ARCHITECTURE PHILOSOPHIES OF
ANTONI GAUDI Submitted By: Prachi Verma 12AR10036 Harshit Sharma 12AR10020
CERTIFICATE This is to certify that Harshit Sharma and Prachi Vermahave successfully completed the project for the first semester of the academic session 20122013.
Signature: Date
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Acknowledgement
We would like to acknowledge and extend our heartfelt gratitude to the following persons who have made the completion of this project possible: Our professor Mr. Jaydip Barman for his encouragement and support, all department faculty members and staff members. Also heartfelt thanks to our friends. And to God who is always there for us.
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INDEX Sr No
Title
Page
1.
Introduction .............................................. 3
2.
Gaudi‘s Architecture................................ 7
3.
Gaudi‘s works...............................................12 a) Casa Vicens...............................................12 b) Palau Guell.................................................13 c) Casa Calvet............................................... 14 d)Sagrada Familia........................................15 e) Parque Guell..............................................18
4.
Bibliography…………………………………………………22
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INTRODUCTION
Antoni Gaudi was a Spanish architect born in 1852. Gaudi‘s works are a reflection of his individual and distinctive style. Most of his works can be found in the city of Barcelona. His works were inspired by his passions in life: religion, nature and architecture. He integrated various crafts which he was skilled at: carpentry, stained glass, ceramics among many others. New techniques of treatment of materials were introduced by him like ―trencadis‖, made of waste ceramic pieces. Gaudi rarely drew detailed plans of his works, instead he preferred to create them as three-dimensional scale models, moulding the details as he was conceiving them. Other famous architects and also the common people are great admirers of his works. His still uncompleted, Sagrada Familia, is the most visited monument in Spain. Between 1984 to 2005, he earned the nickname, ―God‘s Architect‖.
Birth ,Childhood and Studies Antoni Gaudi was born in 1852 in Reus or Riudoms. His exact birthplace is still unknown as there are no documents supporting it, leading to a controversy whether he was born in Reus or Riudoms.Gaudí had a deep appreciation for his native land and great pride in
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his Mediterranean heritage. He believed Mediterranean people to be endowed with creativity, originality and an innate sense for art and design. Gaudí reportedly described this distinction by stating, "We own the image. Fantasy comes from the ghosts. Fantasy is what people in the North own. We are concrete. The image comes from the Mediterranean. Orestes knows his way, where Hamlet is torn apart by his doubts." Young Gaudi suffered from poor health, including rheumatism. This was the cause for his reticent and reserved character. His religious faith and strict vegetarianism led him to undertake several lengthy and severe fasts. These fasts were often unhealthy and occasionally, as in 1894, led to life-threatening illness. Between 1875 and 1878, Gaudi completed his compulsory military service as a military administrator. But due to his poor health most of the time was spent as sick leaves. He could not fight ―The Third Carlist War‖ because of his poor health. In 1876, his mother died and so did his brother who had become a physician. During this time, Gaudi studied architecture at the Llotja School and Barcelona Higher School of Architecture. To finance his studies, Gaudi worked as a draughtsman to many architects and constructors. In addition to architecture classes, he also studied French, economics and philosophy.
Personal life Gaudi completely devoted his life to his profession, remaining single throughout his life. He took refuge in the spiritual peace his Catholic faith offered him. Gaudi is often mentioned as unsociable and unpleasant. But his close friends and relatives say the other way round, they describe him as friendly as polite, pleasant to talk and faithful to friends. Gaudi hardly left and written documents, apart from technical reports and a few journal articles. The only written document Gaudí left is known as the Manuscrito de Reus (Reus Manuscript) (1873–1878), a kind of student diary in which he collected diverse impressions of architecture and decorating, putting forward his ideas on the subject. He was reluctant to be politically active. Politicians, of his time, asked him to run for deputy but he refused.
