About me
Chiara Curti, PhD architect specialising in the life and work of Antoni Gaudí.
It feels strange to write my own biography, because what would remain would be little more than a list of dates, events and achievements. In truth, the most important things in my life have taken place in my heart, and that realm rarely belongs to a biography. My most meaningful achievements are not my studies, but my love for life and the fact that studying Gaudí has led me to understand that this love has an origin, a way of being nurtured, and a destination.
It is a search that began in my youth. Today I see that nothing has been lost in vain; quite the opposite. An invisible, providential order has woven everything together with a red thread that has embroidered my story and allowed me to add my small grain of beauty to the world through the study of Gaudí’s life and work.
My own story began in Milan, where I was born in 1972, into a family of artisans devoted to the distillation of alcohol. I grew up in the schools of Mother Francesca Cabrini, where I was taught to walk, not to be afraid, and to trust in God.
I am an architect, graduated from the Polytechnic of Milan. Shortly after completing my degree, in 1999, I moved to Spain for love. I have always had a unified perception of reality through art, and this gift has allowed me to look at it as a whole.
When I arrived in Barcelona I encountered Gaudí—his work and his life—and in me was born the desire to study him more deeply. That path led me to obtain a PhD cum laude in Humanities and Art History from CEU San Pablo University. My thesis, awarded the International Mention, explores the relationship between the life of Antoni Gaudí and the construction of the Expiatory Temple of the Sagrada Familia.
Since then, my work has increasingly focused on the study of the life and work of Antoni Gaudí, as well as on the field of religious heritage, which is essential to understanding him. As a researcher affiliated with the Ateneu Sant Pacià, I regularly present the results of my studies at conferences and academic seminars.
In 2022 I published La Sagrada Família · Cathedral of Light (Triangle Books, translated into six languages) and, in 2025, My Gaudí. The Biography Written by His Friends (Triangle Books, translated into four languages). Over the years, my work has led me to be recognised as a specialist in Gaudí’s biography, with particular attention to his relationship with the Sagrada Familia.
I actively participate in the cultural sector as a curator of art and architecture exhibitions, promoting both sacred and contemporary art. I have curated four major exhibitions dedicated to Gaudí and the Sagrada Familia —in Brussels (European Parliament, 2008), Madrid (Parque del Retiro and Fernán Gómez, 2011), Rio de Janeiro (Niterói Contemporary Art Museum, Oscar Niemeyer, 2014) and Panama City (BioMuseo by Frank Gehry, 2019)—as well as travelling exhibitions such as From Stone to Master, about the sculptor Etsuro Sotoo, and *Storie di Uomini
I give lectures in different countries and collaborate with various media outlets. I write regularly for the Culture pages of L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, and publish in several Spanish and international newspapers.
Since 2015 I have been a professor at the Ateneu Sant Pacià in Barcelona, where I teach courses on Modernism, Gaudí and Christian architecture from the early centuries to the present day.
As an architect, I collaborate with various foundations and associations linked to artistic and religious heritage. Among these collaborations, I have coordinated monumental heritage projects for the Works Board of the Basilica of the Purísima Concepción in Barcelona. I have also worked for the Sagrada Familia Construction Board, taking part in the restoration of the crypt and the Portal of Faith on the Nativity Façade.
I am a member of the Board of Directors of the pan-European association Future for Religious Heritage, where I chair the Membership Committee, and I am President of the Associació Cultural Antoni Gaudí.
In 2025 I was honoured as Ufficiale dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia, a distinction conferred by decree of the President of the Italian Republic for my work in promoting culture and strengthening international cooperation.
Even so, if I had to say what has most marked my heart, I would say it has been being accompanied by the love of my family and having Gaudí close to me: among all the things I have done at the Sagrada Familia over the years, the most constant has been going to his tomb.
