Architecture in Films: Hiroshi Teshigahara's "Antonio Gaudi"

Multi-media artist and New Wave Japanese film director Hiroshi Teshigahara made a documentary on architect Antonio Gaudi in 1982.  In it, he begins framing the Barcelona architect's masterpieces in history by showing a context that includes medieval paintings of human cruelty and public buildings pocked by bullets from the Spanish Civil War, but also a sequence of people holding hands while they dance to folk music in that same bullet-scarred public square.  When the director's focus shifts to Gaudi's Casa Battlo*, however, the musical score shifts to something more ethereal and mysterious. Casa Battlo, on the right above, was actually a remodel.  Built to another architect's design in 1877, it was remodeled to Gaudi's 1904 redesign, which included the multicolored upper facade covered in broken ceramic tiles...

…as well as this lower facade with irregular ovoid windows and biomorphic columns resembling bones.

At the ground level of Casa Battlo, the columns meet the pavement with extensions recalling fhe feet of hoofed animals. Director Teshigahara shows us a farmer guiding his cattle through an ancient village street, a subtle way of introducing the theme of Gaudi's inspiration by nature. When he shifts his focus to this spiral ceiling in Casa Battlo, the soundtrack shifts to the sound of waves...

The Casa Mila (1906-1912) is examined against a backdrop of traffic sounds on the busy streets around it, but when Teshigahara focuses on the metal balcony guardrails which were inspired by seaweed, the sounds of rushing water intrude again. The plastic forms and compound curves of Casa Mila anticipate a future of poured concrete and even fiberglass shells, but they were laboriously carved of stone.  Gaudi's work may have been a poem about a better future, but it was fashioned by the techniques of traditional artisanship.

In Parc Guell, commissioned by industrialist Eusebi Guell, Gaudi was given free rain to explore his fascination with sinuous, curving forms and color.  The park was built over 14 years, starting in 1900.

Gaudi's fascination with curves led to hyperbolic paraboloid roof forms.  Generated fy straight, linear members, these forms are predictive of roof shapes explored by architects half a century later.

Teshigahara takes us to a fish market at one point, drawing connections between familiar sea creatures and Gaudi's exotic dragon gate at the Guell Pavillions, and with the ceramic denizens of Parc Guell that form relaxation and play space.  

Parabolic arches are also a subject of Gaudi's interest, and here the parabolic superstructure provides a delicate contrast to the mass of stone masonry below, evoking comparisions with steel structures from the 50s and 60s.  Note the way the stonework of the lower walls relates to traditional wall construction, which Teshigahara showed early in the scene with the cows...

Gaudi also used parabolic arches to shape interior space, as in this seequence of arches in the Casa Battlo.

In the film's final sequence, Teshigahara explores Gaudi's Sagrada Familia, the basilica commissioned in 1883 and scheduled to be completed sometime in 2026.  Here we see it in the distance from the rooftop of another Gaudi building. In one of the few spoken narratives in the film, a restoration specialist on the project discuss piecing the design together from Gaudi's drawings after his primary model was destroyed in 1936, not long after the beginning of the Spanish Civil War.

Near the conclusion, the director displays two Gaudi quotations onscreen: "Everything comes from the great book of nature", and "Human attainments are an already printed book."  The first relates to an earlier observation that Gaudi believed a building's columns should branch like trees; the second may reflect Gaudi's view of man's humble position in the overall scheme of things, and recalls the mixed images of humanity in the film's first scenes.  Gaudi stated that there would be no way he could finish his work on this basilica alone, and his confidence that the work of later architects would only increase its richness.  In some way, this hope is an answer to the stark images that begin the film; the search for beauty must run parallel to a search for truth.

Teshigahara's "Antonio Gaudi" is currently streaming on criterionchannel.com.

*Footnote:  Casa Battlo was explored in more detail by way of George Havelka's photographs, in  "Roadside Attraction: Casa Battlo in Barcelona (Sketches of Spain Part 2)", posted here on June 19, 2019.

Image Credits

All images are from "Antonio Gaudi", released in 1982 by Hiroshi Teshigahara Productions. 

