Technical
aspects of Gaudi's Works:
Gaudi's Architectonic Tech
nique: Geometry and Mechanics
- based on work by Architect, member of the
Jaume Serrallonga i Gasch, Doctor technical office of the Sagrada Família -.
Geometry and Mechanics: Some people have seen Gaudí’s work as that of just another primarily Catalan modernisme architect, employing organic or natural forms, curved or undulating lines, reclaimed materials, ceramic bricks, trencadís mosaics, etc. However, while Gaudí certainly participated in that characteristic movement of his time, there are many reasons why Gaudí should be considered separately from the general theme of modernisme, since his genius rose far above what has been reduced to merely stylistic and ornamental tendencies. Today, the vast majority of art and architecture historians agree that Gaudí deserves a specialized treatment differentiated from the rest of modernisme. One way in which Gaudí sets himself apart is precisely in the synthesis of form and function that he projects in such a way that the form does not become a mere stylistic caprice following the current trends, but rather finds its reason for being in the function for which it was conceived. In the case of architecture, it goes without saying that one of the principal functions of any construction is its mechanical or structural function—that is to say, that it stands up instead of falling down. When Gaudí used such precise geometry to achieve the concrete form which would characterize a structure and its optimal mechanics simultaneously, he greatly distanced himself from his contemporaries, who began with Modernista tendencies, but over the years leaned more towards Noucentisme and more classical, ordered forms. To develop this theme further, we turn to two examples: the schools at the Sagrada Família and hyperbolic vaults. Schools at the Sagrada Família: These schools were built on the grounds of the Temple for the children of the Temple’s workers. The site Gaudí chose for the schools overlapped his own plan for the Temple such that it grew only very slowly toward the opposite side of the block. This fact clearly indicates that the schools were conceived as a totally provisional structure—Gaudí could not even try to build something that approached being superfluous, or self-aggrandizing, or too expensive, since he had at his disposal barely enough finances to complete the Temple itself. The scarce resources available for the schools were clearly evidenced by the materials used (flat, Roman-style bricks, ceramic tile, wooden beams) and the finishing touches (plastered Portland cement slippings unfinished up to the closest point, whitewashing for the other walls, exterior ceramic material for the façades and overhangs). Despite such setbacks, the work takes on a plastic, moving appearance, with all the oscillating façades and undulating roof; Le Corbusier himself took notes on and sketches of this comparatively insignificant work—but not of the rest of the great Temple slowly being built when he visited Barcelona. The most important thing to take away is that this collection of undulating buildings had nothing to do with a stylistic trend or any desire to leave a personal stamp, but was simply an ingenious approach to building a stable structure with minimal material. The wall of fencing has only two layer of Roman brick, each one only 4cm thick. It is a wall of fencing less than 10cm thick and rises to a height of almost 5.6m. It is, therefore, extremely slender and would be most unstable were it not for the undulation itself that gave it strength against the wind. If you wanted to make a thin piece of cardboard stand upright on a table, you would have to fold it or give it some sort of shape, otherwise it would fall over before a gust of wind even came. Gaudí, with the undulating surfaces of the façades, has done exactly that: the undulation is not a naïve caprice,
but is structural, a lesson in mechanics. Building a wavy façade should be very complicated, but here Gaudí gives us another lesson, this time in geometry. The surface of these façades is comprised of rotated planes known as conoids. A conoid is a surface consisting of a series of straight lines (generatrices), all of which are parallel to a guiding plane and simultaneously supported by two guiding lines (directrices), one of which is straight and the other curved. To build the façades of these schools, these directrix lines first had to be constructed. The curved directrix was drawn on the floor like a wavy sinusoid. To make the straight guiding line, a cord was tied taut (or a metal bar was hung horizontally at a certain height) between the highest and lowest points of the roof. Next, many cords—each about 10-15cm long—are tied to the straight bar above and hang down to the sinusoid below. Lastly, the walls are raised according to the guiding cords, and if the dimensions of the brick are small enough in comparison to the whole area, the section will correct itself well enough, producing this spectacular result. The final geometry lesson involves the roof, where once again use is made of the conoid surfaces to avoid having to use layered roofs, which are much more expensive than a beamed roof. By cutting out the façades in the upper part (still in sinusoidal form) and using these sinusoids on the two longest façades such that the highest points of one are aligned with the lowest points of the other, the wooden beams resting on top of these walls (instead of just being parallel to them forming a flat surface) each follow a different slope toward one side or the other and finally, with the ceramic roof covering, conform to the undulating surface of a conoid. Since the beams would be too long if they went straight from one side to the other, Gaudí designed a central portico inside to serve as a central support for the beams. This rather horizontal central main beam clearly serves as the straight directrix line for the straight but warped surface. Thanks to this geometric and mechanical genius, Gaudí could choose ceramic brick, the cheapest and most widely available, to place around the edges to make the walls thinner, and therefore require fewer bricks. Thus geometry enabled the optimal efficiency of the structure.
