La Sagrada Familia

Welcome home to La Sagrada Familia....




Gaudi dedicated the latter part of his life to the design and creation of this cathedral. Although this structure was originally intended to be a smaller church built rapidly, the schedule adjusted a bit when Gaudi became involved (construction began in 1882 and it’s not ‘scheduled’ to be completed until the 2020’s).

Most noteworthy of this enormous building is the emphasis on natural forms. The choice of stone, the structure and stone of the main columns (like trees with branches that diverge near the ceiling), the glittering sky-like ceiling and the hundreds of sky-lights to allow natural light are just a few of the highlights. Additionally, adorning the cathedral are tall spirals that very literally replicate a conical snail shell. Atop these towers are the whimsical touches of Gaudi – bundles of fruits and vegetables in his classic bright mosaic medium. Standing in the cathedral gave us the sense of standing in a forest, looking up at the sky. It was perplexing as we were so obviously in a building, with the construction site taking up the majority of the interior of the church.

The other thing we kept thinking as we meandered through the cathedral was how Gaudi possibly managed to design such a structure in the early 1900’s without it collapsing. As we soon learned, Gaudi developed a unique method to solve this exact problem. He created an identical replica of the church, but on a much smaller scale. He then inverted the image and reconstructed the building with string (representing columns, walls, etc.). Next, he hung small bags of lead shot to simulate the distribution of weight and forces on various structural components of the building. There was a replica of this model in the museum adjacent to the cathedral – astounding!

The facades of the cathedral are still under construction, though two of the three are complete (nativity façade and passion façade). The glory façade is next in line. Although the cathedral was much different than other Gaudi landmarks we visited (it was his final project and with a much more serious and religious tone), it was very moving. His innovation and creativity are obvious, designing a monument that still feels fresh and novel more than 100 years later.