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Adulthood and professional work As first projects, Gaudi designed lampposts for the Plaça Reial in Barcelona, the unfinished Girossi newsstands, and the Cooperativa Obrera Mataronense building. The Casa Vicens provided him with wider recognition for his first important commission, and subsequently he got various significant proposals. In 1883, Gaudi was put in charge of the project to build a Barcelona Cathedral called Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família (Basilica and Expiatory Church of the Holy Family, or Sagrada Família). Gaudi completed changed the first design and implemented his own distinctive style. Till his death, he completely focused on this project. Given the number of proposals he started receiving, he had to rely on his team to work on multiple projects simultaneously. His team consisted of professionals from all fields of construction. Many architects who worked under Gaudi gained fame later in life. At the beginning of the century, Gaudi was working on numerous projects simultaneously.
They
reflected
his
shift to a more personal style inspired by nature. In 1900, he received an award for the best building of the year from the Barcelona City Council for his Casa Calvet.During the first decade of the century Gaudi dedicated himself to projects like the Casa Figueras
(Figueras
house,
better
known as Bellesguard), the Park Güell, Sagrada familia
an unsuccessful urbanisation project,
and the restoration of the Cathedral of Palma de Mallorca, for which he visited Majorca several times. Between 1904 and 1910 he constructed the Casa Batlló (Batlló house) and the Casa Milà (Milá house), two of his most emblematic works. In 1910, an exhibition in the ‗Grand Palais of Paris‘ was devoted to his work, during the annual salon of ‗the Société des Beaux-Arts‘ (Fine Arts Society) of France. Gaudí
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participated on the invitation of count Güell, displaying a series of pictures, plans and plaster scale models of several of his works. Although he participated unrivalled, he received good reviews from the French press. A large part of this exposition could be seen the following year at the I ‗Salón Nacional de Arquitectura‘ that took place in the municipal exhibition hall of ‗Buen Retiro‘ in Madrid. The decade from 1910 was a hard one for Gaudí. During this decade, the architect experienced the deaths of his niece Rosa in 1912 and his main collaborator Francesc Berenguer in 1914; a severe economic crisis which paralysed work on the Sagrada Família in 1915; the 1916 death of his friend Josep Torras i Bages, bishop of Vic; the 1917 disruption of work at the Colonia Güell; and the 1918 death of his friend and patron Eusebi Güell.[37] Perhaps because of these tragedies he devoted himself entirely to the Sagrada Família from 1915, taking refuge in his work. Gaudí confessed to his collaborators: “My good friends are dead; I have no family and no clients, no fortune nor anything. Now I can dedicate myself entirely to the Church.” Gaudí dedicated the last years of his life entirely to the ―Cathedral of the Poor‖, as it was commonly known.
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GAUDI’S ARCHITECTURE Gaudi never ceased to study the mechanical structures of other buildings. He was inspired by oriental arts from countries like India, Persia, Japan. The influence of the Oriental movement can be seen in works like the Capricho, the Güell Palace, the Güell Pavilions and the Casa Vicens. Later on, he adhered to the neo-Gothic movement that was in fashion at the time, following the ideas of the French architect Viollet-le-Duc. This influence is reflected in the Colegi de les Teresianes, the bishop's palace in Astorga, the Casa Botines and the Bellesguard house as well as in the crypt and the apse of the Sagrada Família. Eventually, Gaudí embarked on a more personal phase, with the organic style inspired by nature in which he would build his major works. Undoubtedly the style that most influenced him was the Gothic Revival, promoted in the latter half of the 19th century by the theoretical works of Viollet-le-Duc. The French architect called for studying the styles of the past and adapting them in a rational manner, taking into account both structure and design. Nonetheless, for Gaudí the Gothic style was "imperfect", because despite the effectiveness of some of its structural solutions it was an art that had yet to be "perfected‖. In his own words: “Gothic art is imperfect, only half resolved; it is a style created by the compasses, a formulaic industrial repetition. Its stability depends on constant propping up by the buttresses: it is a defective body held up on crutches.
