Barcelona, 1926) studied architecture at the Llotja School and the Barcelona School of Architecture, where he graduated in 1878. To finance his studies, Gaudí worked as a draughtsman for various architects and builders, such as Leandre Serrallach, Joan Martorell, Emilio Sala Cortés, Francisco de Paula del Villar y Lozano and Josep Fontserè. After obtaining his architecture degree in 1878, his first projects were lampposts for the Plaça Reial, the Girossi Newsstand project, the display case for the Esteban Comella glove shop, and the furniture for the chapel-pantheon of the Sobrellano Palace in Comillas, all completed in the same year as his graduation. The Cooperativa Obrera Mataronense (Mataró Workers’ Cooperative) (1878-1882), was his first important commission, although it was not completed in its entirety, since only one warehouse was built. His subsequent work included furniture for the Gibert Pharmacy (1879), the decoration of the church of Sant Pacià in Sant Andreu de Palomar (1879-1881) and the church of the Col·legi de Jesús-Maria in Tarragona (1880-1882). Gaudí combined the construction of Casa Vicens with other commissions: in 1883 he took over the work of the Temple Expiatori of the Sagrada Família, started the previous year in a project by Francisco de Paula del Villar y Lozano, which he withdrew from shortly after due to a disagreement with the construction board. Gaudí would then devote the rest of his life to the construction of the temple, regarded as his greatest work and the synthesis of all his architectural findings. In the same year, 1883, he worked on an altarpiece for the chapel of the Santíssim Sagrament in the parish church of San Feliu in Alella, as well as topographical plans for the Can Rosell de la Llena farmhouse in Gelida. He was also commissioned to build an annexed villa for the Sobrellano Palace, owned by Antonio López y López, Marquis of Comillas, in the Cantabrian town of the same name, known as El Capricho. It was built between 1883 and 1885 in an orientalist style similar to that of Casa Vicens, where its ceramic cladding is clearly visible. He also built the Güell Pavilions in Pedralbes (1884-1887) in a similar style, a commission from Eusebi Güell, his principal patron and friend. This moment represented the first stage of Gaudí’s career. The period is characterised by his use of an architectural language with great constructive simplicity, in which the straight line prevails over the