Modernist Architecture in Barcelona

Modernism is defined in this program as the revival, beginning toward the end of the nineteenth century, of an inventiveness and exuberance in building and craftsmanship that Spain had not seen since the Middle Ages. The works of three major architects are highlighted: Domenic y Montinair, Pug y Carafalc, and the most famous, Antonio Gaudí. The first wrote an important text in 1870, In Search of a National Architecture, and we see spectacular buildings of his, such as the Montinair-Simon Publishing building and the Hospital de la Santa Creu in St Pau. Gaudí's great, organically structured and mosaic-encrusted buildings are also featured, including the celebrated Barcelona cathedral. Pug y Carafalc, meanwhile, a believer like Montinair in Catalan independence, created equally powerful structures, with similar vernacular decoration and archaic, neo-medievalist details.

A sequel to 463 Modernism in Barcelona.

© 1998-2001 The Roland Collection & Pira Intl.