Hyperboloid Vaults: Gaudí mentioned several times that with the Sagrada Família, he wanted to transcend the Gothicstyle cathedral, which was so dependent on flying buttresses and other buttresses as if they were crutches, and showed nothing more than the complex way of dispersing weight that those able builders had been able to devise. Gaudí achieved his objective via two simultaneous methods. On one hand, he used a model of weights and strings to study the natural distribution of weight and, thanks to this preliminary testing, was able to incline the tree-columns and all their branches at the angles derived from his experimental model in such a way that they absorb their various loads directly from the center of gravity of each section of vault. The idea of the Temple as a forest of trees (columns) with branches and foliage (vaults) allowed Gaudí to plan for each “tree” to support its “foliage” without needing the support of neighboring trees. Having witnessed the horrors of the First World War, he did not want the whole Temple to collapse if only one part, like a buttress, was damaged. He thought that if one “tree” fell, only that tree had to fall, and not the whole “forest.” With his column-trees, Gaudí succeeded in transcending the Gothic and distributing loads directly into the foundation via the most direct route. This way, by eliminating flying buttresses and other buttresses, naves could have a straight exterior, without the perpendicular fins that segmented them in the Gothic style. On the other hand, Gaudí also transcended the Gothic with his use of vaulting. Ribbed Gothic vaults were conceptualized as hierarchically-ordered “nerves” that absorbed all the weight from the vault, which was the last element, considered merely complementary and lacking a structural role (although later it was later shown that this skin between nerves, this large shell, was also able to remain intact even though one nerve might fail). Way ahead of contemporary theories, Gaudí conceived of the whole vault as a skin or shell, without nerves. To achieve maximum resistance and
optimize the mechanic behavior of his most recent version of a vault—which he had studied for so long and at which has survived for us thanks to a model he made—Gaudí once again turned to ruled surfaces with dual curvature, like hyperboloids and paraboloids. At the keystone, where Gothic vaults require weight to be concentrated so that the arcades do not open up, hyperboloid vaults have an eye—the “neck” of the hyperboloid –a large, empty space through which natural light can pass from the dormer windows in the triforium into the nave. Gaudí kept the idea of the keystone, but instead made it a diffuser of light, of glass and metal in the shape of a flower or star, to where it no longer had served a structural function. In the seams between
vaults, where the “ribs” or “nerves” could be seen, Gaudí again made a series of small holes, small elliptical hyperboloids, to insert lights so that in the evenings there would be the sensation of a starry sky. It seems that in this way Gaudí wanted to make it clear that hisvaults did not need nerves; this design once again reveals his express desire to transcend the Gothic. And once again, in this master class, mechanics and geometry come from the same hand. His total mastery of plane surfaces and knowledge of generatrix lines allowed him to place ceramic tiles along the appropriate axes, inspired by the technique used in Catalan vaults of Roman brick, the simplest finishing material at that time. Thus, with the color of the ceramic together with the green and gilt glass for the openings in the joints, he achieved the most flowery vault ever seen in a cathedral. His mastery of plane geometry is manifest upon observing in detail the seams between the hyperboloids, where all the intersections are worked the different hyperboloids of the
to the nth degree. In these intersections, in the interplay between the different geometric elements, not a single strange curve appears; rather, straight generatrix lines make all the transitions between the planes that form bevels, the small criss-crossed paraboloids, and the large paraboloids that contain the elliptical hyperboloids of the night stars. Gaudí demonstrated his mastery of geometry in other ways than the warped plane surfaces mentioned above (conoids, helicoids or snail inclines, paraboloids, and hyperboloids). Among the best examples would be his knowledge and application of the basic Pythagorean proportions, his famous double helix column, and his use of various polyhedral forms. New work will follow on the double helix column and polyhedrons.
