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Written by Judith E. Glaser

Gaudi was one of the most extraordinary architects and designers who ever lived. He inspired me in so many extraordinary ways. Gaudi was able to invent new forms of architecture that no one else in the world was doing. He did not copy others - he was influenced by his universe and had the courage to step out beyond the crowd to build and design in ways no one had done before.

Architect and designer, Antoni Gaudi is the most internationally prestigious figure in spanish architecture. He was born in Reus, in Catalonia, he graduated in Barcelona in 1878 and this city became the center of his activities. This led him to create, in close collaboration with some of the very fine artisans of his time, all those elements making up architectural space - wrought iron, furniture, stained glass, sculptural work, mosaics, ceramics and so on - within an organic concept of decoration and with the integration of these elements into the construction process. The sea landscape was one of his most preferred inspirations.

In his own time, Gaudi was both admired and criticized for the audacity and singularity of his innovative solutions. His fame on a world scale has become an unquestioned fact both in specialized circles and among the general public.

Over the course of his career, Gaudi developed a sensuous, curving, almost surreal design style, which established him as the innovative leader of the Spanish Art Nouveau movement. With little regard for formal order, he juxtaposed unrelated systems and altered established visual order. Gaudi's characteristically warped form of Gothic architecture drew admiration from other avant-garde artists. Although categorized with the Art Nouveau, Gaudi created an entirely original style. He died in Barcelona in 1926.

Source: www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/; http://www.greatbuildings.com/architects/Antonio_Gaudi.html