*Includes pictures
*Includes a bibliography for further reading
"Those who look for the laws of Nature as a support for their new works collaborate with the creator." - Antoni Gaudi
Halfway into the 19th century, Spain's Catalonia underwent a sweeping transformation when it was thrust into not one, but 2 golden eras - the Renaixença and the Industrial Revolution. It was during this explosive period of creativity, thriving prosperity, and invigorated patriotism that a steadfastly nonconforming and fascinatingly eccentric icon was born, one that was about to take Catalonia by storm with his brilliant eye for unorthodox art and his legendary - or as some would say, notoriously - out-of-the-box ideas. Salvador Dalí, the celebrated surrealist, was one of many who would find a fount of inspiration in him, even once raving about the Sagrada Familia, the highlight of this icon's career: "Those who have not heard about the chromatic and shining essence of its color, the astonishing polyphony of its towers as organ pipes and shocked by its mutant naturalism, are traitors." This icon in question, of course, is none other than what many now consider to be the patriarch of the Catalan Modernism movement: Antoni Gaudí.
Across the pond, America's most innovative and prolific architect was Frank Lloyd Wright, whose works are almost too vast and diverse to list. Recognized for designing unique churches and distinctive commercial buildings, and admired for his geometric style house designs, Wright has been widely imitated, and his work continues to influence architecture not only in the United States but around the world. Laymen often think they know the definition of "a Frank Lloyd Wright," but they probably don't fully understand the brilliant mind of the man, nor the intricacies of his Prairie Style. Yet it endures because he has made it so.
In many ways, Wright's architectural career has overshadowed other aspects of his life. In the course of creating innovative kinds of offices, churches, schools, skyscrapers, hotels, and museums, not to mention furniture and stained-glass decorations, Wright wrote over a dozen books and toured America and Europe at large, often giving widely acclaimed speeches. Despite a somewhat hardscrabble start to life in the Midwest, Wright became known for his flamboyant and entertaining lifestyle, which included multiple marriages and scandals like the murders at his Taliesin studio in 1914. But through it all, Wright continued working nearly up until his death, and in 1991 the American Institute of Architects recognized him as "the greatest American architect of all time"
Antoni Gaudi and Frank Lloyd Wright: The Lives and Works of the Most Influential Modern Architects examines the lives of both men, their most memorable works, and the lasting legacies each left. Along with pictures depicting important people, places, and events, you will learn about Antoni Gaudi and Frank Lloyd Wright like never before.