Antonio Gaudí
Gaudí, Antonio
(full name, Antonio Gaudí y Cornet). Born June 26, 1852, in Reus, near Tarragona; died June 10, 1926, in Barcelona. Spanish architect.
Gaudí lived in Barcelona from 1868 and studied at the Higher Technical School of Architecture. In the fanciful structures designed by Gaudí (mainly in Barcelona)—for example, in the Sagrada Familia Church (1884-1926), which endows the composition of a Gothic cathedral with a mystical spirit, and in houses in the art-nouveau style (Casa Batlló, 1905-07; Casa Milá, 1905-10)—the boldly curved volumes and architectural innovations (parabolic arches, inclined supports, lightened vaults) create an effect of fantastic curvilinear forms that appear to have been molded by hand.