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Park Güell, Barcelona
photo by Ewa Krajewska |
We can admire the extremely
original and magical buildings of this outstanding Catalan architect in Barcelona. His work has
become a symbol of the city and attracts millions of tourists from all over the
world.
Antoni Gaudí was born in 1852 in the small village of Reus
in Catalonia.
When he was a child, he got ill very often, which limited his contacts with his
peers and friends and condemned him to loneliness. He suffered from rheumatism
so his doctor advised him to become a vegetarian. He continued this diet for
the rest of his life and he even became obsessed with healthy food and very
strict diets. In the early years of his life, he experienced very difficult
transits which must have weaken his health condition. Saturn passed through his
MC (1853 – 1854), squared his Moon (1856 – 1857) and passed through his
Ascendant (1860 – 1861). Saturn is the planet related to bones and its transits
may cause limitation of movement. In the childhood Antoni spent a lot of time
at home with his mother. He was keen on walking and watching the nature, which
became a source of important inspiration in the adult life. After completing
the architecture studies, the young Gaudí quickly received his first order -
the design of the street lanterns at Reial
Square in the Gothic Quarter in the heart of Barcelona. The lanterns
didn’t look very original, nevertheless, the talent of the young architect was
recognised and soon Gaudí received further orders and revealed his unusual
style. He designed not only buildings, but also furniture and interior
fittings. At the beginning of his career (in November 1879) his progressed Sun
entered Leo, which helped him gain recognition and opened new possibilities to
grow. The architectural style that was trendy at time was Modernism, considered
a new expression of Catalan identity. Having the Sun in Cancer, Antoni Gaudí was
very proud of his homeland and wanted to contribute to expand its national
pride. Gaudí was lucky to be born in the times that enabled him to develop his
artistic talent. His original projects quickly gained recognition and became an
integral part of Catalan heritage. Gaudí pushed Modernism even further, but in
his work we can also find other architectural styles such as neo-Mudejar,
neo-Gothic and Baroque. His innovative approach to architecture caught the
attention of Eusebi Güell, a wealthy businessman from Barcelona, who commissioned a number of
important projects. He truly admired Gaudí’s talent and never saved money on
financing his extremely expensive projects as he didn’t want to limit the
imagination of a young genius. Gaudí designed for him the Güell Palace
(his house), a church for his employees and a park among others. The original
idea of Güell was to build an exclusive neighborhood for wealthy townspeople of
Barcelona
placed in a beautiful hill with a fantastic view, but they preferred to stay in
the center of the town, so the whole project turned out to be a failure. The
heirs of Eusebi Güell have transformed this place into a city park called Park
Güell, where we can admire Gaudí's projects, among others the main terrace with
a very original bench in the shape of a serpentine which is finished with
colourful mosaics made of broken pottery. We can get to this unique terrace
using wide and richly decorated stairs where we find the multicoloured monument
of a salamander. Another interesting object in this park is the house of a
guard which is a very unique as it looks like magical mushroom from a fairy-tale.
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Casa Batlló photo by Ewa
Krajewska |
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Casa Milá photo by Ewa
Krajewska |
Antoni Gaudí also designed
houses for other rich families. The most beautiful and original buildings that
fully represent the outstanding talent of the Catalan architect are Casa Batlló
(built in 1904) and Casa Milá (1906), both converted into the museums. It’s worth
mentioning that he designed these amazing houses when he had very important
transits of Uranus and Neptune. Uranus squared his natal Venus (1903 – 1904)
and opposed the Sun (1905). Neptune conjuncted
his Sun (1903 – 1904) and squared his Moon (1906 – 1907). Another interesting
thing is that Jupiter passed through Gaudí’s Medium Coeli in 1905 and 1906, so
no wonder that the projects he implemented at that time gave him such fame.
Unfortunately, in 1906 Saturn went through Gaudí’s Descendant which caused a
lot of problems with the owner of Casa Milá who didn’t want to pay Gaudí for
his work. The architect got also into trouble with the local council that
didn’t approve his project as the building was too high. Casa Milá was
criticized very much by the inhabitants of Barcelona. People laughed at that building
and compared it with the hornets’ nest.
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Sagrada Familia photo by Ewa Krajewska |
Nevertheless, Gaudí's most
important project was the church
of Sagrada Familia. Gaudí
started working on it when we was only 31 years old and dedicated the rest of
his life to this magnificent building. The church hasn’t been completed and is
still under construction. Gaudí took the construction of Sagrada Familia over
in November 1883 when Pluto was transiting his Medium Coeli and Jupiter
conjuncted Venus. The transits of Pluto can destroy someone’s life or bring a huge
transformation by gaining great recognition. Pluto is related to death so no
wonder that Sagrada Familia gave the international fame to Gaudí many years
after he died.