Whatever Happened to Small Cars? Visit European Cityscapes and See...

In July 2023, Fiat CEO Olivier Francois announced that Fiat would no longer be offering grey cars. This praiseworthy rebellion against blandness* was announced in a video of a 600e being dipped in a vat of orange paint. Sadly, it occurred 2 model years after Fiat stopped offering its 500L sedan and 124 Spider, possibly victims of the SUV craze, in the US. The 500x crossover is still on sale here, and the little 500e all-electric coupe is still available in Europe, though the plaid color scheme shown here is apparently not a factory offering...

But red was, of course, a factory offering from Alfa Romeo on its front-drive Giulietta, a small family hatchback offered from 2010 to 2020. Only the larger Giulia sedan and Stelvio SUV were part of the company's US relaunch, which began with the 8C Competizione supercar in 2008. Too bad, because the Giulietta would have offered practicality and Alfa handling in a city-friendly size.

Alfa's 159, offered as 4-door sedan starting in 2004 and a 5-door sport wagon joined it in 2006.  On a 106" wheelbase, it's not small, but the design by Giugiaro and Alfa's Centro Stile is too pretty to ignore. Engine options included inline 4s with and without turbocharging, as well as a 3.2 liter V6, which like the chassis was based upon a GM Holden design.  Like contemporary BMW sport wagons, the 159 looks stunningly low and svelte when parked near today's big SUVs.  It was criticized for being a bit overweight by Alfisti, was never imported into the US, and was discontinued in 2011.

Audi has offered its A1 in 3 and 5 door hatchback versions in Europe since 2010, but never in the US, where their recent emphasis, even in the electric E-trons, has been on SUVs.  The A1 is a posh supermini, offering gasoline engines ranging from 1.0 to 2.0 liters.  Intriguingly, transmission choices have included 5 and 6-speed manuals, a 7-speed S-tronic, and a 1-speed for the electric E-tron version.  

BMW offered its 1 Series in this F20 three-door version starting in 2012, and continued the model through 2019, eventually adding a 3.0 liter six to the original, more modest engine range, which included a 1.5 liter turbocharged inline three, plus 1.6 and 2.0 liter inline fours (turbocharged and not).  Transmissions included a 6-speed manual and 8-speed automatic, and the styling by Nicolas Huet was sleeker than the 1 Series notchback that made it to the US.

Citroen took a nonconformist approach when they introduced their C4 Cactus subcompact SUV in 2014.   Front-drive only, the Cactus offered 1.2 liter inline 3-cylinder gas power, or a 1.6 liter diesel four.  On a 102" wheelbase, it's a tidy 163" long.  Those black panels on the flanks, front and rear are called "AIrBumps".  They protect the C4 from parking lot dings and dents, in exchange for looking like AirBumps.  The Cactus was produced in Spain until 2020, and in Brazil from 2018 until the present.  Front-drive naturally, but sadly not with the famous hydropneumatic suspension, which would have allowed adjustable ground clearance, a practical feature in an SUV...

On a 5" shorter wheelbase than the Cactus, Citroen's DS3 is based on the same chassis platform, competing in the luxury supermini category with Audi's A1.  It's an inch longer than the Opel Tigra at 155 inches,  Launched as a Citroen in 2009, the car became part of the separate DS (pronounced dee-esse, goddess in French) make in 2016, and continued for another three years. DS3 listed 1.2 liter inline threes, and 1.4 liter and 1.6 liter fours, with the 1.2 and 1.6 offering optional turbos. 

Opel's Karl (oddly named after Adam Opel's son) was built in South Korea, and was, like the Vauxhall Viva, a badge-engineered version of the 4th generation Chevy Spark. It was in the mini category (the BMW version, not the BMC) on a 93.9" wheelbase, and just over 12 feet long. Power came from a 1.0 liter inline 3, and 5-speed manual and automatics transmitted power from the front wheels to the road.  It all came to an end after 2017, when GM sold Opel to PSA (Peugeot-Citroen) Group, which joined Stellantis in 2021.

