Summary
Baroness Ros Altmann, a Conservative peer and former pensions minister, was “blown away” by the architecture of Antoni Gaudi on a trip to Barcelona in the 1990s. She’s been back several times and her wonder at Gaudi’s use of colour and natural shapes has not faded. She wants to find out more about the conservative, religious man who created such exuberant and flamboyant work. Gaudi biographer Gijs Van Hensbergen joins Ros and host Matthew Parris to explore Gaudi’s childhood, his personal life and how his Catholicism and love of Catalan nature informed his work. Producer: Paul Martin for BBC Studios Audio.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Before you listen to this BBC podcast I'd like to introduce myself. My name's |
| 0:04.0 | Stevie Middleton and I'm a BBC Commissioner for a load of sport |
| 0:07.5 | podcasts. I'm lucky to do that at the BBC because I get to work with leading |
| 0:11.1 | journalists, experienced pundits and the biggest |
| 0:13.3 | sports stars. Together we bring you untold stories and fascinating insights |
| 0:17.4 | straight from the player's mouth. But the best thing about doing this at the BBC is |
| 0:22.0 | our unique access to the sporting world. |
| 0:25.0 | What that means is that we can bring you podcasts that create a real connection to |
| 0:28.9 | dedicated sports fans across the UK. |
| 0:31.5 | So if you like this podcast, head over to BBC Sounds where you'll find plenty more. |
| 0:35.2 | Is there a city anywhere in the world more associated with a single architect than |
| 0:41.0 | Barcelona and Antoni Gaudi. My guest today, nominating Gaudi for great lives, fell in love with |
| 0:48.6 | his buildings and his art on a visit to the city in the 1990s. She is Baroness Ross Altman, the Conservative |
| 0:56.4 | Pier and former Pensions Minister. |
| 0:59.1 | Ros, tell me about that first trip and subsequent trips to Barcelona? Well actually I had decided to |
| 1:06.3 | take one of my daughters on a trip just the two of us because with three children you tend not to give them |
| 1:14.0 | individual attention. So I decided let's go to Barcelona I'd never been and I |
| 1:20.4 | didn't really know much about it but I very much like Spain. |
| 1:24.0 | So off we went and we got there and as usual we take a bus tour of the city hop on hop off just to see all the sites before deciding and I was just |
| 1:36.0 | blown away when I saw the outside of the buildings that Gaudy had constructed. |
| 1:43.0 | And I just fell in love with it and we spent hours in the |
| 1:48.0 | the Casabatio and the Casa Mila. |
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