Spanish Antonio Gaudí y Cornet
born June 25, 1852, Reus, Spain
died June 10, 1926, Barcelona
Spanish (Catalan) architect.
Though his early works were Mudéjar (Spanish Muslim-Christian) in effect, his work after 1902 eluded all convention. He began to produce "equilibrated" structures able to stand on their own without bracing; his system employed piers and columns that tilt to transmit diagonal forces and thin-shell, laminated-tile vaults. Works such as the Park Güell (190014), Casa Milá (190510), and Casa Batlló (190406) feature undulating surfaces and polychrome decoration (e.g., pieces of broken ceramic). Much of his later career was occupied with the extraordinary church of the Holy Family (Sagrada Familia), still unfinished at his death, in which he transformed the Gothic style into a complex forest of flowing forms and exuberant detail, with spiral-shaped piers, vaults, towers, and a hyperbolic paraboloid roof.