‘This biography restores Gaudí to life as one of the most original architects of all time…Stanford shows how the Catalan genius put his soul into everything he did.’ Blake Morrison
‘This riveting portrait brings together as a compelling whole the triumphs and the tragedies of Gaudí’s life.’ Antonia Fraser
‘In daring to trace the complex connections between Gaudí’s religious faith and his famous buildings, this is an enriching, nuanced book.’ Tobias Jones
Antoni Gaudí’s architecture is among the world’s most instantly recognisable sights. His still unfinished basilica, La Sagrada Família welcomes five million visitors annually. Yet in this the centenary year of his death, knocked down in the street by a tram, mistaken for a tramp and spending his last hours in a paupers’ hospital, much about this unworldly genius remains a mystery, not least the source of inspiration to create extraordinary buildings that stand in a place of honour of their own in the canon of architecture. His explanation – that the fount of his imagination was God – sits uncomfortably alongside his modern-day fame in a secular world that nonetheless celebrates him.
In reconnecting Gaudí’s peerless architecture with the highs and lows of his faith, Peter Stanford walks in his footsteps through Barcelona, retracing his life through the buildings, parks and landscapes he admired and those that he created. Join him on Gaudí’s journey from the Catalan countryside, where his love affair with nature began, to becoming a celebrated figure in the booming industrial city of Barcelona, with its extremes of rich and poor – and its undercurrent of violence and anti-clericalism that almost left La Sagrada Família an unfinished folly. Tragedy, loss and depression stalked his life, but reinforced his belief that his work was a religious vocation, prompting contemporary moves by the Vatican towards declaring him a saint.
‘This riveting portrait brings together as a compelling whole the triumphs and the tragedies of Gaudí’s life.’ Antonia Fraser
‘In daring to trace the complex connections between Gaudí’s religious faith and his famous buildings, this is an enriching, nuanced book.’ Tobias Jones
Antoni Gaudí’s architecture is among the world’s most instantly recognisable sights. His still unfinished basilica, La Sagrada Família welcomes five million visitors annually. Yet in this the centenary year of his death, knocked down in the street by a tram, mistaken for a tramp and spending his last hours in a paupers’ hospital, much about this unworldly genius remains a mystery, not least the source of inspiration to create extraordinary buildings that stand in a place of honour of their own in the canon of architecture. His explanation – that the fount of his imagination was God – sits uncomfortably alongside his modern-day fame in a secular world that nonetheless celebrates him.
In reconnecting Gaudí’s peerless architecture with the highs and lows of his faith, Peter Stanford walks in his footsteps through Barcelona, retracing his life through the buildings, parks and landscapes he admired and those that he created. Join him on Gaudí’s journey from the Catalan countryside, where his love affair with nature began, to becoming a celebrated figure in the booming industrial city of Barcelona, with its extremes of rich and poor – and its undercurrent of violence and anti-clericalism that almost left La Sagrada Família an unfinished folly. Tragedy, loss and depression stalked his life, but reinforced his belief that his work was a religious vocation, prompting contemporary moves by the Vatican towards declaring him a saint.
Reviews
This biography restores Gaudí to life as one of the most original architects of all time...Stanford shows how the Catalan genius put his soul into everything he did.
This riveting portrait brings together as a compelling whole the triumphs and the tragedies of Gaudí's life.
In daring to trace the complex connections between Gaudí's religious faith and his famous buildings, this is an enriching, nuanced book.
Stanford aims to bring together the two sides of Gaudí's legacy that are often looked separately - his faith and his archirecture
Stanford is writing more than a hagiography...He conveys exactly what kind of visionary Gaudí was
A gifted writer, Peter Stanford tells this story with real sympathy. It is hard not to be beguiled by his genuine enthusiasm, as he recounts a kind of pilgrimage. Anyone who plans a similar trip should pack this handsome volume
fascinating, insightful and scholarly
beautifully written and gloriously illustrated masterwork on Gaudí
A welcome addition on his long life and achievements to literature in English
Reconnecting Gaudí's architecture directly with his faith, rather than treating his spirituality as an awkward footnote to his genius, is a genuinely important corrective for how he tends to be remembered. What stood out was structuring the book as a physical journey through Barcelona, walking in Gaudí's own footsteps through the buildings, parks, and landscapes he admired and created. That structure grounds the biography in a real place rather than only in ideas, letting readers experience his life the way he actually moved through it. I also appreciated not shying away from the tragedy, loss, and depression that shaped him, and connecting that suffering directly to his belief that his work was a religious vocation. Holding his private struggle and his public genius together, rather than separating the man from the myth, gives the book real emotional and spiritual depth that a purely architectural biography would miss.