Antoni gaudi architecture: Antoni Gaudi | Biography, Sagrada Familia, Works, Buildings, Style, & Facts

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Apartment house | architecture | Britannica

apartment house

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Key People:
Le Corbusier
Antoni Gaudí
Marcel Breuer
Auguste Perret
Robert Mallet-Stevens
Related Topics:
housing
residential architecture

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apartment house, also called apartment block, or block of flats, building containing more than one dwelling unit, most of which are designed for domestic use, but sometimes including shops and other nonresidential features.

Apartment buildings have existed for centuries. In the great cities of the Roman Empire, because of urban congestion, the individual house, or domus, had given way in early imperial times to the communal dwelling, or insula (q.v.), except for the residences of the very wealthy. Four stories were common, and six-, seven-, or eight-story buildings were occasionally constructed. Another type of apartment existed in Europe in the Middle Ages, consisting of a great house or mansion, part of which was subdivided into smaller sets of rooms in order to house the servants and other retainers of an important person. In contrast to these “apartments,” which were simply personal suites within great houses, the apartment house as it is known today first appeared in Paris and other large European cities in the 18th century, when tall blocks of flats for middle-class tenants began appearing. In the typical Parisian apartment building, the size of the apartments (and the financial means of the tenants) decreased with each successive story in a four- or five-story building.

By the mid-19th century, large numbers of inexpensive apartment houses were under construction to house swelling numbers of industrial labourers in cities and towns across Europe and in the United States. These buildings were often incredibly shabby, poorly designed, unsanitary, and cramped. The typical New York City apartment, or tenement, a type first constructed in the 1830s, consisted of apartments popularly known as railroad flats because the narrow rooms were arranged end-to-end in a row like boxcars. Indeed, few low-cost apartment buildings erected in Europe or America before 1918 were designed for either comfort or style. In many European cities, however, particularly in Paris and Vienna, the second half of the 19th century witnessed great progress in the design of apartments for the upper-middle class and the rich.

The modern large apartment building emerged in the early 20th century with the incorporation of elevators, central heating, and other conveniences that could be shared in common by a building’s tenants. Apartments for the well-to-do began to offer other amenities such as leisure facilities, delivery and laundry services, and communal dining rooms and gardens. The multistory apartment house continued to grow in importance as crowding and rising land values in cities made one-family homes less and less practicable in parts of many cities. Much government-subsidized, or public, housing has taken the form of apartment buildings, particularly for the urban elderly and working classes or those living in poverty. Apartment-block towers also were erected in large numbers in the Soviet Union and other countries where housing construction was the responsibility of the state.

Since World War II the demand for apartment housing has continued to grow as a result of continued urbanization. The mid- or high-rise apartment complex has become a fixture of the skylines of most of the world’s cities, and the two- or three-story “walk-up” apartment also remains popular in somewhat less built-up urban areas.

The most common form of occupancy of apartment houses has been on a rental basis. However, multiple ownership of units on a single site has become much more common in the 20th century. Such ownership can take the form of cooperatives or condominiums. In a cooperative, all the occupants of a building own the structure in common; cooperative housing is much more common in parts of Europe than it is in the United States. A condominium denotes the individual ownership of one dwelling unit in an apartment house or other multidwelling building. The increasing popularity of condominiums in the United States and elsewhere is based largely on the fact that, unlike members of a cooperative, condominium owners are not financially interdependent and can mortgage their property.

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Barcelona. Architecture Antonio Gaudí

An integral part of Barcelona is its unique architectural style. The architect Antonio Gaudí made a special contribution to its formation. Each of his works is a work of art, thoughtful engineering solutions, innovative decorating ideas. The most outstanding and famous of his works: the House of Mila (Casa Mila), the House of Batllo (Casa Batllo), Park Güell and the Sagrada Familia (Sagrada Familia). Six of his brilliant creations are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
For more than 150 years we have been talking about Gaudí when we talk about Barcelona as a city of ideal style. Brilliant architect Antonio Gaudí gave the face of Barcelona 12 buildings that have become world landmarks. All of them are “masterpieces” of style, decorating the streets with their bright colors and unusual shapes.

Gaudí, Casa Batllo, Barcelona

Casa Batllo is the House of the Dragon with its amazing stained-glass windows, a meandering back-roof: multicolored like a rainbow. House Batllo is known for another innovative attraction – one of the first underground parking in Barcelona.

La Pedrera House (House Mila) is a striking building that faces the street with three facades. The brilliance of the glass transparent decorations of the house echoes its wavy walls, reminiscent of stone surf, and the wrought-iron balconies are akin to sea foam. House La Pedrera was built for the Mila family by the architect Antonio Gaudí, inspired by his trip to Montserrat: there is not a single straight line in it. The interior layout of the huge halls and the decoration of the ceilings, as well as the walls with original stucco, simply captivates the eye. Work on the project began at 1906 and was supposed to end in 1912. However, due to a conflict between the family – the customer and the architect on the concept of its construction, it was terminated earlier. In 1910, Gaudí resigned as an architect. The amazing House of La Pedrera is the last civil project of Antonio Gaudí: since then, he no longer built for people, but devoted his life to working on the Sagrada Familia.