The
proof that Gothic works are of deficient plasticity is that they produce their greatest emotional effect when they are mutilated, covered in ivy and lit by the moon.” After these initial influences, Gaudí moved towards Modernisme. Modernisme in its earlier stages was inspired by historic architecture. Its practitioners saw its return to the past as a response to the industrial forms imposed by the Industrial Revolution's technological advances. The use of these older styles represented a moral regeneration that allowed the bourgeoisie to identify with values they regarded as their cultural roots.Some essential features of Modernisme were: an anticlassical language inherited from Romanticism with a tendency to lyricism and subjectivity; the determined connection of architecture with the applied arts and artistic work that produced an
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overtly ornamental style; the use of new materials from which emerged a mixed constructional language, rich in contrasts, that sought a plastic effect for the whole; a strong sense of optimism and faith in progress that produced an emphatic art that reflected the atmosphere of prosperity of the time, above all of the aesthetic of the bourgeoisie. Gaudi‘s works go beyond any style or classification. They are imaginative works inspired from the nature. Gaudi studied organic and anarchic geometrical forms thoroughly and found ways to use them in his works of architecture.
GEOMETRIC FORMS: This study of nature translated into his use of ruled geometrical forms such as the hyperbolic paraboloid, the hyperboloid, the helicoid and the cone, which reflect the forms Gaudí found in nature. Ruled surfaces are forms generated by a straight line known as the generatrix, as it moves over one or several lines known as directrices. Gaudí found abundant examples of them in nature, for instance in rushes, reeds and bones; he used to say that there is no better structure than the trunk of a tree or a human skeleton. These forms are at the same time functional and aesthetic, and Gaudí discovered how to adapt the language of nature to the structural forms of architecture. He used to equate the helicoid form to movement and the hyperboloid to light. Concerning ruled surfaces, he said: ―Paraboloids, hyperboloids and helicoids, constantly varying the incidence of the light, are rich in matrices themselves, which make ornamentation and even modelling unnecessary.‖
Paraboloid
Hyperboloid
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Helix
Another element widely used by Gaudí was the catenary curve. He had studied geometry thoroughly when he was young, studying numerous articles about engineering, a field that praised the virtues of the catenary curve as a mechanical element, one which at that time, however,was only used in the construction suspension bridges. Gaudí was the first to use this element in common architecture. In the middle ages, there had been ―no‖ style of architecture. All the churches, halls and houses were constructed in the same way. With the renaissance however, a change began to take place. The interest in cultures of the ancient Greece and Rome led to an imitation which began to creep into contemporary architecture and to take its place rather incongruously against the traditional background. Gradually, the traditional medieval manner became less and less apparent and the Renaissance element stronger. By the end of seventeenth century, the old manner of building had become superseded. It did not only disappear, but it was considered to be rustic and unsophisticated. Too, it had developed a name, it was called the Gothic Architecture. Gaudi evolved from plane to spatial geometry to ruled geometry. These constructions were suited for cheap building materials like bricks. This new construction technique allowed Gaudi to achieve his greatest architectural goal, to perfect and go beyond gothic style. Interior view of the cathedral of Palma de Mallorca.This interior was transformed by Gaudi, who tried to re-establish its original gothic appearance to make it look as it did during the middle ages. In this attempt, he was criticized as having gone ―too far‖, and was asked to discontinue. But today, when we consider what he was attempting to do, we recognise his real understanding of the qualities of this magnificent structure.
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Gaudi, the craftsman: The relationship between culpture and architecture vary in many ways. The absence and use of sculptural elements in buildings characterise different periods and fluctuate with the taste of the time, with the latitudes and climates, with the materials in hand. Gaudi‘s work from his earlier examples shows his appreciation of and interest in sculpture. This can be seen in his ironwork of The Vicens House, The gates of the Guell Villa and the Chimneys of the Guell House. The Garden fence of the Vicens house makes use of a pattern of cast-iron leaves bolted to a grid of laminated steel angle irons. This simple repetitive design looks great.
In this gate to the Guell villa, Gaudi employs wire mesh for the dragon‘s wings. Gaudi took up the tradition of wrought ironwork and developed it.
