New beginnings church of god8/16/2023 And he noticed that natural construction tends to favor sinewy materials such as wood, muscle, and tendon. He understood that the natural world is rife with curved forms, not straight lines. The Surrealists claimed Gaudí as one of their own, while George Orwell called the church “one of the most hideous buildings in the world.”Īs idiosyncratic as Gaudí himself, the basilica is a vision inspired by the architect's religious faith and love of nature. The basilica has always been controversial-revered by some, reviled by others. The models are how Gaudí met the architect's challenge: taking a complex, holistic idea and explicating it so others can understand and continue it after your death.” A Natural Model “You can extract the architectural whole even from fragments. “They contain the entire building's structural DNA,” says Mark Burry, an Australia-based architect who has worked on the Sagrada Família for 36 years, using drawings and computer technology to help translate Gaudí's designs for today's craftsmen. Though many were destroyed by vandals during the Spanish Civil War, those geometric models have been vital to Gaudí's successors. So for more than 12 years prior to his death, he rendered his plans as three-dimensional models rather than as conventional drawings. Gaudí envisioned a soaring visual narrative of Christ's life, but knew that the massive project could not be completed in his lifetime. In 1883, Gaudí inherited the Sagrada Família from another architect, who had laid a traditional neo-Gothic base. “Nothing is art,” he concluded, “if it does not come from nature.” After studying architecture in school, he eventually forged his own style-a sui generis synthesis of neo-Gothic, art nouveau, and Eastern elements.įor Gaudí, form and function were inseparable: One found aesthetic beauty only after seeking structural efficiency, which rules the natural world. Photograph by Marco Tagliarino, National Geographic Your Shot The Long Timelineīorn in 1852 near the town of Reus, Gaudí grew up fascinated by geometry and the natural wonders of the Catalonian countryside. When the cathedral is complete, it will be the tallest religious structure in Europe. This photo was taken inside the Sagrada Família in 2015. Since then construction has been waylaid by everything from protests to politics, civil wars to funding woes. When the architect died in a trolley accident in 1926, only one façade-and less than a quarter of the exterior-was complete. When asked why the project was taking so long, the pious Gaudí was fond of saying, “My client is not in a hurry.” He was talking about God. More quantifiable is the time it’s taken to build the cathedral. Today the annual budget is reportedly $27 million, paid for partially by visitor entrance fees and private donations. It’s impossible to say how much money the prolonged construction has cost over the years. Rising hundreds of feet above downtown Barcelona, it draws the eyes (and euros) of some three million visitors a year. The building is now 70 percent complete and on track to be finished in 2026-the centenary of Gaudí’s death-though some decorative elements could take up to six additional years to complete.Ĭonsecrated in 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI, the Sagrada Família remains an extravagant work in progress-a fever dream of deliquescent spires and vivid stained glass, ornate facades, and ornamental arches. The tallest of the new towers will be 564 feet (172 meters) high, making the cathedral the tallest religious structure in Europe, says Jordi Faulí, the current chief architect. Six new towers will soon be added to the (in)famous Roman Catholic basilica in Barcelona, bringing the total to 18 and-at long last-finishing the work begun by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí in the late 19th century. All are welcome and we see that none leave without feeling truly loved and appreciated.Clock-watchers, take note: The Sagrada Família has entered the home stretch of construction. Villa Rica, GA 30180 Phone: (770) 639-6597Ĭome and enjoy praise and worship in a small town atmosphere in a small town church.
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