Sagrada Familia, Park Güell, Casa Batlló, Casa Milà… At this moment you probably already know who are we talking about: Antonio Gaudí, the best known catalan architect and maximum exponent of modernism in Barcelona.

The catalan capital is, indeed, the main scenario where we find the best of Gaudí .

Influence around Barcelona

In Barcelona we can find eleven works of Antonio Gaudí, all of them with his personal and unique firm: modernistic buildings with impossible shapes inspired by nature and full of symbolism related to religion and catalan culture and politics.

Some of them such as Sagrada Familia and Park Güell are known all around the world and suppose one of the biggest claims for tourism in Barcelona. In fact, six of his works located around Barcelona were declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO: Park Güell, Palau Güell, Casa Milà, Sagrada Familia, Casa Vicens and Casa Batlló.

From this modern design apartment in Sagrada Familia we’ll be able to walk to Sagrada Familia and Passeig de Gràcia (where Casa Milà and Casa Batlló are located) in few minutes.

Influence in other artists

Gaudí not only changed the panorama around Barcelona, but also changed the catalan cultural movement with a huge revolution.

Since he developed so many complex projects, he needed some help to make these projects real. That’s why he collaborated with a big number of architects, sculptors, painters, builders and artisans. All of them worked under Gaudí’s guidance, but he also gave them some independence to reflect their own style. Working with Gaudí was a great experience for all these artists because of his wonderful and genuine ideas and, as a result of this collaboration, they were able to develop their styles and create new concepts.

Even after his dead, Antonio Gaudí has been an inspiration for many other famous architects such as Frank Gehry, Oscar Niemeyer, Norman Foster, Jože Plečnik, Friedensreich Hundertwasser and Jean Nouvel. The last one has even designed a building in Barcelona: Torre Agbar.

Influence in the society

In Barcelona, there are several associations such as Amigos de Gaudí or Càtedra Gaudí which work in order to spread, preserve and study Gaudí’s legacy.

In 2017, it’s expected the launch of Gaudí’s Passport. It’ll be similar to a common passport, but it’ll be stamped when visiting each one of the buildings designed by the catalan architect. This way the awareness of its works is strengthened.

Influence in the cinema

In 2008, Catalan Cinema Academy started to celebrate Premios Gaudí which rewards the best catalan cinematographic productions of the year.

Additionally, different buildings of Gaudí have been used in different films. The best known is Vicky Cristina Barcelona, directed by Woody Allen. The film shows constructions such as Sagrada Familia, La Pedrera and the restaurant Els Cuatre Gats.

Other animation films including Wreck-It Ralph and Casper used Gaudí’s structures (Casa Batlló in this case) as inspiration for their decoration and photography.

So as we’ve seen, the influence of Gaudí around Barcelona is not limited to architecture, but also to the development of a whole cultural and artistic movement. Gaudí changed Barcelona and even nowadays his work is thoroughly studied and globally admired.