Other Technical Innovations in Architecture: In addition to the conoids, hyperboloid arches, etc. mentioned above in the work of Dr. Jaume Serrallonga, Gaudí contributed many other novelties to the panoply of construction techniques, and also in other fields, such as the decorative arts. He was the first to demonstrate the inadequacies of flat roofs, which were finally discontinued in Catalan building practice. He was the first to use reinforced concrete beams, the first to revive the leaning column, and the first to put forward the idea of using chimes in the Sagrada Família (they still have not been completed). He also used important innovations in other fields such as the stereographic cage, multiple photography, and molds for large-scale sculpture. He also made advances in the construction of stained glass windows, used in the Palma de Mallorca cathedral and others. As this article has repeatedly suggested, Gaudí believed that decorative elements had to be subordinate to structural ones. However, despite this basic belief, his structures frequently sported great decorative richness. Thus, for example, in the Sagrada Família, he was faced with expressing the liturgical significance of the work, a titanic undertaking involving the symbolic representation found in the Nativity façade and the completion of a forest of figures on a surrounding ornamental field, studying and solving the problems posed by architectural sculpture. Despite the enormity of this challenge, Gaudí did not engage any specialists; the sculptors Carles Martí and Joan Matamala were practically the only ones collaborating on this undertaking. He widely employed the plastic mold technique that (according to Gaudí) “the great Greek masters, like Lysippos,” used. Molding required the laborious task of adjusting and correcting to neutralize the optical effect. An important finishing touch was color: Gaudí said that “decoration has been, is, and will be colored.” Perhaps the most spectacular realization of this idea is embodied in the Casa Batlló, whose façade is completely covered in the most brilliantly colored ceramic tiles.
Ceramics in the work of Gaudí: Modernisme was prodigious in its use of ceramics not only in Catalunya, but also in Valencia and other places throughout the Iberian Peninsula. This use was also prevalent in the Art Nouveau movement in many European countries (see, for example, Otto Wagner’s Majolikahaus in Vienna). Ceramics are certainly omnipresent in Gaudí’s work; their use is perhaps one of their most distinctive characteristics. The following is a chronological analysis of ceramic use in Gaudí’s works. In 1879, Gaudí’s name first appeared on the books of the Pujol i Bausis factory (see Pía Subias’s article in Tradición y modernidad, la ceramica en el modernismo, published for the Ninth Annual Congress of the Associació de Ceramologia), which mention a shade of yellow called “Gaudí.” These references appear again later, in 1882-1884, 1893, and 1894. This suggests that from his very first projects, Gaudí used ceramic tile overlay as an essential component of his work. El Capricho (also known as the Villa Quijano, in honor of its owner), built from 1883-1885 in the Cantabrian town of Comillas, features extensive ceramic decoration, probably produced by the Pujol i Bausis factory in Esplugues. Whether the tiles came completely or in part from somewhere else, at El Capricho, Gaudí created facades of predominantly yellowish and reddish brick in horizontal bands, alternating with ceramic pieces representing sunflowers in relief and other pieces of green ceramic that give the façade a quite elegant, undulating aspect. The tower is practically completely covered with ceramic tiles in relief. For the Güell Pavilions in Barcelona (1883), Gaudí chose tiles of solid blue or green and others flecked with the same colors to adorn the walls of exposed brick. The exterior is richly decorated in transparent ceramics with shell shapes that take up the majority of the surfaces, except for those that are purposefully left as exposed brick and the decorated cornices, often also finished with multicolored ceramics. Gaudí’s Park Güell is the work with the highest ceramic content. Many various ceramic forms and patterns are found throughout the expansive grounds. Many zones of the Park, especially the entrance and main stairway, the hypostyle “forest of columns,” and the large plaza revel in an explosion of ceramic colors and forms. This ceramic richness is apparent even before entering, since the exterior wall surrounding the Park is full of ceramic medallions and motifs. All these adornments are quite large and have as their basic theme the “P” of Park and the “G” of Güell with various background colors—red ,blue, white, green, etc.