It is believed that architecture is frozen music, then the creations of Antonio Gaudí are jazz!

The Mila family donated the house to the city and now it has two parts: municipal (free entry) and paid. Particularly impressive is the tour “La Pedrera at Night”, where jazz music sounds!

The main attraction of Barcelona is Park Güell.

Park Güell, Barcelona

Park Güell is one of his main creations. It was designed by Antoni Gaudí in 1899. It was planned to divide 15 hectares of land into 62 zones and build 62 houses, connecting them into an unusual spectacular architectural ensemble. Initially, the project was conceived as a quarter for wealthy people, but it was too costly, and the result was a beautiful park of 17 hectares, on the territory of which there are only two houses, in one of which (pink house) Antonio Gaudi himself spent 20 years of his life. Now the pink house is a museum since 1963 years old, which combines garden and living areas. The second house was bought by his friend, a lawyer by profession.

The main idea of ​​the park is the embodiment of nature in stone.

The main attraction of Park Güell is an observation deck with a fence-bench in the form of a snake.

Park Güell is an exquisite garden city . In Park Güell, everything mixes up and makes up an exotic cocktail of delicious pleasure: Gingerbread houses, pavilions in the form of hills, stone palm trees, observation platforms of the park in the form of intertwined tree roots, an elegant Main Staircase with exhibits of outlandish animals, columns, amazing vaults of halls, caves, tunnels, sculptures, unusual fountains. All this splendor is buried in the greenery of plants.

Park Güell is Barcelona’s main attraction.

Created by order and with the financial support of the textile magnate and philanthropist Eusebio Güell, after whom the park was named, it is conveniently located in the upper part of Barcelona in the Gracia district. The construction of Parc Güell lasted from 1900 to 1914. Güell’s heirs sold it to Barcelona City Hall and the park is now open to the public. Here symbolism is combined with the myths of ancient times.

Park Güell – creative triumph of the genius of world architecture Antonio Gaudí!

In 1984 it was recognized by UNESCO as World Heritage of Humanity , along with the House of Mila and its other famous creations.

Landmarks and iconic places of Park Güell:

The central entrance to the park is decorated with two fabulous Gingerbread Houses .

  • The left pavilion with a pinnacle (spire) is crowned with a five-pointed cross on the roof, symbolizing “Good”. It is intended for the administration of the park.
  • The right pavilion was built for the gatekeeper, as a gatehouse building. A toadstool mushroom, symbolizing “Evil”, was hoisted on its roof. Now souvenir shops are located here.

The main staircase is supplemented with 4 sculptural images of symbolic fountains:

  • philosopher’s stone;
  • Salamander mosaic lizard – the symbol of Antoni Gaudí and Barcelona. It is located at the bottom of the stairs, where tourists like to be photographed;
  • snake head – a fragment from the biblical story, when the staff of Moses turned into a snake head. The middle platform is decorated with a medallion with the Catalan flag;
  • The Fountain itself is a symbol of the Llobregat River flowing in Barcelona.

The front wide staircase with fountains leads to Hall of a Hundred Columns . Now there are 86 Doric curved columns, but the working name has remained. The Hall of a Hundred Columns has excellent acoustics, so concerts are often held here. The “Hall of a Hundred Columns” is an astrological landmark imprinted in stone. The arch of the hall is crowned with 4 medallions or 4 plafonds, symbolizing the seasons, and 14 smaller medallions tell about the lunar cycles.

The center of the entire park ensemble is a terrace area, where the most famous and discussed detail of Park Güell – bench in the form of a wriggling sea serpent with randomly arranged patterns of ceramics and porcelain on its back. This is the longest bench in the world at 300 meters, the back profile of which follows the curve of the human body. It fascinates with a colorful multi-colored mosaic made of glass, broken dishes, tiles. pupil of Antonio Gaudi Josep-Maria Jujol also took part in the creation of the decor of the bench. It is his collages, amazing in color and brightness, that adorn the parapet bench. From the terrace-platform with a serpentine bench, you can admire the panoramic views of Park Güell and the majestic architecture of Spain for a long time.

Walking paths through colonnaded galleries, reminiscent of birds’ nests, complete this beautiful park in Barcelona.

The stone balls in Parc Güell symbolize the rosary, since Antoni Gaudí was a believer.

Park Güell opening hours: in summer from 8:00 to 21:30; in winter from 8:30 to 18:00. Entrance for tourists to Park Güell became paid from October 25, 2013 (8 Euros at the box office of the park). There are discounts for children and pensioners.

You can order tickets to Park Güell on the city hall website three months before the intended visit, indicating the specific time and date (7 Euros). Today, Park Güell is visited daily by 25,000 tourists. It is planned to limit visits to the park to 800 people per hour.

In 2012, Catalonia introduced a tax on hotel accommodation, however, their occupancy has not decreased! Park Guell, having become paid, still attracts a huge army of travelers for impressions and is one of the most sought-after attractions in Barcelona!

Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.

Construction of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona began in 1882 and continues to this day.

