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Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is a modern and contemporary art museum designed by Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry and located in Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain. It is built alongside the Nervion River, which runs through the city of Bilbao to the Atlantic Coast. The Guggenheim is one of several museums of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. The museum features both permanent and visiting exhibits featuring works of both Spanish and international artists.

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Official Spanish Museum website
Source :: Wikipedia

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Parts of the unfinished building and Gaudí’s models and workshop were destroyed during the war by Catalan anarchists. The design, as now being constructed, is based both on reconstructed versions of the lost plans and on modern adaptations. Since 1940 the architects Francesc Quintana, Isidre Puig Boada, Lluís Bonet i Gari and Francesc Cardoner have carried on the work. The current director and son of Lluís Bonet, Jordi Bonet i Armengol, has been introducing computers into the design and construction process since the 1980s. Sculptures by J. Busquets, Etsuro Sotoo and the controversial Josep Subirachs decorate the fantastical façades.

According to the newspaper El Periódico de Catalunya, 2.26 million people visited the partially built basilica in 2004, making it one of the most popular attractions in Spain, alongside the Museo del Prado and Alhambra. The central nave vaulting was completed in 2000 and the main tasks since then have been the construction of the transept vaults and apse. Current work (2006) concentrates on the crossing and supporting structure for the main tower of Jesus Christ as well as the southern enclosure of the central nave which will become the Glory façade.

Every part of the design of La Sagrada Família is rich with Christian symbolism, as Gaudí intended the church to be the “last great sanctuary of Christendom”. Its most striking aspect is its spindle-shaped towers. A total of 18 tall towers are called for, representing in ascending order of height the twelve Apostles, the four Evangelists, the Virgin Mary and, tallest of all, Jesus Christ. (According to the 2005 “Works Report” of the temple’s official website, drawings signed by Antoni Gaudí found recently in the Municipal Archives indicate that the tower of the Virgin was in fact intended by Gaudí to be shorter than those of the evangelists, and this is the design — which the Works

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Report states is more compatible with the existing foundations — that will be followed. The same source explains the symbolism in terms of Christ being known through the Evangelists.) The Evangelists’ towers will be surmounted by sculptures of their traditional symbols: a bull (St Luke), an angel (St Matthew), an eagle (St John), and a lion (St Mark). The central tower of Jesus Christ is to be surmounted by a giant cross; the tower’s total height (170 m) will be one metre less than that of Montjuïc, as Gaudí believed that his work should not surpass that of God. Lower towers are surmounted by communion hosts with sheaves of wheat and chalices with bunches of grapes, representing the Eucharist.

The church will have three grand façades: the Nativity (eastern) façade, the Glory façade (yet to be completed) and the Passion (western) façade. The Nativity facade was built before work was interrupted in 1935 and bears the most direct Gaudí influence. The Passion façade is especially striking for its spare, gaunt, tormented characters, including emaciated figures of Christ being flogged and on the crucifix. These controversial designs are the work of Josep Subirachs.

The towers on the Nativity façade are crowned with geometrically shaped tops that were probably influenced by Cubism (they were finished around 1930). The intricate decoration is loosely related to the style of Art Nouveau but reflects Gaudí’s unique ideas.

SOURCE : WIKIPEDIA

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Gaudí’s first works were designed in the style of gothic and traditional Spanish architectural modes, but he soon developed his own distinct sculptural style. French architect Eugene Viollet-le-Duc, who promoted an evolved form of gothic architecture, proved a major influence on Gaudí. But the student surpassed the master architect and contrived highly original designs – irregular and fantastically intricate. Some of his greatest works, most notably La Sagrada Família, have an almost hallucinatory power.

He integrated the parabolic arch and hyperboloid structures, nature’s organic shapes, and the fluidity of water into his architecture. While designing buildings, he observed the forces of gravity and related catenary principles. (Gaudí designed many of his structure upside down by hanging various weights on interconnected strings or chains, using gravity to calculate catenaries for a natural curved arch or vault.)

Using the trencadís technique, Gaudí often decorated surfaces with broken tiles.

The architect’s work has been categorized as Art Nouveau architecture, a precursor to modern architecture. But his adoption of biomorphic shapes rather than orthogonal lines put him in a category unto himself (in Latin, sui generis). His style was later echoed by that of Austrian architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser (1928–2000).

Though hailed as a genius, some hypothesize that Gaudí was color blind and that it was only in collaboration with Josep Maria Jujol – an architect twenty seven years his junior whom he acknowledged as a genius in his own right – that he produced his greatest works.

Interests

Gaudí, throughout his life, was fascinated by nature. He studied nature’s angles and curves and incorporated them into his designs. Instead of relying on geometric shapes, he mimicked the way trees and humans grow and stand upright. The hyperboloids and paraboloids he borrowed from nature were easily reinforced by steel rods and allowed his designs to resemble elements from the environment.

Because of his rheumatism, the artist observed a strict vegetarian diet, used homeopathic drug therapy, underwent water therapy, and hiked regularly. Long walks, besides suppressing his rheumatism, further allowed him to experience nature.

Popularity

Gaudí’s originality was at first ridiculed by his peers. Indeed, he was first only supported by the rich industrialist Eusebi Güell. His fellow citizens referred to the Casa Milà as La Pedrera (”the quarry”), and George Orwell, who stayed at Barcelona during the Spanish Civil War, admittedly loathed his work. As time passed, though, his work became more famous, up to the point that he is now considered one of Spain’s best and brightest.

