The Gaudí 1st World Congress makes public the latest contributions to the study of Catalan architectʼs work

The congress also hosted the first presentation of the monumental project dedicated to Josep Torras i Bages in the Sagrada Familia.
The congress also hosted the first presentation of the monumental project dedicated to Josep Torras i Bages in the Sagrada Familia.
(13/10/2014)

The Gaudí 1st World Congress, co-organised by the University of Barcelona (UB) and The Gaudí Research Institute (TGRI), gathered around 350 participants from all over the world. Besides scientific speeches and dissemination activities about Gaudíʼs figure and work, the congress had other results, for example the Museu Diocesà de Barcelona shows a new mock-up of the crypt of the Colonia Güell, created by the research group led by Professor Rainer Graefe, from the University of Innsbruck (Austria); the model was built by using 3D computing systems. The hotel Miramar Barcelona hosts a funicular model made by Professor Jos Tomlow, from the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences (Germany). Finally, the University of Barcelona announced that it will create the Antoni Gaudí Chair to promote research on Gaudí.

The congress also hosted the first presentation of the monumental project dedicated to Josep Torras i Bages in the Sagrada Familia.
The congress also hosted the first presentation of the monumental project dedicated to Josep Torras i Bages in the Sagrada Familia.
13/10/2014

The Gaudí 1st World Congress, co-organised by the University of Barcelona (UB) and The Gaudí Research Institute (TGRI), gathered around 350 participants from all over the world. Besides scientific speeches and dissemination activities about Gaudíʼs figure and work, the congress had other results, for example the Museu Diocesà de Barcelona shows a new mock-up of the crypt of the Colonia Güell, created by the research group led by Professor Rainer Graefe, from the University of Innsbruck (Austria); the model was built by using 3D computing systems. The hotel Miramar Barcelona hosts a funicular model made by Professor Jos Tomlow, from the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences (Germany). Finally, the University of Barcelona announced that it will create the Antoni Gaudí Chair to promote research on Gaudí.

The congress also hosted the first presentation of the monumental project dedicated to Josep Torras i Bages that Gaudí planned to create in the Sagrada Família. Jordi Bonet i Armengol, director and coordinator of the works carried out in the Sagrada Família between 1985 and 2012 who currently is meritus director and coordinator of the church, presented this project on the closing session.

Speeches showed that Gaudíʼs attitude was characterised by innovation, imagination and risk taking, features that are considered key to overcome todayʼs crisis. Organizers are already working to prepare the second edition of the congress. International research groups, universities and companies will keep in touch and a programme of academic studies on Gaudí will be set up; it will gather humanistic and scientific experts.

Moreover, the Gaudí 1st World Congress also included the inauguration of the new headquarters of TGRI, located at the building Tint Vell in the historical industrial enclosure of the Colonia Güell. The building will also host the Antoni Gaudí Chair. The objective is to open the new headquarters to researchers and communicate advances to citizens by creating a corpus of documents, photos, maps and any other material that can be useful to study Gaudíʼs figure and work.

The congress has proved peopleʼs interest in Gaudí. Other activities organised within the congress, for instance the screening of the Swiss film Sagrada, el misteri de la creació, at the Filmoteca de Catalunya, was attended by many people. Marià Marín i Torné and Etsuro Sotoo introduced the film.

In addition, it was announced that the Museu Diocesà de Barcelona and its Espai Gaudí will close its doors temporarily in order to improve its collection. It will be open again with a programme of temporal exhibitions devoted to the first experts that studied Gaudíʼs figure and work.

During the congress, the rector of the UB, Dídac Ramírez, and the vice-rector for Institutional Relations and Culture, Lourdes Cirlot, highlighted the relationship between Gaudí, a former student, and the University. Nowadays, the heritage of the University of Barcelona includes the Güell Pavilions which were selected to be included in the programme Watch 2014 of the World Monuments Fund (WMF). Last September, the UB and the Barcelona City Council made public an agreement to restore and open the Pavilions to citizens; they will host tourist and cultural activities.