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"Building On Nature" by Rachel Rodriguez

Author:

Rachel Rodriguez

Publisher:

Henry Holt and Co.

Rodriguez, Rachel.  BUILDING ON NATURE.  THE LIFE OF ANTONI GAUDI.  ill by Julie Paschkis.  Henry Holt, 2009.

Few adults, and fewer children, will know of the life and work of Antoni Gaudi, a Catalonian iconoclast, who saw the world in unconventional ways.  The art he created is memorable, because of how unusual it is.  Even as a young, sickly child, he saw around him the "Great Book of Nature."  As an adult he cast what he observed into energetic, swirling creations of concrete, metal, tile, plaster and Venetian glass.  The creations:  Casa Mila, Park Guell, and Holy Family Church, are only a few of his energetic creations described here.  These challenge the viewer to enter the curves and arches, to physically walk through the balconies and among the pillars which are indeed unlike anything imagined before or since.

Rodriguez's writing captures the emotional spirit of Gaudi's work, and the art by Paschkis is equally lively, moving across the pages in ways which reflect Gaudi's capturing of the movement of plants and animals.

John W. Stewig, Carthage College, Kenosha, WI