Social and political influences

The opportunities afforded by Catalonia’s socioeconomic and political influences were endless. Catalans such as Antoni Gaudí often showcased the region’s diverse art techniques in their works. By mimicking nature, such artists symbolically pushed back the province’s ever-increasing industrial society. Gaudí, among others, promoted the Catalan nationalist movement by incorporating elements of Catalan culture in his designs.

Major works

* Casa Vicens (1878–1880)
* Palau Güell (1885–1889)
* College of the Teresianas (1888–1890)
* Crypt of the Church of Colònia Güell (1898–1916)
* Casa Calvet (1899–1904)
* Casa Batlló (1905–1907)
* Casa Milà (La Pedrera) (1905–1907)
* Park Güell (1900–1914)
* Sagrada Família (1884–1926)

Influence

* Gaudí’s abandoned plans for a New York skyscraper hotel were re-proposed for the redesign of the World Trade Center after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
* In 1992, five artists founded La Asociación pro Beatificación de Antoni Gaudí. The secular association has since pushed for the Roman Catholic church to declare Gaudí blessed.
* Gaudí’s life and work inspired The Alan Parsons Project to create the 1987 album Gaudí.
* Gaudí’s work inspired a shop owner in Muswell Hill London to build a shopfront in 2004 in the style of Casa Batlló. The site has encountered continual controversy; the local Council feels it is architecturally inappropriate.
* There are striking similarities between the work of Gaudí and that of Friedensreich Hundertwasser, mainly in the latter man’s biomorphic forms and use of tile

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Birth and childhood

Gaudí was born in the area of Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain in 1852. (While many believe his birthplace to be the town of Reus, others claim it was in fact Riudoms.) It is certain that he was baptized in Reus a day after his birth. The artist’s parents, Francesc Gaudí Serra and Antònia Cornet Bertran, both came from families of metal smiths.

The youngest of five, Gaudí found he was too lame to play with friends his age because of rheumatism. (Some believe he only had arthritis in his hands and could, in fact, take walks). Because he was in considerable pain, he was rarely able to walk on foot and was forced to ride a donkey when he wanted to venture from his home. The fact that he remained close to home allowed him substantial free time to inspect nature and its design. It has been hypothesized that it was this exposure to nature at an early age that began to hone two of his greatest qualities: observation and the analysis of nature.

Higher education

Gaudí, as an architecture student at the Escola Tècnica Superior d’Arquitectura in Barcelona from 1873 to 1877, achieved only mediocre grades but did well in his “Trial drawings and projects” After five years of work, he was awarded the title of architect in 1878. As he signed Gaudí’s title, Elies Rogent declared, “I have either found a lunatic or a genius.”

The newly named architect immediately began to plan and design and would remain affiliated with the school his entire life.

Early career

* 1878–1879: Lampposts for the Plaça Reial at Barcelona;
* 1878: Showcase for glove manufacturer Comella. Via this work, used at the World’s Fair in Paris, Eusebi Güell came to know the architect.
* 1878–1882: Several designs for the Obrera Mataronense at Mataró. Only a very small part of these plans was built, but it shows Gaudí’s first use of parabolic arches, here in a wooden structure.
* 1883–1885: Casa Vicens;
* 1883–1885: Villa “El Capricho” at Comillas (Santander);
* 1884: Finca Güell: Entrance pavillion and stables for the palace at Pedralbes (first completed building for Eusebi Güell);
* 1884–1891: Completion of the crypt of the Sagrada Família (the crypt had been started by the architect Francisco del Villar in 1882, who had to abandon the project in 1883);
* 1885–1889: Palau Güell;
* 1887–1893: Episcopal palace at Astorga;
* 1889–1894: Colegio Teresiano;
* 1891–1893: Outer walls of the absis of the Sagrada Família;
* 1892–1894: Casa de los Botines at León.

Later years

Gaudí was an ardent Catholic, to the point that in his later years, he abandoned secular work and devoted his life to Catholicism and his Sagrada Família. He designed it to have 18 towers, 12 for the 12 apostles, 4 for the 4 evangelists, one for Mary and one for Jesus. He was not able to complete this work due to his untimely death. Because he did not use blue prints but worked from his imagination his fellow workers could not complete it. Now it is being restored but differences between his work and the new additions can be seen. It is for this that Gaudí is known to many in Spain as “God’s Architect“. Soon after, his closest family and friends began to die. His works slowed to a halt, and his attitude changed. Perhaps one of his closest family members – his niece Rosa Egea – died in 1912, only to be followed by a “faithful collaborator, Francesc Berenguer Mestres” two years later. After both tragedies, Barcelona fell on hard times, economically. The construction of La Sagrada Família slowed; the construction of La Colonia Güell ceased altogether. Four years later, Eusebi Güell, his patron, died.

Perhaps it was because of this unfortunate sequence of events that Gaudí changed. He became reluctant to talk with reporters or have his picture taken and solely concentrated on his masterpiece, La Sagrada Família.

On June 9, 1926, Antoni Gaudí was run over by a tram. Because of his ragged attire and empty pockets, multiple cab drivers refused to pick him up for fear that he would be unable to pay the fare. He was eventually taken to a pauper’s hospital in Barcelona. Nobody recognized the injured artist until his friends found him the next day. When they tried to move him into a nicer hospital, Gaudí refused, reportedly saying “I belong here among the poor.” He died three days later on June 12, 1926, half of Barcelona mourning his death. It was, perhaps, fitting that he was buried in the midst of his unfinished masterpiece, La Sagrada Família.

SOURCE : ANTONI GAUDI on Wikipedia

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