Antoni Gaudi

            
             Antoni Gaudi was born in 1852 in Rues a small town in Catalonia south of Barcelona. As a child he did not come from a well-off family as his parents had regular jobs. During his childhood he suffered from an illness called "rheumatic fever," an illness which affected him also for the rest of his life. As a result of his inability to move and do things which normal children would do, he became creative drawing natural objects to pass the lonely days. Gaudi had an eye for detail and at the age of 17 he went to Barcelona to study architecture. he was not a particularly good student and was not the best at his studies but he produced a very original style. This individual approach resulted in poor grades unfortunately for him. His ideas were considered to be "too outrageous" and he was described by the Chairman of the Faculty of Architecture as "either a genius or a madman". This opinion was often carried through his career. Gaudi felt that had to spend his early years on upgrading his social status, he made an effort by dressing fashionably buying his clothes from the best shops in town and generally made himself more distinguished.
             During the second part of the 19th Century Barcelona's" economy and the city were growing rapidly. This period saw Gaudi design a lot of Barcelona's buildings. Despite Gaudi's early work not being recognised at this time Gaudi's work was now recognised by the public sector and private patrons as being genius. In 1881 Gaudi was invited to work on one of Barcelona's aspiring projects ever attempted. This project was basically to design a church for the adoration of the holy family which he put great effort into. This building was designed with extremely intricate detail which was very complex and very grand. This is shown clearly that it was a fabulous building by the time it took to complete. From this point on his work was well known and he was bombarded with different design offers.