On April 18, the exhibition "Gaudi: Instant is Eternal" kicked off at the China Architecture and Science and Technology Museum in Wuhan. More than 100 sets of cultural relics and more than 200 exhibits were the first exhibition in China, presenting a feast of architectural art to citizens and tourists.
Multiple dimensions show Gaudi's outstanding architectural achievements
Gaudi is a world-renowned architect in Spain. His architectural design is famous for replacing straight lines with a large number of regular curved surfaces and magnificent shapes. 18 architectural works he designed throughout his life remained in the world, of which 17 were listed as the best cultural relics in Spain, and seven of them were included in the World Heritage List by Vincent House, Batrow House, Mira House, Guelle Palace, Guelle Park, Guelle Textile Village Church, and Sagrada Familia were included in the World Heritage List by UNESCO.
The China Architecture and Science and Technology Museum launched the preparation of the exhibition "Gaudi: Instant and Eternal" in 2023. It was the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the West and the Chinese and Western culture and tourism year, and received strong support from the Spanish Embassy in China.
The exhibition is directed by the Hubei Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, hosted by the China Architecture and Science and Technology Museum and the Spanish Gaudi Research Institute, and supported by the Spanish Embassy in China, the Wuhan Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, the Barcelona Tourism Bureau, China Cultural Relics Exchange Center, and the University of Barcelona. It is the *** International Exchange Exhibition and *** Foreign Architectural Masters' Solo Exhibition organized by the China Architecture and Science and Technology Museum, and is also the first exhibition in China's "Gaudi: Instant is Eternal". *** Display the best version of the Sagrada Familia design manuscript of Gaudi before his death to the global public, displaying the catenary arch installation of the Guerre Textile Village Church in Asia, and the most restored Sagrada Familia model of Gaudi's imagined.
The exhibition takes Gaudi's legend and eternity as the main line and his exploration and innovation in architectural skills as the auxiliary line. It is divided into five parts: "Overb: Golden Age", "*** Scene: Studio, Dream Factory", "Act 2: Guel, Ideal Patron", "Act 3: Sagrada Familia, The Heart of the Faith", and "Epilogue: Eternal Gaudi". Through the design of manuscripts, architectural models, sculptures, research tools, documents, prints, ceramics, glass, historical old photos, immersive installations, etc., it presents Gaudi's architectural career, creative concepts and the relationship between architecture and city, and integrates the relationship between his works with Eastern and Western art and science, showing Gaudi's outstanding architectural achievements from multiple dimensions, revealing the reasons why his works have nearly eternal vitality.
Immersive experience of the art world of architects
When you enter the exhibition hall, you can see that the cultural relics and exhibits are placed in scenes to tell stories. Through exhibit display, scene creation, large-scale installations, immersive light and shadow, the audience will create exhibitions and plays in the exhibition. On the basis of understanding Gaudi Studio, the audience will explore Gaudi's architectural works from various periods along the visiting line. The exhibition hall also restored the Gaudi Studio with a half-true scene, placing more than 40 exhibits in it, showing how the studio behind Gaudi performs the overall architectural design.
Gaudi's architectural design is not only a pioneering experiment combining mechanics and optics. In this exhibition, the most restored catenary arch device of Guerre Textile Village Church in Asia reveals how Gaudi used catenary lines, mirrors, and photography to study and test the stress of the arched structure, so that the building structure can meet the load force and present a beautiful curved shape. Many colorful glass exhibits show Gaudi conducting glass color gradient tests, stained glass window color and transparency tests, and even integrating natural light into the interior space of the building. At the same time, Gaudi's architectural creation also focuses on understanding and promoting and developing Catalan traditional culture.
Chinese culture influences Gaudi architectural creation
"Gaudi is deeply influenced by other great civilizations in human history. He studied these civilization roots in depth, and China is one of them." Beret Zodi Feigerola Roger, exhibition curator and director of the Spanish Gaudi Institute, wrote in the "Preface" of the exhibition. Three-dimensional photos of lotus around Shanghai Tea Shopping Street and Beijing Summer Palace, many documents related to China, and construction photos of turtles (grains) supporting the pillars of the Sagrada Familia... These exhibits show that Gaudi's architectural creation is influenced by Chinese culture.
Gaudi's architectural works have had an impact on many fields such as architecture, painting, literary creation, and urban development. The works of artists such as Picasso, Dali, Miro and cartoonists such as Pablo show Gaudi's influence in the art and comic circles respectively.
According to reports, in order to allow the audience to deeply understand the exhibition "Gaudi: Instant is Eternal", the China Architectural Science and Technology Museum invited the dean of the Spanish Gaudi Research Institute to hold a series of public welfare academic lectures at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan University, and China Architectural Science and Technology Museum; strengthen the refining and design of Gaudi architectural elements, set up Gaudi cultural and creative exhibition areas, and launch more than 100 new Gaudi cultural and creative products; plan and launch a series of popular science research and study activities around the theme of "Entering the Wonderful World of Genius Architect Gaudi".