How Has Gaudí Architecture Made Barcelona So Unique?

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Q: I wanted to know how Gaudí's work has made Barcelona's architecture different to other Spanish cities?

A: Gaudí's work is radically different from anyone else's work. The majority of his most important works are in Barcelona. The reason was at the time he lived here 1870's to 1929 ( he was born in Reus, a small town close to Barcelona) his main sponsors lived in Barcelona.

Gaudí's Sagrada Família in Barcelona

Why was his work so different from other Spanish Architects? The answer is his work is, in fact, different from *any* other architects. The best way to see what I mean is to look at pictures of his work. We have created pages for Gaudí on our site (click on the Gaudí link) showing samples of his work:

Gaudí Sagrada Família
Park Güell by Antoni Gaudí
La Pedrera (Casa Mila)
Casa Batlló

Gaudí's work was not only unique for Barcelona compared to other Spanish cities, but it is unique Worldwide. This is one reason why Barcelona is visited by thousands of Architects from around the World each year.

Inside Gaudí Park Güell in Barcelona

Barcelona is a Catalan city and the people here feel that they have their own unique way of life and customs distinct from that of the rest of Spain. Gaudí in some way symbolised this difference in his work and the people of Barcelona embraced his unique style as an expression of uniqueness of their own culture.

Site feedback from Pau, in Barcelona: Gaudí didn't just work in Barcelona, in fact there are some buildings from him in Castilla (Astorga church) or all around Catalonia (Colònia Güell).

Gaudí was the most well known of the Modernism architects but, at the same time there are great works from other modernist architects that should be considered (Manicomi Pere Mata in Reus from arquitects such Puig i Cadafalch, Domenech i Muntaner.)

Editor's note. Thanks Pau for your feedback. I agree. Information on the other two modernists you mention would be interesting.