The Genius of Gaudi

Antoni Placid Guillem Gaudi i Cornet. Or simply, Gaudi.

The genius who has become synonymous with the city of Barcelona. The Catalan architect whose work is instantly recognisable and who helped transform his home city. And yet it all started so unpromisingly. Born in 1852 into a family of coppersmiths, the youngest of five children, Gaudi was a 'sickly child' - in his case, rheumatism, which prevented him from being very active at all. What he did instead was to become intensely interested in nature and natural objects - something which was to last throughout his life and prove to be enormously influential in his career.

Although never an outstanding scholar, Gaudi was accepted into the Escola Tecnica Superior d'Arquitectura, where, during his years of study, he helped to design the Parc Ciutadella on the site of the city's old fortress-prison. There is a famous quotation from the presentation of his architectural diploma - which may or may not be apocryphal - that they were unsure whether they were presenting it to a 'nut or a genius' and certainly were it not for the patronage of Eusebi Guell, he might have struggled to find employment.

Gaudí's distinctive style developed early in his career. Heavily influenced by the Gothic architecture that dominated parts of Barcelona, he was able to incorporate his love of nature into what became art nouveau architecture, or modernisme. He was intensely fanatical about incorporating natural organic shapes into his designs and this, combined with his vivid sense of colour, resulted in some truly amazing constructions.

La Sagrada Familia is probably Barcelona's most famous building - indeed, many people mistakenly think of it as the city's cathedral. Gaudi, who spent the last years of his life as a devout Catholic, actually inherited the scheme from someone else but his reworking of the design resulted in one of the world's most talked about churches. Inspired partly by the eerie shapes of the mountains around the monastery at Montserrat this beautifully grotesque building is a wonderful, if unfinished, legacy. Gaudi himself died in 1926 - knocked down by a tram and taken to a paupers' hospital, where he later died. A Gaudi museum has been incorporated into the church now which contains some fascinating models which show how the architect worked out the intricacies of his building process.

There are, of course, countless other examples of Gaudi's genius to be seen around the city. Ranging from his early street lamps in Placa Reial to the simply stunning buildings Casa Mila and Casa Batllo. All bear the architect's trademark elements - curved building stones, twisted metalwork, wave-shaped balconies, extravagantly coloured tile mosaics and a sense of sculpture permeating everything.

For me, the essence of Gaudi can always be found at the enchanting Parc Guell. With twisting pathways winding through the wooded grounds, there are benches, plazas, hidden grottos and stonework columns - all guarded over by a fantastically shaped mosaic serpent. The bizarre, spectacular designs fit perfectly into the idyllic landscape, overlooking the city. Casa Museu Gaudi, the surreal spired house hidden in the trees, still has the furniture and designs of the artist cum architect inside.