cover image Fin de Siecle Architecture in Barce

Fin de Siecle Architecture in Barce

Ignasi De Sola-Morales, Ignasi Sola-Morales Rubio. Watson-Guptill Publications, $69.95 (0pp) ISBN 978-84-252-1564-3

Pioneered by such architects as Antoni Gaudi, Lluis Domenech i Montaner and Josep Puig i Cadafalch, Catalan modernism--a style marked by inventive ornamentation, organic forms and eclecticism--transformed Barcelona between 1880 and 1914. In this dazzling survey featuring 354 color photographs, Barcelona architectural historian Sola-Morales links Catalan modernism to contemporaneous, aesthetically radical movements in Paris, London, Munich and Vienna. He also connects this style to Barcelona's industrial growth and to composer Richard Wagner's ideal of a total work of art engaging all the senses. Text and close-ups detail the new style's expression in dramatic public buildings, in shops, cinemas and cafes, and in spacious homes whose designs exalt domestic leisure and the institution of the family. (July)