Antoni Gaudi: Work in Tile
By Ana Victoria Posadas
Table of Contents Introduction
1
Casa Vicens (1883-1888)
3
Palacio Güell (1886-1888)
7
Casa Batlló (1904-1906)
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Park Güell (1900-1914)
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Introduction
Antoni Gaudi Cornes,1852-1926, was born in Reus, Spain. On 1872, he graduated from Barcelona’s Provincial School of Architecture. Promptly after graduating, he begins his work and in 1883 construction of Casa Vices begins, marking is as his first building built. On 1878, Don Eusebio Güell learns about Gaudi’s work. Afterward, Guell reaches out to Gaudi and starts what would end up being a 40-year friendship, through which Gaudi would create some of his most famous works with Guell as his client. As time went on Gaudi began to develop a more clear vision throughout his work. Gaudi believed that nature should be the greatest inspiration to architecture as nature never goes out of style and that by imitating nature one continues God’s work on earth. His architectural works are limited to a small number of buildings, but his most celebrated work yet has been the Sagrada Familia, that is set to finish construction in 2026. Many of his works have become national monuments in Spain and are protected by law, as well as having seven of them be included in the World Heritage List. On 1926, Antoni Gaudi died after being hit by a cart and having suffered much loss in the past decade having lost most of his family and friends, including Güell.
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Casa Vicens
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Casa Viens began construction in 1883 and was completed in 1888, making the house Gaudi’s first individual project. Located in the suburbs of Garcia, Barcelona, Spain, the home is inspired by Eastern and English Architecture. The tile covering large portions of the house have a Moorish-carnation motif pained on to them bringing color and life into an otherwise very rectilinear and conventional building compared to other of Gaudi’s work.
Page 6: Facede of the House Right: Door in the stone and tile facade 4
Left: Corner Tower, embelished with tile patterns Below: Balcony with stone and tile facade
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Right: Hallway covered in colorfull yellow flower tile Above:Exterior Tile.
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Palacio Güell
Built from 1886 to 1888, in Palacio Gßell we start to see more of the trademarks of Gaudi’s later works. One of the most colorful aspects of the Palacio can be found in the roof, in the tile covered sculptures that are the chimneys and ventilation of the house. Gaudi was not the sole contributor of this, but you can see his significant contribution to them by their organic style that has become synonymous with his work.
Page 10: Upper Part of the faccade and roof terrace showcasing the chimneys Right: Chimneys and ventilation 8
Below: Close-up of of tile placement on chimney Right: Colorfull tile covered chimney
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Left: Chimney covered in tile in shades of green Below: Close up of green tile placement
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Page 15: Attic roof and cross of Mallorcan ceramic atop the circular tower. Left: Roof Terrace
Righ: Chimneys covered with broken tile.
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Built form 1904-1906, Gaudi believed that making his creations functional and molding them after nature would make them beautiful. He tried to do that in Casa Batllรณ through his use of colorful tile in a form that some would say imitates the sea. The whole facade of the house is covered in tile, but the real pull of the home can be found in the main staircase covered from top to bottom in shades of blue tile that turns darker the higher you get to the skylight at the top of it. The roof of the house is also a piece of art in itself, covered in colorful tile placed around the curved structures that not only serve an ornamental purpose but a functional on too, by being the ventilation system and chimneys of the house.
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Casa Batllรณ
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Page 16: Tile Covered Facade Right: Viw from staircaise walking down. Below: View looking down from skylight onto the blue tile covered staircaise.
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Page 19: Rear terrace of the first floor. Left: Base of the terrace grille with tile disks and broken glass. Bellow: Detail of tile and broken glass decoration on the rear terrace.
