What makes Gaudí's style so unique?

[00:00:00]140 years in the making, architect Antoni Gaudí's masterpiece, the Sagrada Familia, is [music] still being built.

[00:00:09]Gaudí's is a household name.

[00:00:12]He's universally lauded, and the Catholic Church has even tried to make him a saint.

[00:00:17]But when he finished his architectural studies, [music] the school's director said, "I don't know if we've given the title to a madman or a genius."

[00:00:26]So, what makes Gaudí's work so unique?

[00:00:29]And why are we still talking about him over a century later?

[00:00:33]Here's everything you need to know about Gaudí's architectural style.

[00:00:40]Gaudí was a Catalan architect [music] born in the 19th century whose distinctive style shaped Barcelona's architecture.

[00:00:49]He's the most well-known architect of his time by far, but he was actually part of a wider movement known as Modernisme, which reworked components of Art Nouveau alongside a revival in Catalan national culture and tradition.

[00:01:03]Over his career, Gaudí worked across various styles, but there are a couple of things that stand out.

[00:01:10]Gaudí always looked to nature, >> [music] >> and organic shapes and forms are everywhere in his work. Inside the Sagrada Familia, towering columns were designed to mimic a forest of trees, and you can spot specific references.

[00:01:24]For example, the double twist of oleander flowers, branching leaf canopies, or the wide textured [music] trunk of a sequoia tree.

[00:01:33]And for the roof of the Casa Milà, he took inspiration from termite mounds.

[00:01:38]Gaudí was also really notable for his use of shapes like helicoids and fractals, mathematical forms which can be found across nature.

[00:01:46]And his use of these predates the later parametricism movement by around 125 years.

[00:01:53]Gaudí experimented [music] with different aesthetics, but underlying his work throughout was his dialogue with the Gothic.

[00:02:01]Growing up in Catalonia, he would have seen this historic architecture all around him with many of his buildings borrowing structural elements of the style.

[00:02:10]But, although finding beauty in its imperfection, he also described the style as a defective body held up on crutches.

[00:02:18]Instead of just referencing it, he wanted to perfect [music] it in his own blend of Mediterranean Neo-Gothic language.

[00:02:25]So, he created a unique experiment [music] using hanging weighted chains to create upside-down scale models.

[00:02:32]Essentially, 3D modeling pre-computer.

[00:02:35]Move one thread and the whole model shifts to reflect it.

[00:02:40]Using gravity, he could explore how to perfectly balance weight and tension in flowing curves using traditional Catalan masonry techniques in increasingly complex ways.

[00:02:50]>> [music] >> This also reflected his commitment to the Renaixença, a movement which sought to celebrate and revive Catalan culture and identity. His experimentation with these forms made him synonymous with Barcelona's new, proudly Catalan, identity.

[00:03:09]Gaudí pushed color and ornamentation to amazing effect using bright clashing patterns and contrasting brick, mosaic, and ceramic tiles to create extravagant visuals.

[00:03:20]So, if you look at the roof of the Casa Batlló, the tiles give the effect of shimmering fish scales and the dappled facade almost looks like [music] sea foam.

[00:03:29]Gaudí's love of nature comes through again here in his use of decoration.

[00:03:34]But, Spain's Muslim history was also a big influence on him with many elements inspired by medieval Muslim dynasties like the Nasrid.

[00:03:43]Gaudí's experimentation cemented his place in architectural [music] history.

[00:03:48]And with a career spanning almost 50 years, there's so much to unpack.