The chimneys on the roof of the Guell House are an example of Gaudi‘s early use of colours. Gaudi from his early youth was deeply concerned with the use of colours. For him, colours were a part of his life: it is everywhere in the work of ―the Creator‖, ao it should be used likewise in every building. Only official action stopped him from rejuvenating the Palma Cathedral by giving it back the polychrome it had lost with the ages. And when somebody commented about the beautiful colour of the stone in the Sagrada Familia he said,‖ it will be painted over.‖
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Gaudi’s
works
___________Casa Vicens_______________ Casa Vicens is located in Barcelona. Gaudi built the house against the wall of a convent beside it producing a large and spacious garden. He constructed a monumental fountain on the other side of the garden with open brickwork, made up of a parabolic arch topped by a passage between columns. The garden is surrounded by a stucco wall. At the entrance stands the beautiful gate decorated with wrought ironwork in the form of leaves.
Built in : 1883 – 1889 Architectural Style: Moorish Revival The house is constructed of undressed stones, roughed red bricks and coloured ceramic tiles.
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____________Palau Guell______________ The Palau Guell in a mansion situated in Barcelona. It is a part of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites ― Works Of Antoni Gaudi.‖ The home is centered on a main room for entertaining high society guests. Guests enter the house on horse carriages through the front iron gates. The front gate features a parabolic arch and intricate patterns of forged iron work. The main party room has a high ceiling and with small holes where lanterns used to be hung at night to give a starry look.
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___________Casa Calvet_______________ Casa Calvet is one of the most conventional works of Antoni Gaudi because it had to be squeezed between two structures and also because it was cited as one of the most elegant sections of Barcelona. Its symmetry, balance and orderly rhythm is extraordinary as compared to Gaudi‘s other works. Bulging balconies alternate with smaller and shallower balconies. Columns at the entrance are in the form of stacked bobbins.
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__________Sagrada Familia_____________ Gaudi dedicated more than forty years of his life as an architect to the Neo-Gothic unfinished cathedral. He transformed the original design into a fantastical, soaring work that incorporates Gothic, Moorish, African, and purely imaginative influences into its structure. Despite controversy over whether the cathedral should remain in its uncompleted form as a monument to the architect, construction began again in 1979, closely following Gaudi‘s original plan. The temple has a basilical floor-plan, with five naves and three transepts. The interior is 90m long and the transept 60m wide; the central nave measures 15m.
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A New Church The idea for the construction of a new church was launched by a devout organisation whose goal was to bring an end to the de-Christianisation of the Barcelonese, which had started with the industrialization and increasing wealth of the city. The organisation purchased a plot of land in the new Eixample district in 1877. The architect Francisco de Paula del Villar designed a neo-Gothic church and led the construction which started in 1882.
Antoni Gaudí's Design One year later, the modernist architect Antoni Gaudí took over as lead architect at the age of 31. From that moment on, Gaudí devoted most of his life to the construction of the church. Instead of sticking to the original plans, Gaudí changed the design drastically. The neo-Gothic style made way for Gaudí's trademark modernist style, which was based on forms found in nature. When he died in 1926 only one façade (the Nativity Façade), one tower, the apse and the crypt were finished. Because Gaudí was constantly improvising and changing the design while construction was going on, he left few designs and models. And most of these were destroyed in 1936 during the Civil War.
18 Towers Still, architects now have a clear idea of what Gaudí had in mind. The last version of his design called for a church 95m/312ft long and 60m/197ft wide. The church will be able to accommodate some 13 000 people. When finished, the Sagrada Família will have a total of 18 towers.
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Four towers on each of the three façades represent the twelve apostles. The towers reach a height of 90 to 120m (394ft). Another four towers represent the four evangelists. They will surround the largest, 170m/558ft tall tower, dedicated to Jesus Christ. The last tower, dedicated to Virgin Mary, will be built over the apse.
Construction After Gaudí's death in 1926 construction slowed dramatically due to a lack of funds and the outbreak of the Civil War. Construction pace started to pick up again in the mid 1950s and now two façades and eight towers have been completed. The main nave was roofed in 2000. At that time construction was expected to last for another hundred years, but modern technology has enabled architects to speed up construction so that the Sagrada Família is now slated for completion before 2030.
