Fueled by a faith in God and a love of nature, the Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi developed a style all his own. Born in 1852 in the Catalonia region of Spain, Gaudi was a fervent Catholic who believed that he could glorify God by deriving his inspiration from nature, God's creation.
Taking his cues from nature, then, Gaudi favored curves rather than straight lines, varied textures and vibrant colors. His unique and somewhat bizarre style was part neo-Gothic, part avant-guarde, part surrealistic. The architect and his work soon became synonymous with the city of Barcelona. However, in the 1920s and '30s, the architectural world favored International Style, which starkly contrasted Gaudi's philosophies. So it wasn't until the 1960s that Gaudi started gaining wide recognition.
The Cathedral of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona stands as his most famous work. However, the cathedral was unfinished at his death in 1926 and, although work continued, remains unfinished to this day.