* To introduce a famous, influential Spanish architect/ artist. *To prepare students and increase knowledge for the upcoming unit on architecture in Art class

* Read the text and identify the most relevant events of Gaudí’s life. *Record events on a timeline. *Answer questions about the text *Watch Rick Steve videos

Antonio Gaudi was born in 1852 in a province of Tarragona, Spain. His parents had five children, the last of which was Antonio. His family was mainly one of artisans. Antonio was the first Gaudi in over four generations to leave the family tradition of metalworking. Gaudí was the greatest figure of the art style "Modernisme". His works are famous all over the world. Antonio Gaudí’s Biography

. As a child and throughout his life, Gaudi suffered from arthritis. Because of this, Gaudi had difficulty keeping his attendance up at school when young. Instead, he spent much of his time walking and observing animals, plants and forms in nature. Later, he achieved very good grades in geometry, poetry and Greek. Much influence in his work probably came from his early religious schooling. When he worked on the Sagrada Familia, in Barcelona, he incorporated many of these beliefs into the architecture.

As an architect, Antonio Gaudi was influenced by many things. He found inspiration for his work within medieval books, in gothic-style art, and from organic shapes in nature. For Gaudi these subjects contributed to the development of his own architectural style. His personal love and interest in music also contributed to his style. In addition, Gaudi was further influenced from the writings of an Englishman by the name of John Ruskin. Ruskin conveyed to Gaudi his belief that “ornament [is] the origin of architecture.” In order to fund his architectural education, Gaudi assisted various builders in Barcelona; his projects with these builders only amplified his education in architecture.

Gaudi moved to Barcelona in 1873 and began his architectural education at the Provincial School of Architecture. Although he did not have superior grades, he earned “excellent” marks in the courses of Trial drawings and Projects. His drawings in these two courses was seen as the work of an insane man or a genius. Forever after, the descriptions of “insane” and “genius” were used to describe Gaudi. In February of 1878, Antonio Gaudi finished his architectural schooling and finally attained the title of Architect.

Antonio Gaudi’s first major project as a professional architect was was presented at the Paris World Fair in 1878 and was seen as the beginning of his fame. Gaudi took control over the building of the Sagrada Familia in 1883, which is arguably Guadi’s most famous work. He ended up spending 43 years of his life working on this project. In addition to the Sagrada Familia, a few of Gaudi’s other large projects were the Palacio de Astorga and the Park Guell, which was initially built as a garden-city.

Before his death on June 7, 1926, Gaudi attained additional fame. In 1910 he was requested to build a New York Hotel. The most important to Antonio Gaudi was his 43 years of work on the Sagrada Familia. He continued to work on its construction until the day of his death.

Answer the following questions:. 1.Define Modernisme- __________________________________________________ 2.John Ruskin conveyed to Gaudi his belief that “ornament [is] the origin of architecture.” Look at the slide with Gaudi’s works. What does “ornament” mean here? How do you think “ornament” is shown in Gaudi’s work? __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ 3. Antonio Gaudi’s work was often viewed as the work of a “crazy man or a genius”. Why do you think this is so? How would you describe his work? __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________

 Can you find Spain on a world map?  Can you locate the city of Barcelona?  Please watch the following videos: abIQ-KlZU RulIlo3MbI

 State 3 additional facts that you learned from the Rick Steve video links and/ or internet research about Sagrada Familia and/ or Park Guell  1._____________________________________ _______________________________________  2._____________________________________ _______________________________________  3._____________________________________ _______________________________________