Antoni Gaudi remembered: Google Doodle pays tribute to work of Spanish architect

The latest Google Doodle celebrates the 161st birthday of the Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi, famous for his exuberant style, embodied by the iconic, unfinished church the Sagrada Familia and the Park Guell, both in Barcelona.

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Gaudi was born in 1852 in Reus, a small town outside Barcelona, in Spain's region of Catalonia. His highly personal, colourful and organic style - labelled Modernisme, though it has as much in common with Art Nouveau - still draws visitors from around the world. Indeed, the Sagrada Familia is Spain's biggest tourist attraction.

His central preoccupation was long the church of Sagrada Familia, which has a design based on the Latin cross. The work had been started by architect Francesc de P. del Villar in 1882 in Gothic revival style, but when Gaudì took over he made fundamental changes to the project and continued the work until his death.

The doodle shows Park Guell, the shell-like interior of the Casa Mila, the balcony designs of the Casa Battlo, a green chimney on the Palau Guell, and the masked Roman soldiers on the Sagrada Familia.

Video: Antoni Gaudi - Google Doodle on June 25, 2013