•Notícia

The "DVD Gaudí. La recerca de la forma" (Gaudí. Exploring form) was created jointly by the Centre for Computer Applications in Architectural and Urban Design (CAIRAT) of the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC) and the Triangle Postals publishing company. It provides a novel interactive tour that enhances knowledge about the geometric bases of buildings by Antoni Gaudí.

The DVD was launched at an event held on Wednesday, 25 June at 7.30 pm in the Mezzanine of the Pedrera building. Speeches were delivered by Àlex Susanna, director of the Caixa Catalunya Foundation; Pere Vivas, a photographer from Triangle Postals; Daniel Giralt-Miracle, general curator of the International Gaudí Year and of the exhibition; Josep Gómez-Serrano, the exhibition’s architecture curator; Joan Font, the director of the computer graphics; and Jaume Sanmartí, director of the Royal Gaudí Chair of UPC. The event was brought to a close by Jordi Martí, the delegate for Culture of the Barcelona City Council.

Computer graphics, videos and photographs reveal this Modernista architect’s innovative building technique. The DVD—which is available in Catalan, Spanish and English—includes, expands on and complements the contents of the exhibition Gaudí. La recerca de la forma. Espai, geometria, estructura i construcció (Gaudí, exploring form. Space, geometry, structure and construction). This exhibition was held in 2002 in the Saló del Tinell, Barcelona on the occasion of the International Gaudí Year. It then travelled to Leon, Genoa, Tokyo, Sao Paulo, Naples, Peking and Shanghai. It was organised by the Barcelona Institute of Culture (ICB) and the State Corporation for Spanish Cultural Action Abroad (SEACEX). The curator of this exhibition was Daniel Giralt-Miracle, who has also been the driving force behind the DVD project.

The creation of the DVD was supervised by Joan Font, the director of CAIRAT. It establishes and consolidates the contents that were initially presented in an ephemeral form in the exhibition. It approaches Gaudí’s form and geometry from an educational perspective and includes deeper reflections on this topic. Gaudí’s geometry included convex vaults, intersections of paraboloids, conoids, catenary arches, double-twisted columns, hyperbolic vaults and tessellated geometries (made up of intersecting polyhedrons). This geometry is presented in a way that is analogous to that of the exhibition, i.e. the DVD includes introductory texts, computer graphic animations and models. However, the DVD animations are accompanied by original music, which was composed especially for each clip, and phrases that aid understanding and add precision to the visual discourse.

In addition to these complementary features, the presentation of the geometric concepts is supported by a variety of interactive elements that enable the user to virtually handle the models and geometric forms of Gaudí’s buildings.

For each of the seven geometric forms, there is a section containing a series of photographs showing elements of buildings in which the architect applied that particular geometric or structural concept.

As in the Tinell exhibition, the DVD includes an extensive section dedicated to Gaudí’s major works: the Casa Vicenç, the Torre de Bellesguard, el Capricho, the Güell Pavillions, the Palau Güell, the Col·legi de les Teresianes, the Palau Episcopal d’Astorga, the Casa Botines, the Casa Calvet, the Cathedral of Mallorca, the Park Güell, the Bodegues Güell, the Casa Batlló, the Pedrera, the church of the Colònia Güell and the Sagrada Família.

Each building is documented by photographs and a text that explains its history and its main characteristics. The information about each building is complemented by a graphic illustration of its ground plan and a section.

The geometric contents, which were the central theme of the exhibition, are consolidated in this DVD by the inclusion of a glossary of geometric terms related to Gaudí’s forms. In addition to the rigorous definitions, terms are illustrated with computer graphics that make it easier to see and understand the concept.

Likewise, there is a section on Gaudí’s life, which is illustrated with historic photographs.

The DVD provides an opportunity to return to the Saló del Tinell exhibition (an installation that was given an FAD award), by interactively browsing photographs of the exhibition taken by a camera with a spherical lens. This DVD represents another way of accessing the contents of the exhibition, in a revised and expanded version.

With excellent designs and graphics, as well as high quality images, the DVD presents the geometric concepts rigorously and with great visual clarity. It is suitable for anyone, but is particularly aimed at architects, architecture students and secondary school students.

The Centre for Computer Applications in Architectural and Urban Design (CAIRAT) is run by Joan Font. It was established in 1998 at UPC’s School of Architecture of the Vallès (ETSAV). The aim of the Centre is to focus on research into new forms of communication and representation of architecture and the region, using the latest information technology. Since its foundation, the centre has carried out several projects in this field for architects, museums and public and private institutions.