In his works Antoni Gaudí
combined simplicity and functionality with an extremely original design. He
avoided sharp angles and tried to give his buildings, furniture pieces and
interior fittings rounded shapes. His greatest source of inspiration was the
nature. Gaudí observed what kind of structures the nature was building, e.g.
trees, leaves, flowers, and he applied the same solutions to his projects. We
can see it in the neo-Gothic Sagrada Familia, where the columns resemble tree
trunks, so the interior of that temple looks like a magical forest. The Catalan
architect often used broken ceramics and created colourful, original mosaics
(trencadi) to give his projects an original look. Another characteristic
elements of his style are decorative chimneys on the roofs of the houses he
designed. Gaudí made them real artworks, stained with colourful ceramics and
giving unusual shapes reminding mushrooms. The façades of some of his buildings
also have unusual, streamlined shapes and the balconies sometimes resemble
interlocking branches of trees (e.g. Casa Milá) or carnival masks (Casa Batlló).
The church of Sagrada Familia is a completely
different project, as it is an example of neo-Gothic style, nevertheless the
strong influence of Gaudí's unique style is obvious. The artist often used
light as an element of architecture, especially in Sagrada Familia, where the
colourful light pouring in through the great stained glass windows illuminates
the grey columns and leaves delicate pastel shades on them. This creates an
amazing, magical effect, and you get the impression that are walking through a
fairy-tale land. You can get the same impression visiting the houses designed
by Gaudí or the Park Güell. Gaudí's projects bring the visitors into a
wonderland, where all the elements blend together and form a harmonious space.
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Sagrada Familia photo by Ewa Krajewska |
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Antoni Gaudí in 1878 Wikipedia |
The personal life of that
brilliant architect is shrouded in mystery. It is known that Gaudí lived with
his father and niece in a small house in Park Güell. No woman ever appeared in
his life, so the artist did not marry and it is speculated that he had never
had any sexual contact. However, there are some indications that he had a
secret romance with his niece, but there is no evidence of it. Gaudí was a man
of deep faith and was very attached to the tradition of his homeland, Catalonia. Although he
was very intelligent and spoke a couple of languages, he refused using them. He
only spoke Catalan in order to emphasize his origin. In 1924, after the
military coup of Primo de Rivera, he was even arrested and put into prison for
speaking Catalan which was strictly forbidden at that time. Faith played a very
important part in his life. Great devotion helped him to make friends with his
future patron, Eusebi Güell, who was also a deeply religious man. Antoni Gaudí
was regarded as a cold and arrogant man who intimidated his interlocutors with
a deep, sharp, penetrating and cynical glance of his blue eyes. In his youth he
dressed fashionably and elegantly, liked going out to the theater and
socializing. When grew older, he became a loner, absorbed by his work and
obsessively obeying religious orders. He went to church every day, and on the
way he gave alms to beggars, even though he was never a wealthy man himself. He
lived very modestly, of which he was extremely proud. At the end of his life he
looked like a homeless vagabond, which brought tragic consequences. On June 7,
1926, he was hit by a tram and taken to a hospital for poor people. Nobody
recognised the great master and no one was willing to help him. It was not
until the second day when one of his co-workers recognised him, but
unfortunately it was too late for help. The great architect died a few days
later. He was buried in the crypt of the Sagrada Familia. Huge crowds of Barcelona inhabitants
attended his funeral. At that time transiting Uranus squared his natal Mercury
which describes this situation perfectly. Such transits may bring sudden
accidents especially related to communication, travelling and means of
transport.
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Antoni Gaudí 25.06.1852, 09:30 am, Reus, Spain raiting AA |
The great master's natal chart
is as intriguing as his work. Antoni Gaudí had the Sun in Cancer, which
explains his great attachment to tradition, family and his homeland.
Additionally, the Sun creates the grand trine in water signs along with Jupiter
in Scorpio and Neptune in Pisces. It shows great artistic talent, the source of
inspiration, but also huge interest in religion, as both Jupiter and Neptune
are linked to spirituality and beliefs. The natal chart of Gaudí is very
interesting as we find two kites there. One kite is based on the grand water
trine, the sextile stellium of Pluto, Uranus and Saturn in Taurus to the Sun in
Cancer and Neptune in Pisces, and the
opposition of the stellium in Taurus to Jupiter in Scorpio. The second kite is
also based on the grand water trine, but in this case "the head" of
the kite is Mars in Virgo, which sextiles the Sun in Cancer and Jupiter in
Scorpio, and is opposing Neptune in Pisces.
