Viva Inspiration!

I've allways loved Gaudi's architecture for so many reasons, but my greatest respect for him came from learning that he was fighting the man through architecture.

Cece, one of our teachers, took us on a firm tour to OAB which is run by Carlos Ferrater. His son gave us a lecture on some of their work but included historical information about Barcelona in his presentation. Ferrater has been asked by the ex-mayor of Barcelona to essentially be the next Gaudi and create the Casa Mila of the 21st century, also on Pasea de Gracia.

The design of the facade for the new building is based off of the same principals that led Gaudi to design the unjulating facade of Casa Mila. In Gaudi's time there were lots restrictions on how much facades could pertrude and set back, they were supposed to be essentialy flat with small balconies. Gaudi tricked the strict code by creating a facade with elements that no one had ever seen before. He completely pushed the boundaries and was able to get his design accepted because it technically fit into code but not by the code's intention.

Ferrater also creates a dynamic facade in his new project, that is currently under construction, in the true spirit of Gaudi.

The new design even relates back to the courtyards in Casa Mila, although Casa Mila has two of them and the new building only has one.

So now I love Gaudi and Ferrater. The photos are from his website. http://www.ferrater.com/