—and different outlines and forms. With these concepts, Gaudí broke with any monotonous ideas and applied his core principle that color must always be present in any architectonic work. The caretaker cottage (Administration) and shop, on either side of the main entrance gate, also share in an extraordinary richness of color and whimsy, with roofs completely covered in trencadís (primarily shades of brown on the caretaker cottage and white and blue on the shop) in many different tonalities, with windows marked by ceramic floral friezes and (once again) medallions referencing the Park’s patron: Güell. Today, it is quite obvious that these ceramic pieces came from the Pujol i Bausis factory in Esplugues de Llobregat. Maria Pia Subias has found in the decoration of these roofs a revival of Catalan and Valencian Gothic tradition advocated by architects Font i Gumà and Antoni Maria Gallissà. According to the same author, tiles designed by Gallissà and tiles made by Manises i Onda in Valencia can be found on the caretaker cupolas. Before ascending the central staircase, visitors enjoy the ceramic-covered battlements on the right that sit atop the cave and the decorative ceramic motifs immediately underneath. Farther up the staircase, on either side of the landings, the white trencadís of the handrails alternate with hexagonal medallions with floral and Arabian motifs. At the center of the staircase await a snake and a dragon covered in very Mediterranean chromatic ceramics. The hypostyle Hall of Columns is another great demonstration of decorative ceramics; the column bases are covered with white tiles for nearly a quarter of their height. What leaves an even greater impression is the ceiling, covered in white trencadís and decorated with many medallions representing the sun and moon in various seasons. Even though the entire Park resonates with magnificent ceramic splendor, the best is saved for last: the undulating bench completed by Josep Maria Jujol based on an idea of Gaudí. It is perhaps the most spectacular example of trencadís in the world. The majority of
ceramic pieces comprising the bench are from Pujol i Bausis; there is documentation of a shipment of 12,000 tiles in June 1904 from that factory, although (as often occurred) other factories also contributed, such as Sebastià i Ribó and Manises i Onda. During restoration of the bench, it was decided to replace damages pieces with solid white ones, the idea being not to alter Gaudí’s and Jujol’s original designs. That decision was later criticized somewhat, but in Barcelona, every restoration project is polemical. The exterior façade of Casa Batlló on Barcelona’s Passeig de Gràcia is a veritable ceramic orgy, with its surprisingly spectacular symphony of colors—predominantly greens and blues of remarkable brilliance and clarity. The rear façade, although much more austere, is also decorated with ceramics from the Pujol i Bausis and Sebastià Ribó factories. The interior courtyard is covered in graded shades of blue tiles from the factory of Sebastià Ribó in Sant Martí de Provençals (now the Clot neighborhood of Barcelona). The chimneys of La Pedrera are also decorated with Pujol i Bausis ceramics, although the building in its entirety has a very different aspect than the chromatic richness of Casa Batlló, with imposing stone and wrought iron and much more uniform coloration. For better or worse, all of Gaudí’s works display a notable wealth of ceramic decoration. This page could be considerably lengthened with further examples— such as the Crypt of the Colònia Güell, the Palau Güell, Bellesguard, the Col·legi de Santa Teresa, or the interior of the Episcopal Palace of Astorga—but it will suffice to mention only one more work, from Gaudí’s youth: Casa Vicens. It is significant not because its owner was a tile manufacturer (which is more and more open to debate), but because, like El Capricho, it is an outstanding work dominated by ceramic elements with widely contrasting chromaticism that probably scandalized more than one purist in its day.