This gave Gaudí a lot of common sense and realism, so that the artist could
easily turn his extraordinary ideas into specific projects. Kite is a planetary
figure that brings a lot of luck and extremely easily gained success in life.
Nevertheless, the potential of the native with kite is triggered by the support
of other people (opposition). Gaudí had a wealthy patron, so that he could
realise his visions without any restrictions.
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Eusebi Güell 15.12.1846, Barcelona, Spain rating X (time unknown) |
Let’s take a look at the natal
chart of Gaudí’s patron, Eusebi Güell. He has a very tight Venus/Sun
conjunction (could be a cazimi, but as his birth time is unknown, we don’t know
it for sure) in Sagittarius so he was an artist himself (painter). He was
very wealthy and he came from a very rich family, but he was also a very
successful businessman. He was the owner of textile factories near Barcelona. Mercury also
conjuncts the Sun and Venus, so he has a stellium in Sagittarius. The strong
influence of that sign made him a very generous man. He was supporting talented
artists and help them develop their ideas. When he saw the works of young
Gaudí, he was amazed by his talent. The individuals with strong Sagittarius
always want to expand their horizons and create something epic, extraordinary
and out of this world. The projects of Gaudí were perfect for Güell’s ambitions
and desires of creating original buildings. Güell and Gaudí were perfect for
each other. The young architect had a huge talent and amazing visions and Güell
had the proper financial resources to make them come true. Güell was also very
religious (strong Sagittarius) and was a Catalan patriot so he and Gaudí became
good friends. If we compare their birth charts we can see that Gaudí’s Mercury
is opposing Güell’s Sun and Venus, Gaudí’s Moon forms a trine to Güell’s
Jupiter and Gaudí’s Jupiter in Scorpio conjuncts Güell’s Mars and probably Moon
as well. It clearly shows that they liked each other and shared similar
interests. It’s worth mentioning that Gaudí had Jupiter in Scorpio which helped
him gain rich sponsors. He was never wealthy but he had rich clients and thanks
to their money he could make his artistic visions come true.
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Sagrada Familia 19.03.1882, Barcelona, Spain rating X (time unknown) |
As he was very lucky in the
professional field, it’s not surprising, that he was chosen to direct the works
on Sagrada Familia at the young age. According to the legend, he was chosen
because of his blue eyes which were very unique in Catalonia. The idea of building Sagrada
Familia came from an eccentric bookseller José María Bocabella who founded the
Spiritual Association of Devotees of St. Joseph and bought the parcel for
building a church. The works on the apse crypt of Sagrada Familia began on March 19, 1882 on the festival of Saint Joseph. The church
was designed by Francisco de Paula del
Villar, a famous and respected architect. One year later he resigned, so José
María Bocabella had to find another architect who would continue building
Sagrada Familia. He had a dream that a blue-eyed architect was building this
church, so when he saw Gaudí, he immediately knew that he was the right person.
We don’t know if this story is true, but it seems that a strong influence of Neptune in Gaudí’s chart had a key role in it. Working on
Sagrada Familia Gaudí could develop his extraordinary ideas, creating an
architectural masterpiece. When we look at the chart of Sagrada Familia, we can
see that the construction started on new Moon in Pisces which is quite
interesting as it’s a church, a place of prayers. Unfortunately, the exact time
of starting the construction is unknown, so we don’t know if the Moon was still
in Pisces or in Aries. Nevertheless, the projects that are started at new Moon
need more time to be fully developed as the Moon is combusted by the Sun. Another
interesting thing about this chart is that Venus and Mercury are in detriment
and Mars is in fall. The fact the personal planets are in a difficult position
also shows that the construction of the church may take a long time. Sagrada
Familia was built thanks to the donations of the inhabitants of Barcelona. Gaudí often
struggled with the lack of resources and was so frustrated that he was asking
for the donations himself. In this chart we can see two important conjunctions:
Saturn with Neptune and Jupiter with Pluto. The Saturn/Neptune conjunction
shows limitation in realising dreams and artistic projects, but on the other
hand, indicates a huge determination to do this. Although the construction of
Sagrada Familia is a very slow process, the effect is amazing. The hard and
very detailed work of Antoni Gaudí and other architects that continue his work
is majestic and breathtaking. The Jupiter/Pluto conjunction made this church so
high and huge. Both planets are responsible for expansion and pushing the limits
further. The Sun (and probably the Moon) forms a sextile to Jupiter and Pluto
so the link between these planet is quite strong and harmonious.