The Opel mini wagon below appears related to the equally boxy Concept A that appeared in 1999, and seemed aimed at maximum space efficiency...

Opel had offered its TIgra convertible with removable hardtop from 2004-2009, and this version was actually built in France, like the bodies for the Opel GT had been in the late 60s and early 70s.  A front-driver with 1.4 and 1.6 liter inline fours, it offered 5-speed manual as well as 4-speed automatic shifting.  It offered the right size for small car fans: at 154.4 inches on a 95.6" wheelbase, it was 2" shorter than Mazda's original Miata...

The Toyota Aygo (pronounced "I go") was a Euope-only model built in the Czech Republic alongside the related Citroen C1 and Peugeot 107. It was a true mini, with on overall length of 134" and weight just over 1,800 lb..  Engines were a 1.3 liter gas inline 3 and a 1.4 liter diesel 4. Aygo had a long production life, 2005-2022, and previewed some of the wild lighting and graphic shapes that appeared on Toyota's US market cars, especially SUVs.

VW's third-generation Scirocco, offered from 2008-17, offered 1.4 and 2.0 liter inline 4s as well as diesels, and standardized 6-speed manual gearboxes under this sleek and compact hatchback coupe shell by Walter de Silva.  Produced in Germany and Portugal, it was available only in front-drive form, perhaps to avoid competition with Audi's Quattro performance offerings.

VW's ID.3 offers electric power in a more compact form than the ID.4 we get in the US, at 167.8" long vs. 180.5" for the ID.4.  Weight is lower too, with the standard version ID.3 at 3,907 lb., while the ID.4 goes from 4,300 to 4,900 lb. depending upon configuration and trim.  ID.3 range runs from 240 to 330 miles, depending upon battery pack.   

VW's new ID.2 is still more compact, with an overall length of 159.4" on a 102.4" wheelbase, and a range of up to 280 miles.  VW's target weight for the ID.2 is 3,300 to 3,500 pounds, according to Motor Trend magazine.  In the US market, this car could fill the gap left by Nissan's planned discontinuation of the Leaf, and GM's halt of Bolt EV and EUV production after 2023.  GM has now announced a new, revised Bolt EUV for next year, and Nissan is making noise about a new Leaf.  Good for American consumers, because we're unlikely to see the ID.2 on these shores anytime soon.

There's also a GTI version of the ID.2, with 265 hp instead of the standard 233.  The GTI, shown below, offers different trim and bumpers, front and rear, but it's unlikely to appear in the US market because of the US fondness for big SUVs*, and the Trump Administration's fondness for tariffs.

If the new tariffs being levied against imported cars make it unlikely that we'll see Volkswagen's ID.3 or ID.2 (let alone the smaller ID.1) in the US, it's even less likely that we'll see the new Peugeot E-208, a new all-electric slightly smaller than the ID.2, and with a range up to 254 miles.  PSA Group had mentioned plans to relaunch Peugeot in the US before joining Stellantis in 2021, and even mentioned 2026 as a target.  But French products, like German ones, will be affected by that 25% tax.  Oddly, Russian automotive products will be exempt.  In case you want to rush out and buy a Lada, though, you can forget it; Russian cars don't meet US safety standards.  There still are Federal safety standards for cars in the US, and they're supposed to be enforced by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. We checked...

*Footnote:  

The Fiat announcement dropping grey occurred almost 2 years after we complained about the colorlessness of modern cars in "Worst Car Designs Revisited: Computerized Conformism + Fear of Color", posted here on June 20, 2021.  We reviewed the current SUV craze in "Annals of Design: Why So Many SUVs and Pickups" on November 30, 2023.

Color Photo Credits:  

All photos were contributed by our roving correspondent Dr. Marcus Nashelsky,  except for the VW ID.2 and ID.2 GTI (from Volkswagen AG on Wikimedia) and the Peugeot E-208 (from Stellantis N.V.).  In case you want to apply for that European correspondent job, we'll point out that the hourly rate we offer for photography is zero, and that Dr. Nashelsky pays all his own travel expenses.