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___________Parque Guell_______________ Park Güell (Catalan: Parc Güell[ˈparɡˈɡweʎ]) is a garden complex with architectural elements situated on the hill of El Carmel in the Gràcia district of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was designed by the CatalanarchitectAntoni Gaudí and built in the years 1900 to 1914. It has an extension of 17.18 ha (0.1718 km²), which makes it one of the largest architectural works in south Europe. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Works of Antoni Gaudí".
ORIGINS AS A HOUSING DEVELOPMENT The park was originally part of a commercially unsuccessful housing site, the idea of Count Eusebi Güell, whom the park was named after. It was inspired by the English garden city movement; hence the original English name Park (in the Catalan language spoken in Catalonia where Barcelona is located, the word for "Park" is "Parc", and the name of the place is "Parc Güell" in its original language). The site was a rocky hill with little vegetation and few
trees,
called
Muntanya
Pelada
(Bare
Mountain). It already included a large country house called Larrard House or Muntaner de Dalt House, and was next to a neighborhood of upper class houses called La Salut (The Health). The intention was to exploit the fresh air (well away from smoky factories) and beautiful views from the site, with sixty triangular lots being provided for luxury houses. Count Eusebi Güell added to the prestige of the development by moving in 1906 to live in Larrard House. Ultimately, only two houses were built, neither designed by Gaudí. One was intended to be a show house, but on being completed in 1904 was put up for sale, and as no buyers came forward, Gaudí, at Güell's suggestion, bought it with his savings and moved in with his family and his father in 1906. This house, where Gaudí lived from 1906 to 1926, was built by Francesc Berenguer in 1904. It contains original works by Gaudí andseveral of his collaborators. It is now the Gaudi House Museum (Casa Museu Gaudí) since 1963. In 1969
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it was declared a historical artistic monument of national interest.
MUNICIPAL GARDEN It has since been converted into a municipal garden. It can be reached by underground railway (although the stations are at a distance from the Park and at a much lower level below the hill), by city buses, or by commercial tourist buses. While entrance to the Park is free, Gaudí's house, "la Torre Rosa," — containing furniture that he designed — can be only visited for an entrance fee. There is a reduced rate for those wishing to see both Park Güell and the Sagrada Família Church. Park Güell is skillfully designed and composed to bring the peace and calm that one would expect from a park. The buildings flanking the entrance, though very original and remarkable with fantastically shaped roofs with unusual pinnacles, fit in well with the use of the park as pleasure gardens and seem relatively inconspicuous in the landscape when one considers the flamboyance of
other
buildings designed by Gaudí. The focal point of the park is the main terrace, surrounded by a long bench in the form of a sea serpent.
The
curves of the serpent bench form a number of enclaves, creating a more social atmosphere. Gaudí incorporated many motifs of Catalan nationalism, and elements from religious mysticism and ancient poetry, into the Park. Roadways around the park to service the intended houses were designed by Gaudí as structures jutting out from the steep hillside or running on viaducts, with separate footpaths in arcades formed under these structures. This minimized the intrusion of the roads, and Gaudí designed them using local stone in a way that integrates them closely into the landscape. His structures echo natural forms, with columns like tree trunks supporting branching vaulting under the roadway, and thecurves of vaulting and alignment of sloping columns designed in a similar way to his Church of Colònia Güell so that the inverted catenary arch shapes form perfect compression structures.
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The large cross at the Park's high-point offers the most complete view of Barcelona and the bay. It is possible to view the main city in panorama, with the Sagrada FamĂlia and the MontjuĂŻc area visible at a distance. The park supports a wide variety of wildlife, notably several of the non-native species of parrot found in the Barcelona area. Other birds can be seen from the park, with records including Short-toed eagle. The park also supports a population of Hummingbird hawk moths.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY www.wikipedia.org www.gaudiclub.com www.greatbuildings.com www.gaudiallgaudi.com Antoni gaudi by j.j sweeney
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