Analyzing the Architectural Features of Art Nouveau Period from Gaudi’s Architecture

徐继彩

摘 要: Art Nouveau is the product of the industrialization process in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century Europe which affected almost all the artificial fields including construction. This paper analyses the works of artist Gaudi, the highly representative of this period from architectural modeling language patterns and decorative point of view, to refine a rational principle followed in Gaudi building filled with emotional into to describe the architectural features of Art Nouveau period.

关键词: Art Nouveau, Architectural features, Gaudi, Naturalism, Organic modeling

中图分类号:J01文献标识码:A文章编号:1005-5312(2009)30-0048-02

1.The Background and Influences of Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau is an influential movement of “decorating art”, which happened and developed in late nineteenth and early twentieth century in Europe and America. It resulted from the opposition against the industrialization and the Asia-cutesy style. With the developments and progress of the mechanic civilization and the biology, natural models like plants and animals gradually became a fashionable trend. The research of biology affects the Fine Arts more, many artists copying plants model made the style of Art Nouveau. Art Nouveau directly influenced the changes of construction styles. Its purpose is to solve the question of the artificial style of construction and crafts to oppose the compromise Victorian style and create a new simplified decoration which adapts the industrial times.

2.Case Analysis of Gaudis Architecture

Art Nouveau has different features in different countries. They use naturalism and oppose straight lines. However, the most religious “Art Nouveau” appeared in Mediterranean coastal areas, especially in the southern region of Spain. The most extreme development of the Barcelona region in Spain, and the most important design representative, may be the only important Spanish "New Art" movement is representative of the architect Antonio Gaudi.

(1)The Magnificent Holy Family Cathedral

Gaudi reminds people of the the Magnificent Holy Family Cathedral which contains the hard work of him. The design was to oppose the increasing influences of industrialization. The cathedral is the final and top work of Gaudi which absorbed the medieval Gothic style and symbolized the absolute divine right in the medieval. It broke through the monotony of the traditional pattern of Christian churches. Cathedral is spiral, two side walls and the dome surface hyperbolic parabolic roof, forming a symbolic combination of complex structure. In sculpture, the use of ornate baroque decoration, beautiful and unique world of the imagination to create abundance; the decoration, using the combination of geometric lines and abstract patterns; thorough integration of the local color with the Spanish style of performance. The overall design of nature such as caves, mountains, flowers and animals for inspiration. Gaudi once said: "The line belongs to man, the curve attributed to God." Holy Family Cathedral, designed not straight and flat, but in a spiral, conical, hyperbolic, parabolic various changes to form full of rhythm divine dynamic construction. This building is illusory dream like magic, to demonstrate the nature of life and praise, ideals and beliefs of the pious. The image of nature turned into architecture modeling elements, all kinds of animals and plants peculiar shape is narrowed, enlarged, or kept the original inch, and then turned into abstract patterns or were given symbolic context; plant growth rhythm was also used in building the state space on. This is the most significant features of Art Nouveau architectural.

(2)The Batlo Apartment

In Gaudi's buildings, all things without exception have the inspiration of construction. Batlo looks like an abstract painter's landscape, from which you can read on the natural shape of Gaudi's unique interpretation of the structure, Such as shell, skeleton, cartilage, lava, wings, flower petals, etc. The apartment balcony is like the skull, posts are like a bone in the roof covered with scales like a fish back, the chimney was the performance of the dangerous mountain peak stands for the ridge. Batlo equally impressive interior space. It was smooth flying lines, illusory dream like illusion of light and shadow, making room for both lyricism and drama. Gaudi himself said it "looks like a house of heaven."

Room windows, doors and walls, are printed with the mountains and leaves which are the traces of nature, so that the appearance of interior design and architecture are very suitable with each other. Doors and window frames in singular form, accompanied by the same singular tables, chairs, chandeliers device, flow line gypsum ceiling, so it is at a fantastic soft flowing space when people come into it. We can see that architecture of new art movement considered complete scores and overall environment, which means in architecture, interior design, furniture and fabric design, utensils and works of art, lamps, there has been a scale. Art Nouveau designers combine natural and man-made environment to make it compatible with coexistence.

Therefore, small decorative elements, lighting, furniture, ranging from interior design and architecture are considering the overall style of the decoration around the theme of a unified design. The decorative theme is an imitation of nature, animals, plants form the curve, with a high degree of procedural elements of nature as inspiration, and expand the resources of natural elements, such as seaweed, grass, and insects. All walls, furniture, railings and other decorative window lattice have been true.

It is this concept of Gaudi architecture practice, he gained inspiration from nature, attempting to mimic nature, the natural way into the building vocabulary of considerable research, such as his architectural vocabulary of nature, rolling mountains, forests, vine wood, lily, snakes. He is a good fantasy childlike transportation tiles, strong bright color, mosaic collage showing the way the organic form. He works extremely exaggerated, undulating lines like, like sculpture generally strong and powerful; in architecture like the color mosaic decorations, presents diverse and bizarre visuals.

3.Conclusions

New Art Movement building is accused as the boundaries of history, because it can not adapt to industrial production methods, but it still has an undeniable value, it is intended yes right pretense of the Victorian style, and other over-reactionary Art Deco, style industrialization is also strongly reflect the nature of its use of some decorative motives, such as plants, animals, decorative style for the center, completely gone over natural style, the decoration on the outstanding performance curve Yu organic patterns.

From an ideological point of view, this is the part of the intellectual elite in industrialized severity of the aristocratic style of decoration spread over double the design under the premise of a reform attempt, a traditional design and modern design of an important stage in between, including Horta, Gaudi buildings and all other new masters of art of common characteristics, is re-storey building techniques used, an architect and architectural style in the ideological point of view somewhat different, but they are combined in the search for new construction techniques, from flat to three-dimensional use of space, full of life rhythm of the curve decoration touched the depths of people's hearts, their architecture and intricate work, leaving many of the reverie and the human prospect.

References:

[1].Wang Shouzhi.The History of Modern World Design. [M]. China Youth Press, 2002.09