the orthodox modernism, creating a personal style based on observation of nature, the result of which he was using geometric forms regulated, as the hyperbolic paraboloids, the hiperboloide, the helicoidal and conoid.

The architecture of Gaudi is marked by a strong personal stamp, characterized by the search for new structural solutions, which achieved after a lifetime devoted to analysis of the optimal structure of the building, built into their surroundings and remain a synthesis of all the arts and offices. Through the study and practice of new and original solutions, Gaudí’s work will culminate in an organic style, inspired by nature, but without losing the experience from previous styles, creating an architectural work that is a perfect symbiosis of tradition and innovation. Also, his work is marked by the big four who were his passions in life: architecture, nature, religion and love for Catalonia. [2]

Gaudí’s work has achieved over the years a wide international circulation, with countless studies devoted to his understanding of architecture. Today is much admired by professionals as by the public at large: Sagrada Familia is now one of the most visited monuments in Spain. [3] Between 1984 and 2005 seven of his works have been regarded as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

For a fuller acquaintance with the architecture of the Barcelona School in some of its more significant aspects, one should begin with a brief introduction to some of the creators who have left the deepest stamp on these two periods, while bearing in mind that they were in many cases the spokesmen for a sensibility that was shared by their disciples, asistants and colleagues.

ANTONI GAUDI I CORNET (1852-1926), the best  known of the Barcelona’s Modernists, served his apprenticeship with Fontseré, though, from the outset, he was clearly a frevent admirer of Elias Rogent. His mature works lent a spectacular twist to Modernism, displaying a highly personal creativity that often leaves any stylistic affinities far behind. Over the first period of his working life, Mudéjar influences are evidence(despite his being a devout Catholic), along with certain fragments from the architectural language of Mackinstosh, who was prominent in Britain’s Modern Style. Over the second part of Gaudi’s creative life, his buildings became the materialization of a complex vision in which quasi organic sculptural tectonics were the domonant note.
Gaudi’s best known work are Güell Palace (1886-1888), Casa Batlló(1904-1906), Casa Mila(1906-1910),  Guell Park(1900-1914), and of course the unfinished Sagrada Familia church(1883-1926), in which he lived from 1914 until his death.

Gaudi’s solitary life style, steming from an evolutive mystic fervour, helped to create an image of Gaudi as an artiste maudit. Gaudi’s life and work find their place in the romantic tradition.
Gaudi has a good number of disciples: his work with Jusol stands out, though Francesc Berenguer and César Martinell, who were themeselves responsible for remarkable works, were also to be found working with him.