From the towering Sagrada Família to the shimmering, textured facade of Casa Batlló and the enchanting landscape of Park Güell, it’s easy to see why Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926) gained the epithet “God’s architect”. With fluid forms and mathematical precision, his work extols the wonder of natural creation: columns soar like tree trunks, window frames curve like flowering branches, and ceramic tiling shimmers like scaly, reptilian skin.

With this outstanding attention to natural detail, his inspirations from both neo-Gothic and Orientalist aesthetics, and a lifelong commitment to Catalan identity, Gaudí created a unique brand of the Modernista movement which transformed, and defines, Barcelona’s cityscape.

With seven of Gaudí’s projects listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, this book introduces the architect’s extraordinary vision and unique legacy, exploring the influences and the details which allow his buildings to impress, inspire, and amaze, one century after their construction.

Maria Antonietta Crippa is currently professor “straordinario” of History of Architecture at the Politecnico University in Milan, at the DiAP (Department of Architecture and Planning of the School of Architecture). Since the early 1980s, she has published widely on architecture and town planning.

Peter Gössel runs an agency for museum and exhibition design. For TASCHEN he published monographs on Julius Shulman, R. M. Schindler, John Lautner and Richard Neutra as well as several architecture titles in the Basic Art Series.