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Park Güell Built from 1900 to 1914, Park Güell is the pinnacle of Gaudi’s naturalist architecture, with streets that were adapted to the rough topography and building viaducts to leave the landscape mostly intact. The park is almost completely built out of native stone and the ruins of a cave that provided the colorful rocks that can be found strewn around the park. 18
Page 20 (Left): Tile madallion with the coat of arms of Catalonia and a dragon’s Head Page 20 (Right Top): Dragon made of broken pieces of tile. Page 20 (Right Bottom): Cremaic mosaic below the bench of the Doric colonnade Page 21: Stairway, fountains, and Doric Colonnade Page 23: Side wall of the stairway with prefabricatied sections of tile mosaic. Right: Side wall of the stairway and crenellation decorated with tile. Bellow: Detailed of slightly curved wall flanking the stairway.
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Surrounding the edge of the main terrace, the benches are one of the highlights of the park. The benches are covered in colorful tile the covers them in patterns and shapes that attract tourist from all over the work to marvel at their beauty. The terrace is held up by a grid of Doric columns, and the organic and fluid form of the ceiling underneath the terrace is made even more breathtaking by the use of tile to mold around its shape and create tile soffits.
Page 24 (Top): Tile covered bench on the first level. Page 24 (Left Bottom): Close-up of broken tile on benches. Page 24 (Right Bottom): Curving bench with broken tiles in the plaza of the Greek Theatre. Righ: Gently curving broken tile covered bench encloses the plaza. 22
Above: Tile soffit in place of the four ommited columns in the Doric hypostyle hall below the plaza of the Greek Theatre. Left: Vault keystones in hypostyle hall. Tile and colored glass. Page 27: Doric colonnades below the plaza.
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Work Cited
Bassegoda Nonell, Juan, and Melba Levick. Antonio Gaudí: Master Architect. First ed. New York: Abbeville Press, 2000.1
Permanyer, Lluís, and Melba Levick. Gaudí of Barcelona. First ed., Polígrafa, 1997.
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Team@RudeColor. “The Whimsical Mosaic Work of Antoni Gaudi.” RUDECOLOR, 13 Oct. 2015, rudecolor.com/the-whimsical-mosaic-work-of-antoni-gaudi/.
Colin, Alice. “Antoni Gaudí, Mosaic Genius of Barcelona.” Unique Tours Factory, 24 Apr.2017, www.uniquetoursfactory.com/city-tours-magazine/en/ barcelona-gaudi/.
Sokleine. “Green Ceramics - Palau Güell by A. Gaudi (Barcelona).” Flickr, Yahoo!, 2 Feb. 2014, www.flickr.com/photos/sokleine/12275221553/in/photostream/.
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Sokleine. “Ceramics and Stripes - Palau Güell by A. Gaudi (Barcelona).” Flickr, Yahoo!, 2 Feb. 2014, www.flickr.com/photos/sokleine/12275064065/in/photostream/.
Panagiotopolou, Sara. “Antoni Gaudí’s Casa Vicens Opens Its Flamboyant Doors to the Public After 130 Years.” Yatzer, 20 Jan. 2018, www.yatzer.com/casa-vicens gaudi
Chambert, Rozier. “Casa Batllo.” Discover and Share the World’s Best Photos / 500px, 23 Oct. 2011, 500px.com/photo/2831251/casa-batllo-by-claude-rozierchabert.
Libelula. “Descubriendo El Valor De La Restauración: Casa Batlló.” Guía Para Decorar, 8 Feb. 2019, www.guiaparadecorar.com/descubriendo-el-valor-de-la restauracion-casa-batllo/.
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“Images of the Interior of the House.” Casa Vicens, casavicens.org/multimedia/the house/.
Trillard, Amy. “The Genius of Gaudí: Casa Batlló, Barcelona.” Spain-Holiday, 1 Dec. 2015, www.spain-holiday.com/Barcelona-city/articles/the-genius-of-gaudi casa-batllo-barcelona.
Cardelús, David. “David Cardelús Photographs Antoni Gaudí’s Casa Batlló in Barcelona.” Designboom, 6 July 2015, www.designboom.com/architecture/ david-cardelus-antoni-gaudi-casa-batllo-barcelona-spain-07-06 2015/?utm_campaign=daily&utm_medium=e-mail&utm_source=subscribers.
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