Furniture in Gaudi's Work: General information: Most of Gaudí’s work was architectural, but even though he dedicated himself most strongly to this art, he also applied his genius to comparatively more prosaic arts like furniture and decorative elements for the various houses and buildings he constructed. Even though furniture and decorative arts deteriorate once past their prime, the come into and frequently stay in the hands of collectors or museums. In Gaudí’s case, we have been able to preserve a substantial part of his work, allowing us to have an idea of the importance Gaudí attached to this particular art. Here, we will discuss his surviving works, grouped according to the buildings for which they were originally designed. The list below is fairly comprehensive. It is ordered chronologically, allowing us to observe the evolution toward simplicity, from his first flamboyantly sumptuous furnishings for the Sobrellano chapel and the Palau Güell to the more functional furniture for Casa Batlló. One design aspect to keep in mind is Gaudí’s use of iron, more as a structural element than a decorative one, but often both aspects overlapped. From the very beginning, Gaudí applied standards of rationality, comfort, and sturdiness to furniture he designed. This was one way in which Gaudí was influenced by the medievalist French architect Viollet-le-Duc. His pupils’ notes recount the demonstrations Gaudí made them attend to test the comfort of a bench or chair, adapting it as much as possible to human measures and anatomy (in effect designing very early ergonomic furniture). Despite the abundant examples of Gaudiesque furniture, David Ferrer in his book Gaudí points out that each individual piece was usually blended with other types of furniture, following the bourgeois fashion of the time. Having pieces of furniture that bore absolutely no relationship to each other created a much sought-after species of disorder. Inventory of Gaudi Furnishings: The following chronological list helps to understand the evolution of Gaudí’s furnishings.
Gaudi's First Piece of Furniture: The first known work is Gaudí’s own drafting table. It was an impressive piece of carpentry supposedly built in 1878 and destroyed during the Spanish Civil War (1936-39). The upper body consisted of a rolltop covering and had a crossbar giving structure to the unit. Two grandiose cavities on the sides served as drawers. The whole ensemble was supported by four legs very slight for the general mass of the piece. It was decorated with animal and vegetable motifs in relief. Glass display Case for the Eduard Comella Glove Factiry at the Paris World's Fair (1878): This case was quite original, especially when compared to usual showcases of the time, which were designed simply as conventional shopfront windows. Instead, Gaudí created a glass case set upon a parquet platform of inlaid wood which viewers could walk all the way around, giving them a more complete look at the material inside, which was protected by a type of little glass chapel. This piece was quite costly (40,000 reales), but it enjoyed great success at the Fair, winning a silver medal. It seems that the friendship between Eusebi Güell and Gaudí arose from the impression this case made on Güell during his visit to the Fair; as a result, Güell commissioned Gaudí to design the furniture for the Pantheon of the Sobrellano Palace. Decoration of the Gibert Pharmacy (1879): Unfortunately, the building in which the pharmacy was located at No. 4 Passeig de Gràcia in Barcelona was torn down in 1895. All that remains of Gaudí’s influence there is a photograph. Furniture for the Pantheon of the Sobrellano Palace (1880): - Walnut church pews - Ceremonial chair of walnut, metal, and velvet - Kneeler of walnut and velvet - Two walnut stools These neo-Gothic furnishings were completed in 1880 at the Puntí Workshop in Barcelona. Today, they are on display at the Sobrellano Palace in Comillas in the Spanish province of Cantabria.
Furnishings for the Palau Güell (1886-1889): - Chair of wood, iron, and leather - Chaise-longue of wood, iron, and velvet - Dressing table of wood, iron, and glass These extraordinarily original furnishings were built by F. Vidal in 1888. The completely asymmetric dressing table stood out for its incredibly modern design for the time and had a mirror that could pass for avant-garde even today. It was designed for complete comfort and allowed the user to have all her beauty implements at hand. In addition, it featured a small step designed to aid in the putting on of shoes. Furnishings for the Sagrada Família (1889): Wooden furnishings were created at Joan Munné’s workshops. All pieces date from 1898 unless otherwise indicated. - Two wooden armoires for the sacristy to hold cult objects, destroyed during the Spanish Civil War Wooden bench for celebrants (of Mass) - Wood and iron church pews - Wrought iron candelabra - Candlebox of wood, wrought iron, copper, and marble - Wooden armed Bishop’s chair - Six cast brass candlesticks, copies