CONTEST

The winners of our first contest "Interview with Luis Gueilburt" will receive a gift from our virtual shop and we publish here a brief questionaire that we have sent them.

Michael Botts

How and when did you discovered Gaudí and his works?

I don't really remember the first time I saw pictures of the works of Gaudí. It must have been around 1975 and I saw the usual pictures of the Sagrada Familia that are so captivating and interesting.

I have a general interest in architecture, so as the years went by I read a few books or articles on him. I guess my real interest in Gaudí started to increase after my wife and I took a weekend trip to Barcelona in 1999 and saw some of his works (Sagrada Familia, Park Güell, Casa Battlo, Casa Mila).

Following the visit, I applied as a candidate to a quiz show in German television called "Risiko" (Risk!"), where each of the 4 contestants has a special topic on which they have to answer questions. Of course, my topic was Antoni Gaudí.

I guess I was lucky and won, so with some of the winnings we took another trip to Barcelona (2000) and spent a week in Barcelona and visited all of Gaudí's works there, some of them for a second time. It certainly won't be the last time we go to Barcelona.

What do you prefer from his works?

I think my favourite is the Park Güell. It would take too much time to say all the reasons why this is my favourite, but in short, due to the colours in the tiles and the fact that Gaudí managed to fit this magnificent and fantastic work into the hillside without ,ruining' the natural setting. It is like a jewel.

I am also quite fond of the Palau Güell, which ingeniously uses the light in such a narrow space, and Casa Mila, and Casa Battlo, and Finca Güell, and.....where should I stop??

Which are your hobbies?

Apart from Gaudí, I am a fan of Woody Allen films and also films in general, I collect die-cast cars with comic or film figures in them (like Mickey Mouse, Batman, etc.), I play volleyball, my wife and I play the recorder, I like inline skating, photography, I read a lot, listen to music (from classic to rock/pop to country).

What do you do?

I coordinate the public relations of a laser research and development institute.

Where are you from?

I have lived in Germany since 1974, but I am originally from the United States (Kansas City area).



Jordi Baños, from Barcelona

- How and when did you discover Gaudí and his works?

When I was a child I liked a lot going to Gaudí square with my mother and I saw the Temple and I wondered who and how could design or invent such a meravellous and astonishing thing!
Later, at school, I had to do a homerwork about Modernisme, and it was then when Gaudí and all the catalan modernist architects began to enchant me. I've always wanted to visit all these works and its interiors too.
As an art lover, I like all the beautiful things and, of course, I think that the architecture that they built is the best architecture that has ever existed, the most showy, the most resistant to fashion and time, and the one that people from all over the world love.

- What do you like the most from Gaudí and his works?

The stateliness that he used to design hhis projects. The forms that he used in his constructions. The way he made use of the few things they gived him to build, as he did in the construction of the College of the Teresians.

His perseverance and his entirely dedication to his job and to his works.
I'm sure that all his works were designed in a rational way by a privileged mind, althought it was true that he took some drugs.
He should be a man entirely handed over to his believes, to his knowledge and to his wish of creating a new architecture.

- Which are your hobbies?

Staying with my friends, travelling and Internet and Computers.

- What do you do?

I study at University and I work as a taximan in Barcelona.

- Where are you from?

I was born in Barcelona, of course :)