“My client is not in a hurry”. That’s what Gaudí used to say when he was asked about the completion of the Sagrada Familia, the worldwide known cathedral of Barcelona and indeed the most important of his works.
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| La Pedrera |
The construction of the Sagrada Familia stands on three main pillars: Firstly, original geometric shapes such as the parabolic arch or hyperboloid structures. Secondly, an organic, naturalistic style. And last but not the least important, religion.
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| The awesome main façade |
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| The cathedral on the inside |
However, the Sagrada familia does not have this kind of plan. Gaudí planned the three different entrances on the basis of chapters of the Bible. As a result, the Nativity façade faces east, dawn that is; the Passion façade faces west, dusk, and the Glory façade, yet to be completed, will face south to the sea.
Numbers are absolutely necessary in the interpretation of religious architecture. They make plenty of references to the Bible in a Catholic church. When the Sagrada Familia is finished, it will have 18 towers, 12 of which will be thin 112-metre-high spires which symbolize the Apostles. There will be another 4 on each façade, eight of which are already standing. The ones on the Nativity façade are dedicated to Matthias, Jude, Simon and Barnabas while those on the Passion façade are dedicated to James, Thomas, Philip and Bartholomew. Over the apse there will be a 130-metre-high dome dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
It will also have four 135-metre-high towers dedicated to the Evangelists, which have a direct correspondence on the inside. There are four pillars which support a dome, each one symbolizing one Evangelist: Luke, a bull; Matthew, a winged man; John, an eagle and Mark, a lion.
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| John's pillar |
Nowadays, both architects and art designers are working on the drawings Gaudí left, although it is not enough. They are using the latest software, such as one used by NASA engineers, to design fitting structures that support the weight and the height of the domes and spires.
The Sagrada familia is being built thanks to the donations of thousands of people and institutions as well as to a percentage of entrance tickets. So it is worth paying the ticket so as to help complete the cathedral just the way Gaudí wanted.
Thanks a lot, Sara, this post is really enlightening ad you took some fantastic photos of the Cathedral. Now, you sent me two YouTube videos: the first shows what the Sagrada familia might look like when it's completed (who knows when!)
Thanks a lot, Sara, this post is really enlightening ad you took some fantastic photos of the Cathedral. Now, you sent me two YouTube videos: the first shows what the Sagrada familia might look like when it's completed (who knows when!)
The second is an interesting interview (subtitled in English) with Professor Mark Burry, from RMIT University in Australia, which is helping with the completion of Gaudi's famous Basilica.
Surely many of you guys have been to Barcelona and would like to share your own views on the, to my mind, somewhat overambitious work being done to Gaudi's unfinished masterpiece.
Great job, Sara! :-) Gaudi was soooo ahead of his time and the completion of his masterpiece seems to be too challenging. Even today, 130 years later, besides all the help they get from the technology, our architects give me the impression of being impotent, and the common belief is that once finished, the cathedral won't represent Gaudi's original idea. I have the same opinion.
ResponderEliminarThank you, Jelena! It’s not easy to sum up something so complicated such as the Sagrada Familia in a few lines. The structure of the SF is not as simple as most of the people tend to think; at least at first sight. That’s why I tried to shed some light on the basis of the religious architecture.
EliminarIt’s undeniable that nobody knows exactly nowadays how Gaudí wanted the SF to be. Many of his drawings of the temple were destroyed during the Spanish Civil War. Thus, designers and architects are forced to follow the few drawings Gaudí left.
I honestly hope that his initial idea won’t be distorted.
No doubt Antoni Gaudí, ‘God’s architect’, as he used to be called, was a visionary, kind of a genius, especially bearing in mind that his designs were drawn in the late 19th century.
ResponderEliminarThe ‘Sagrada Familia’ in Barcelona is a ‘unique’ reinterpretation of Gothic architecture, with its ‘twisted leaning pillars’, projecting from the temple like branches, and its skylights facing up to the sky.
Our universal Catalan artist created his amazing architecture using nature’s shapes, by means of small-scale miniatures, instead of making drafts on paper in the traditional way. Even nowadays, more than one century later, we are not able to understand his projects, not even with computer programmes. Wow, what a privileged mind!
Nothing compares to la 'Sagrada Familia’ in boldness and unconventional beauty. I highly recommend a visit to this impressive, unfinished building, a must for every visitor!
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