of those made for Casa Batlló around 1906 - Wooden confessional - Wrought iron altar cross - Wrought iron standing lectern - Tabletop lectern made of wire - Various votive lamps of copper, brass, alabaster, and cut glass, probably made by Gaudí himself - Portable wooden pulpit - Wrought iron triangular candelabra (tenebrari), circa 1900 The wood furnishing were made in the Joan Munné Workshop. The ensemble is dated 1898, except some pieces dated separately. Furnishings for Casa Calvet (1898-1900): For the main room, Gaudí designed: - Six armless chairs of iron and velvet - Four tall stools with backs, of iron and velvet - Two armchairs - One three-seat sofa For the Director’s office: - One corner stool, of oak - One oak armchair - One oak office desk with two side cavities with two drawers, and two central drawers For the offices: - Two uniquely designed wood, iron, and brass clothes trees/coat racks - One double bench separated by a screen - One mirror - One pine bookcase - One pine corner bookcase - One pine table with two drawers For the Conference Room: - One four-legged, rectangular oak table - Four armless oak chairs - Two armed oak chairs - One oak couch of 2-3 seats with arms All the furnishings were completed at the Casas i Bardés Workshop in 1901. Cafè Torino (1902): Gaudí participated only as a decorator, and for only part of this work, known as the Arab Room. He designed the chair rail, which Hermenegild Miralles built. We have much visual information
about the café thanks to the November 15, 1902 issue of Hispania, of which Miralles was editor. Casa Batlló (1904-1906): - One ash drop leaf dining table - One ash chair - One ash seamstress’ chair - One gossip chair formed by joining two armed chairs such that they share one arm - One ash couch of three seats with shared arms - Various doors, doorframes, sinks, panels, and shutters for the main floor All furnishings were created at the Casas i Baudés Workshops in 1907. La Pedrera (Casa Milà) (1905-1906): - Various oak door jambs, benches with boxes, and armoire finials, created at the Casas i Baudés Workshops in 1910. - Various brass door jambs and accessories for doors and furniture cast at the Mañach Foundry in 1910. The Palma de Mallorca Cathedral (1903-1914): - One folding step kneeler for the contemplation of the Blessed Sacrament, of polychrome wood, wrought iron, and felt - One faldistori of oak, gilt brass, and leather (small, low bench used by kings and Popes in the Middle Ages) - One bell rest (beam supporting a small, cylindrical brass bell) - One wood and fabric 12cm pulpit cover crowned with a bronze globe and cross - One wooden choir stand with metal feet - One oak stool - One oak and wrought iron bench for celebrants (of Mass) These furnishings were completed from approximately 1904-1908. Furnishings for the Crypt of the Colònia Güell (1898-1916): - Oak and wrought iron church pew, completed in 1914. Other furniture and decorative elements attributed to Gaudí include: - Standard/crest of the Orfeó Feliuà (1900) - Interior of the basilica of Lluc (1908-14) - Furniture for the monks of Jesus and Mary - Altar for Josep Maria Bocabella - Dalmases umbrella stand - Dining table for Sant Feliu de Codines - Decorations for the home of the Marquises de Castelldosrius - Crest for people from Reus living in Barcelona dedicated to the Mare de Déu de la Misericòrdia - Crest for the locksmiths’ guild - Bust of Cardinal Torras i Bages
Iron in Gaudi's Works: Ironwork has been a Catalan trade since time immemorial, and Gaudí had no trouble incorporating it as a structural and decorative element in his work. He was able to count on the very receptive attitude of his fellow artisans, who willingly accepted Gaudí’s proposal to revive old techniques and styles. Gaudí used iron extensively in his work, above all in its wrought and forged varieties. All of his output denotes an extraordinary imagination and great mastery. Professionals often were not specialists in ironwork, but they used it as a complement to their usual craft and had begun to acquire a sound knowledge of techniques - frequently with Gaudí’s help. Worth special mention among these professionals are locksmith Ramon Vallet i Piquer, carpenter Eduard Puntí, and the artisans who collaborated in the decorative workshop of Francesc Vidal i Jevellí. Gaudí did not rely solely on the knowledge of smiths and smelters, but on his own knowledge of these techniques, learned via his apprenticeship at the Sardà boilermaking shop and the Ciré ironworks in Reus. Without a deep understanding of these techniques, it is impossible to understand how this genius could direct professionals' work so effectively, even using illustrative models made of wire, wax, or cardboard to explain their projects to them. Gaudí’s mastery is manifested not only in the large pieces of wrought or cast iron, but also in the smaller pieces made from other metals, such as the brass and bronze he used to produce interior decorative elements like doorknobs, handles, peepholes, and