Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, blah blah blah. If a column doesn’t have a turtle at the bottom, I don’t want it (this joke will make sense in a couple of paragraphs). As you can probably tell from the title of this post, today I’ll be presenting a deep dive into the work of Antoni Gaudi. Considered to be one of the most influential architects of the 20th century, you’re bound to recognize his work, even if his name doesn’t ring a bell. On that topic – even though the word gaudy didn’t come from Gaudi and his extravagant works, some people still say that his style is unnecessarily garish – with which I wholeheartedly disagree.

This past summer, I had the opportunity to travel to Spain with my orchestra to perform. With that, of course, came sightseeing. I had heard Gaudi’s name being passed around before, mostly from people who told me I couldn’t die without seeing his work, but I really didn’t know who he was or why everyone was obsessed with him. If you are facing the same problem, here is his (abridged) life story.

Antoni Gaudi was born on June 25th, 1852 (Cancer king!) in Reus, Catalonia, Spain. As a child, Gaudi often had poor health, and because of that, spent time thinking about nature, which would later influence his designs. In 1870, Gaudi moved to Barcelona to study architecture, where he was an inconsistent yet brilliant student. At the peak of his career, the masterpieces just didn’t stop coming, and Gaudi began to receive universal recognition for his work. Unfortunately, Gaudi was hit by a tram in 1926 and passed away shortly after.

Barcelona was truly Gaudi’s canvas. Some of his most famous works, including the Sagrada Familia, an international architectural landmark, call the city their home. Today, faithful reader, I want to lead you through my favorite (and hopefully now, your favorite) designs from Antoni Gaudi.

Let’s start off with a bang. The Sagrada Familia is a massive church in Barcelona, Spain. At 565 feet, the church is one of the tallest buildings in Barcelona. The craziest part about the Sagrada Familia is that it is still under construction today – building commenced in 1882, which means it has taken 140 years and they still aren’t done. When I found out, I thought to myself “that sounds like some Anjana-level procrastination”, and while, yes, I watched Breaking Bad for longer than I wrote this blog post, wars, dictators, and constantly low funds have elongated the construction process immensely. The design has four sides (the northern one is the last to be completed, and estimated completion is in 2026), each one with multiple towers and detailed scenes carved straight into the structure that depict stories from the Bible. The inside of the church has stained glass panels and a beautiful ceiling with the columns converging at the top to create star shapes. The devil is really in the details, a theme that is common to all of Gaudi’s work. On either side of the main door of the most famous façade (pictured to the right) are two columns with seemingly identical turtles at the base. Yes – turtles (you made it to the joke! Thanks for sticking with me). The column closest to the Mediterranean sea has a sea turtle at the base and the inland column has a land-dwelling tortoise at the base. Why he did this, I have absolutely no idea, but you have to admit it’s pretty darn cool, at least cooler than having some boring curves and ridges at the top.

While the Sagrada Familia has to take the cake for Gaudi’s architecture, I want to show you my personal favorite Gaudi design – Casa Batllo. It is incredibly organic and sculptural, with traditional Catalonian mosaic tiles forming a dragon on the facade of the building, a theme that is continued up the surface with the scale-ish shingles. The stunning building is a perfect example of the Catalan Modernisme style of architecture, of which Gaudi is a frontrunner. The interior of Casa Batllo will literally transport you to a vibrant, organic world.

Even just looking at pictures, it’s honestly sad that we regressed to copy-and-paste McMansions. On that note, why don’t we see new buildings today that look like Gaudi’s? Well, actually we do! Kind of. Honestly, tastes have changed. I have always been a fan of historical architecture and the kind of buildings that would blow your socks off just by looking at them because they’re so bold. And I know I said I was a McMansion hater, but I guess I’m in the minority, because they’re everywhere. Especially in Naperville (please stop building new houses with white siding and black windows, it’s killing me). Anyways, some people just want a house, not a piece of art – and that’s totally fine! There are buildings like Studio Gang’s Aqua Tower here in Chicago and Zaha Hadid’s Serpentine Sackler Gallery that take the same organic forms, but translate them to a more user friendly, modern style that fits today’s trends. In the end, while Gaudi may not have survived to see his greatest work completed, it’s safe to say that his legacy is carried on through some great pieces of architecture today.

Works Cited

Casa Batlló. “Casa Batlló.” Casa Batlló by Antoni Gaudí, Barcelona, 2022, www.casabatllo.es/en/antoni-gaudi/. Accessed 27 Oct. 2022.

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