La Sagrada Familia (Place)

If Antoni Gaudí had not been commissioned for his life’s work, Basilica y Templo Expiatorio de la Sagrada Familia, his fame would only be a fraction of what it is.  It is his masterpiece vision and partial completion of a Catholic church that brings millions, instead of thousands, of tourists and sightseers to Barcelona every year to admire his works.  Gaudí took over work on la Sagrada Familia in 1883, revising the original architect’s plans from scratch But it was the last 20 years of his life, beginning in 1906, characterized by daily confession and mass, when his spiritual life and masterpiece began to merge.  From then on, “he devoted himself single-mindedly to the ‘expiatory temple,’ knowing it would take generations after his death to make good his epic vision.”[1]  Antoni Gaudí respected creation as the manifestation of God’s will.  Gaudí found God in the very technique he used to create la Sagrada Familia, the Catenary system.  The two points and curved line that create the parabolic arch are symbolic to Gaudí.  In those two points, “Gaudí saw the Father and the Son, each unique and infinite, with the cord of the Holy Spirit binding them together.”[1]   Antoni Gaudí, apart from his faith is incomprehensible.

The complete design of the eighteen towers, representing the Twelve Apostles, the Four Evangalists, The Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ, and the facades do an astonishing job of putting the Catholic religion on display to the outside world. It is important, however, to also focus on the nature theme hugely present at la Sagrada Familia.  The inside of the Basilica makes one feel like they are in a forest.  Gaudí has created this feeling using the shapes he found in nature.  Such as the columns, which at their crown break off into what look like branches.  Gaudí incorporates passion fruit tendrils along the walls of his Nativity façade.  And the tops of the towers, they are modeled after blades of grass that grew in and around Barcelona, and crystals.[2]  “When you pray in the Sagrada Familia, you will be enveloped by structural forms that are closer to God’s design than are those of any other church.”1  And that was exactly how Gaudí intended it to be.  Pope John Paul II endorsed Antoni Gaudi’s nomination for sainthood in 2000. And in 2010, Pope Benedict XVI consecrated la Sagrada Familia.[1]  The Basilica is scheduled to finish construction by 2026.

[1] Ivereigh, Aalbert: God’s architect. America, 2010, 203, 7.

[2] Design by nature. National Geographic, 2010, 218, 6.