Out and about with Gaudi
Description
Catalonia may (still) be part of the Kingdom of Spain, but it is by no means an obedient province, but a powerful and largely independent territory with a clear identity and its own language, and with inhabitants, not the most tapped in the rest of Spain. The Catalan is first and foremost Catalan, and its history is older than Castilian-Spanish.
Catalonia was also the most important industrial area in the Iberian Peninsula from the mid-nineteenth century (a very close second is the Basque Country). It was even among the most important in Europe in certain branches, such as the cotton industry. The silting up of the entrance to Seville caused Barcelona's rise to become Spain's most important port in the 19th century. The increasing proximity to Europe (through the construction of two railway lines to France), the loss of Cuba, the loss of colonies in the Americas and the concomitant independence of those countries, they all influenced the rise of Catalonia. It also played a role that, apart from the Basque country, Catalonia was the only part of Spain with natural hydropower for generating energy useful for the industry of the time.
The capitalist grand bourgeoisie -sometimes liberal, but always Catholic- that emerged with this already gave the opportunity for a flourishing Catalan art production. This gave rise to hundreds of ateliers with associated workshops and factories, all now (industrial) heritage.
Important entrepreneurs such as Güell, Battló and Vicens commissioned architects such as Antoní Gaudí, who designed, among other things, the Colonia Güell with the church, which -though only the crypt was built- has become famous because of the "hanging model" developed by Gaudí.
Gaudí, as a rationalist with perfect control over materials, will be the subject of this talk
10.30:00 Reception with coffee
11:00 Lecture by Prof.dr.ir. J. Molema
11.45 Pause
12.15 Continuation of lecture with concluding discussion
12.45 End of meeting
N.B. From 10.00 - 10.30 a.m. the General Members' Meeting of the Histechnica Association will take place.
ROUTE DESCRIPTION
From motorway A13 Rotterdam or Den Haag, exit Delft Zuid/TU Delft. Keep following TU Delft. At the end of the exit TU Delft turn right onto Schoemakerstraat. Then take the first turn left and immediately left again across the bridge. You are now in the car park of the burnt down Faculty of Architecture (Van den Broekweg). The Cultural Centre is at the end of this road, across Mekelweg. Due to work on the newly constructed ' Mekelpark', the Mekelweg is closed. Public transport via NS Delft-Zuid (see also the link below).
Location
Cultuurcentrum, Theatre Hall 232
Mekelweg 10, 2628 CD DELFT
Organiser
History of Technology
Histechnica
Name and contact details for information
Further information from L.A. Hissink at the e-mail address below.