Gaudí has Mars on Ascendant in
Virgo which is why he wasn’t a nice person. The artist was also a perfectionist,
which is very typical for the individuals with Virgo rising. Although Gaudí
worked with many craftsmen, sculptors, and other architects (especially on
Sagrada Familia), he supervised their work and checked if everything was done
according to his will. Mars placed at Ascendant made him an overbearing man,
who didn’t respect anyone. Such a strong Mars certainly didn’t give Gaudí
personal charm. In the eyes of other people he was unfriendly, however, his
relatives and friends, including Eusebi Güell, had a very positive opinion of
Gaudí, describing him as a nice, warm and kind man, an interesting interlocutor
and a great companion.
What is the reason of such a
big discrepancy in the opinion about the same person? Gaudí has the Moon in
Libra. The Moon describes the way we behave in personal life and how we treat
the members of our family. The Moon in Libra shows that Gaudí must have been
nice, charming and kind to his relatives. However, people who didn’t know him
closely must have been faced with his Mars on Ascendant which wasn’t a pleasant
experience. Ascendant is the point in the natal chart that describes what is
the first impression that others have about us. Mars placed here clearly shows
that such individual will be considered aggressive, selfish and arrogant. If it
comes to the image, Virgo rising made Gaudí look very modest.
On the other hand Mars in
Virgo on Ascendant gave Gaudí talent for space planning, which is essential in
the work of an architect. He created models of his buildings and then he was
developing his projects according to his plans. Without these skills Gaudí
wouldn’t be able to create such wonderful works. He was also very consequent
and patient which was particularly important during the many years of working
on Sagrada Familia. Gaudí dedicated more than 40 years of his life to build
this magnificent church and unfortunately he didn’t see the end result.
Interestingly, Antoni Gaudí didn’t make any preliminary drawing of the
buildings, but made three-dimensional models. In addition to that, Mars in
Virgo enabled the Catalan architect to design functional homes. Gaudí paid
great attention to the needs of his clients and their lifestyles. He was using
maximum of the natural light to make the rooms look spacious and bright.
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Casa Batlló photo by Ewa Krajewska |
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Casa Batlló photo by Ewa Krajewska |
What was the source of Gaudí’s
inspiration, imagination and such unusual ideas? Venus, the planet of artistic
expression and inspiration is placed in Leo, a sign which is associated with
huge creativity, original ideas and the need of getting the public recognition
for the outstanding works. In addition, Venus creates very important aspects:
square with Jupiter and square with Saturn, Pluto and Uranus, which together
form a T-square. This planetary figure brought a strong emotional tension, but
on the other hand awakened enormous creativity. The square of Venus
and Jupiter highlights Gaudí’s great talent and makes him design huge and
extraordinary works, e.g. the monumental Sagrada Familia with its richly
decorated façade and tall towers. The Venus/Saturn square brings other features
like modesty, saving and simplicity, which can also be observed in the works of
the Catalan architect, especially in the interiors of the houses he created.
The aspect was also manifested by the difficulty of maintaining financial security.
Unfortunately Gaudí didn’t make a fortune on his great talent. The modest
clothing can also be partially attributed to this aspect. This could also
explain the frequent use of broken ceramics. The individuals with aspects of
Venus and Saturn in their birth charts don’t waste anything and often find new
uses for things that should be thrown away. Gaudí used ceramic waste and
converted it into art work. On the other hand, this aspect could bring Gaudí
loneliness, misogyny, and strong self-criticism. When we look at the photo of
Antoni Gaudí, we see quite a handsome man, but in his times, his type of beauty
wasn’t considered attractive at all. He was blond and had blue eyes, meanwhile
most of the Catalans were dark haired and black eyed, so Gaudí looked like a
stranger and felt rejected by the society, especially by women. He was probably in love once but the woman he was attracted to rejected him as she was
already engaged to someone else. The fact that he was rejected could cause a
hatred towards women in general. The square
of Venus with Uranus and
Pluto gave him a very original and innovative approach to art. These aspects
gave Gaudí such amazing and extraordinary but controversial ideas. On one hand,
his works are fascinating, and on the other, they cause confusion. While
visiting the houses he built, the church
of Sagrada Familia or the Güell Park
we are amazed by the original ideas of that Catalan architect, but we are also
wondering whether he crossed certain limits of good taste and simply exaggerated
the norms. Such controversies are very common in case of the aspects of Venus
with Uranus and Venus with Pluto. They allow creating something unusual, which
breaks old patterns and is shocking thanks to its originality. Additionally,
Mars in Gaudí's natal chart is opposing Neptune,
which gave the architect huge imagination and the ability to create spaces that
looked like a fairy-tale land. Gaudí achieved this effect by avoiding sharp
angles and making everything look like fluid which is typical for Neptune.
I strongly
recommend visiting his epic works while visiting Barcelona.