Sagrada Familia is a redemptive temple . It is believed that while Barcelona is building it, it will atone for its sins. The temple is being built only with private donations from the people of Barcelona and money coming from the sale of entrance tickets for tourists and visitors to the city.

Organ in Sagrada Familia

In 1883, Antonio Gaudí started the construction of the cathedral and completely redid the original project. He proposed to build the cathedral with three facades in the style of modernism with neo-gothic elements and symbolizing the meaning of light:

  • The main facade is the Nativity, announcing the birth of the god Jesus Christ. It faces east;
  • Facade of the Passion – the death of the Lord. It faces west;
  • Facade of the Glory of the Lord – the Majesty of the Lord. Shows a person’s place in this world and all his sins. It is illuminated by the sun throughout the day.

The building will consist of 18 columns, of which 12 have already been built.

Twelve towers symbolize the twelve apostles, four more – the evangelists.

The ingenious architect managed to complete only the facade of the Nativity of the temple . All the figures depicted on this facade are real people of that time posing for him. Most of his life (43 years) Antonio Gaudi dedicated to the Sagrada Familia. It was here, in the crypt of the still unfinished cathedral, that he and buried in 1926 .

Since 1950 of the 20th century, the restoration of the temple has resumed. The Passion Façade was completed in other styles by the architect’s followers. Now there is a large-scale construction of the Facade of the Glory of the Lord in the modern Avangard style. If earlier work was carried out from stone-sandstone, then glass and reinforced concrete structures are currently used.

In November 2010 Pope Benedict XVI visited Spanish Catalonia . Purpose of the visit – consecration of the Sagrada Familia . Now services are being held here, although the work has not yet been completed. The construction of the temple is planned to be completed by 2026 and then the Facade of the Glory of the Lord will become central.

During the life of the architectural genius, no one understood either his wavy houses without sharp corners, or his bizarre sculptures and fountains, or his extraordinary serpentine benches strewn with collages of broken glass and expensive porcelain. Today, millions of tourists travel to Spain, Barcelona and Reus to admire his magical works.

Gaudí’s creations cannot be described in words. You need to see them with your own eyes and personally make an impression, because it is impossible to unambiguously determine what exactly the architect wanted to convey. Each tourist creates their own images and figures of the famous masterpieces of Barcelona. One of the masterpieces of Antoni Gaudí’s architecture is Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, ​​Spain.

Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí, his houses and works

Stories

Staying alive

On June 25, 1852, a son was born to the hereditary blacksmith Francesc Gaudí and his wife Antonia Cornet, residents of the city of Reus (which is 95 kilometers from Barcelona).

The birth was not easy, so the next day the baby was hastily baptized under the name of Antonio Gaudí y Cornet. However, Antonio survived.

Baby talk

Gaudí grew up under sonorous blows of a hammer on an anvil. “I owe my good spatial imagination,” he later says, “to the fact that I am the son, grandson and great-grandson of a boilermaker. My father was a blacksmith, my grandfather was a blacksmith. On the mother’s side, there were also blacksmiths in the family – … people of space and disposition. All these generations have given me the necessary training…”

From lantern

The first official order is lanterns for Plaza Reial in Barcelona. The fee for them became the subject of a protracted battle. The city authorities offered 336 pesetas, Gaudí requested 2300. As a result, he was paid 850 pesetas, but Gaudí never received municipal orders again. From that moment on, he was given work either by private individuals or by the Catholic Church.

Life imprisonment

At the age of 16 he went to Barcelona to study. To pay for education, I had to sell my father’s family lands. Gaudi qualified at the age of 26. The decision of the commission at the final examination was not unanimous. Addressing his colleagues, the director of the school said: “We produce either a madman or a genius. Time will tell.”

Think for three

Park Güell was conceived as a garden city and was supposed to become a fashionable quarter. The land was divided into 62 lots. However, they were not for sale – too far from the center. There were only three buildings where the architect Gaudí himself, his friend and philanthropist Güell and the lawyer Trias i Domenech lived.

Long meetings

The first woman who awakened a strong feeling in Gaudi was the teacher Joseph Moreu, nicknamed Pepeta. Relations developed sluggishly, and when Antonio finally grew bolder and offered Joseph a hand and heart, she replied that she was already engaged. Gaudi never had a wife and children.

In the image and likeness of

Gaudí finds models for creating sculptures among ordinary people: an alcoholic watchman, a fat goatherd, a bar frequenter, a stone carrier .. . Some of them will appear on the cathedral in the form of statues. In order to realistically depict turkeys and their chickens, Gaudí puts them to sleep with chloroform, coats them with fat and quickly, until they wake up, makes plaster casts. Such methods became the subject of constant ridicule of the “mad Gaudi”, as he was often called by critics.

Side effect

In early childhood, he suffered from pneumonia, a complication of which was rheumatoid arthritis, which made it painful for Antonio to draw. Speaking about the work of an architect, Gaudi deliberately belittled the importance of drawings and insisted that working with models and experiments on the construction site was more important. In his workshop, there is a complex system of mirrors, thanks to which, at a certain point, the model can be observed from five different angles.

An unrecognized genius

Dandy in his youth, Gaudí in his old age leads the life of an ascetic, building the Sagrada Familia.