Celebrating the Year of Gaudí: An Evening with author Gijs van Hensbergen
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In 2026, Barcelona marks the centenary of Antoni Gaudí's death — a year in which the city has also been designated World Capital of Architecture by UNESCO, placing it at the heart of a global conversation about one of history's most extraordinary creative minds.
To celebrate, we are welcoming one of the world's leading authorities on Gaudí and Barcelona's modernist architecture for an evening of conversation, stories and discovery.
Gijs van Hensbergen is a Dutch art historian, Hispanist and author whose work has brought Gaudí to readers around the world. Trained at the Courtauld Institute of Art, he wrote the first critical biography of Antoni Gaudí, widely praised as the definitive account of the man and his work. He has since written on Gaudí's Sagrada Família for Bloomsbury, appeared on CBS 60 Minutes, BBC Radio 4 and TV3, and lectured at institutions including the Museo del Prado, the National Gallery London and the Reina Sofía. His writing has appeared in The Guardian, The Times, the Wall Street Journal and El País, among many others.
This evening, in conversation with moderator Nick Lloyd, Gijs will take us behind the stones and spires — into the life, obsessions and genius of Gaudí, and what it means to be in Barcelona during this once-in-a-century year. Nick Lloyd is a writer, historian, and founder of Spanish Civil War Tours, a project dedicated to bringing the stories of the conflict to life through guided visits to key sites across Catalonia and Aragón. Over the years, his work has helped connect countless visitors with Spain’s complex past, weaving together the political, cultural, and personal dimensions of the war.
This event is made possible thanks to Seven Dreams of Gaudí, an ambitious concert project co-created and produced by Renée Cooke, premiering at the Palau de la Música Catalana as part of the Year of Gaudí celebrations. Find out more at sevendreamsofgaudi.com.