컬렉션: Antoni Gaudí

Antoni Plàcid Guillem Gaudí Cornet, better known as Antoni Gaudí, is considered one of the greatest and most brilliant architects in all of history. Although he is the foremost exponent of the Catalan Modernist movement, which developed in Barcelona at the beginning of the 20th century in the wake of Art Nouveau, Gaudí created a unique and personal language that is impossible to pinhole. Born in 1852 in Catalonia, near Tarragona, he spent much of his childhood on his family's farm due to his poor health. Gaudí showed an interest in nature and mathematics. Still, his father introduced him to work at a very young age, given the family's modest circumstances, recommending him to the El Vapor Nou textile factory in Reus. Legend has it that the factory owner, Joan Tarras, caught the boy reading a math book and, perhaps seeing signs of genius, suggested to his father that he continue his studies. In 1863, the young Gaudì enrolled in the prestigious Escuela Pía de Reus boarding school. After graduating in 1869, he decided to study architecture, but only after several attempts was he admitted to the Escuela de Arquitectura in Barcelona, known as La Llotja, in 1875. In the meantime, he began working as a draughtsman in various architectural offices to contribute to his family's considerable financial effort to enable him to complete his studies.

An uninterested and lazy student, he was prolific and tireless when it came to designing street furniture, furnishings, decorations and buildings. Gaudí was inspired by William Morris, John Ruskin and Viollet-le-Duc. He invented new architectural structures, merging medievalist tendencies, oriental suggestions and natural elements into fluid and organic forms. When he graduated in 1878, he worked for Josep Fontserè i Domènech on the Born market project, Del Villar on the Montserrat chapel, and Joan Martorell i Montells, whom Gaudí considered his master.

Gaudí's career took off with the design of the shop window for the luxurious Comella glove shop. His work attracted the attention of the young Count Eusebi Güell i Bacigalupi, who was to become his patron and fraternal friend. In the space of a few years, the brilliant architect worked on projects that would change the face of Barcelona forever. He started with works for Güell, like the park by the same name and the family palace. He moved on to the palaces of the wealthy Catalan bourgeoisie, like Casa Calvet, Casa Battló and Casa Milà, known as La Pedrera. He worked as chief architect on his unfinished masterpiece, the Tempio Espiatorio de la Sagrada Familia, from 1883 until he died in 1911.

Gaudí created furniture and decoration for the homes he designed, some now sold by BD Barcelona Design, like the Battló seating collection and seating and accessories from the Calvet collection. SAS Italia markets the Panot Gaudí concrete floor based on Gaudì's original design for Casa Milà. Gaudí died in 1911 when he was hit by a tram on his way to the Sagrada Familia construction site, the work that had taken up his whole life.