Speak the Culture: Spain: Be Fluent in Spanish Life and Culture

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1. Identity: the
   building blocks of
   2. Literature
   and philosophy
   3. Art and
   architecture
   4. Performing
   arts
   5. Cinema
   and fashion
   6. Media and
   communications
   7. Food and drink 8. Living culture:
   the details of

Natural talent: CatalanModernisme

Catalonia was on the up at the end of the 19thcentury.

Literature and art flourished in the hothouse of

industrialisation, urban growth and nationalism.The

region was primed forthemajor Spanish architectural

movement of the 20thcentury,Modernisme, a variant

of the Art Nouveau wave sweeping Europe in the

1890s. Barcelona’s creeping grid of new streets

became an experimentation ground for apartment

buildings and mansions inspired by Mother Nature’s

voluptuous curves and paid for by wealthy industrialists.

The new mode referenced Gothic architecture, bringing

rich sculptural detail to building surfaces, but really it

was thoroughly modern, the style’s new shapes

encouraged by the versatility of iron framed buildings.

The traditionally straight lines of architecture were

allowed to bend; stonework bulged around windows

and ironwork rippled in all directions. It looked organic,

of the earth. Natural shapes like the parabolic arch or

forms based on the flow of water came into play. Often

buildings were painted or tiled with bright colours for

enhanced effect. It was very much a Catalonian thing –

the rest of Spain kept its distance, doing little to imitate

the new style.

Gaudí bends the rules

One name towers overModernisme, indeed over

Spanish architecture in the modern era – Antoni Gaudí.

He gave Barcelona a wealth of buildings, sculpture and

parks during a 40-year career. Gaudí eclipsed the other

Modernistasfor sheer originality, throwing Moorish,

Gothic, Art Nouveau and Surreal elements together in

buildings that swell, drip and twist.The further Gaudí’s

Barcelona leads

by Eixample

Barcelona grew at a

rapid rate in the late 19th

century. To accommodate

new residents, the old

city fortifications were

knocked down and a

vast grid plan initiated in

1859 to the design of

a Madrileño, Ildefonso

Cerdá y Suñer. The new

portion of Barcelona

became known as

L’Eixample (‘Extension’

in Catalan). By the time

the city came to prepare

for the Universal

Exhibition of 1888, the

vacant space was rapidly

filling. NewModernisme

buildings would be

included in its midst, not

least Gaudí’s Sagrada

Família and Casa Milà.

Barcelona enjoys more

Art Nouveau buildings

than any other city in the

world.

3.2.5 Making waves: Spanish architecture

in the modern era