others. Abundant examples are preserved in Casa Batlló and La Pedrera. Doors: - One of Gaudí’s most impressive wrought iron works is the gate of the Güell Pavilions in Barcelona, constructed in 1885 at the Vallet i Piquer Workshops. The entire gate is an example of the use of industrial elements which, applied in this manner, produce a surprising result: when observed closely, you can see that each part of the dragon’s body is formed of chain mail, springs, chains, etc., which combined give shape to what from a certain distance appears as a fearsome, attacking dragon. - The two main gates to the Palau Güell also display an extraordinary originality of construction, combining industrial elements with completely artisanal ones, such as the wrought iron decorations crowning the gates and the noteworthy heraldic shield that separates them, shaped like a noble crest with a large “E” and “G” for Eusebi Güell. Both gates are the work of ironworker Joan Oñós, who created them in 1889. One of their most original characteristics—helicoidal wrought iron bars— caught on and spread throughout the city to the extent that they became almost the norm. The elevator door at Casa Calvet is comprised of intersecting circles of platen, like chain mail. Other gates include: - The gate of the entrance Pavilion at the Cellers Güell Cellars in Garraf. - The gates at the main entrance to the Finca Miralles. - Walls of the Park Güell. - Main gate of Casa Batlló - Main gate of Casa Milà (La Pedrera)
Grilles: - Grilles of Palau Güell. - Sagrada Família. - Casa de los Botines in León (Spain). - Grilles of Casa Vicenç, which are really of tapped iron and not wrought iron like the rest of Gaudí’s oeuvre. - Bellesguard - Park Güell - La Pedrera Balconies: - Gaudí’s first balconies, for Casa Vicenç in 1883. - El Capricho in Comillas (Cantabria, Spain), whose balconies have wrought iron handrails. - Casa Calvet, the last place Gaudí used thick, bar handrails. - Starting with Casa Batlló, Gaudí introduced a new design for a thicker handrail and substituted wrought iron for cast iron. - Nevertheless, at La Pedrera, Gaudí returned to wrought iron; stone and iron take on new forms and integrate with each other in a new explosion of architectonic fantasy coupled with an extraordinary technical capability. Streetlamps: In addition to the streetlamps he designed for the Passeig de la Muralla (which were never completed), Gaudí worked on two other designs that did come to life. One was for the Plaça del Mercat in Vic, sadly no longer with us; the only surviving examples are the two six-armed streetlamps in the Plaça Reial and two three-armed ones in the Pla del Palau. The commission for these streetlamps was awarded to a young Gaudí in 1878. Other Elements and Metals (Brass): Cranks, Handles, and DoorknobsGaudí’s preoccupation with achieving maximum functionality with these types of pieces is literally palpable in casts made by sticking hands and fingers into clay in order to be able to facilitate their use —what we would today call ergonomics. These designs can be found in buildings like Casa Calvet and the later Casa Batlló and La Pedrera. Especially in the latter two buildings pieces can be found that even today would be considered of advanced design.
Stained glass and Glassworks in Gaudi's Work: Stained glass of varying importance can be found in many of Gaudí’s buildings. Gaudí’s stained glass, constructed with the most advanced techniques of the day, often has a revolutionary aesthetic and surpass the era’s normal standards. They present an extraordinary liveliness of color while representing natural elements (like vegetables or animals) or, in the case of churches, images of saints or biblical scenes. Palau Güell (1886-1889): This building contains a notable quantity of stained glass designed for different uses.
Sagrada Família (1889): The following images are of the Nativity façade, seen from the exterior and interior. Contrast these with the last image, from the Passion façade (designed after Gaudí’s death).
Palma de Mallorca Cathedral: The following stained glass windows were designed by Gaudí: - St. Peter’s boat: window depicting a boat carrying Jesus and St. Peter, sailing over the waves. The 334x107cm leaded glass and fired window was constructed by Eudald Amigó and Sons. - Two stained glass windows (Regina Confessarum and Regina Virginium) and one rose window
(Regina Angelorum) in the Trinity chapel made by using the technique of superimposing three panes of glass in primary colors in order to regulate the intensity of light. One window in the Episcopal Palace there is also noteworthy: the window of the Apostle, of leaded glass and fire-glazed, by Rigalt, Granell, i Cia in 1903. Glass at Casa Batlló (1904-1906): Exterior and interior stained glass can be found in various doors, doorframes, skylights, and door jambs on the main floor.
Stained glass windows at the Colònia Güell (1898-1916): Some very original stained glass windows illuminate the interior of the crypt.