Gaudi’s Dream
Sagrada Familia (Church of the Holy Family) is a very large church with multiple spires in Barcelona, Spain. It was designed by Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926). He was an architect from Catalonia. The construction of the Sagrada Familia began with the earnest wishes of the citizens, but all the costs were covered by voluntary donations (today, tourist admission fees are also a major source of funding). Gaudi, who was 31 years old at the time, was selected as the chief designer about a year after construction began. He made significant changes from the original plan and eventually drew up the vision of a grand group of towers consisting of 18 towers. The base is the Holy Family = Jesus Christ and his parents (Joseph and Mary). The “Tower of Jesus,” which when completed will be the tallest church in the world, and the “Tower of Mary,” which will have a dodecahedral glass star… There is no tower for Joseph, but his image is engraved on sculptures in various parts of the tower. Surrounding them are the towers of the main disciples and evangelists.
Gaudi, of course, did not expect to complete the entire building in his lifetime (in fact, only about 1/4 of it was completed during his lifetime), and he left models of each tower and many sketches for his successors, most of which, unfortunately, were destroyed or scattered during the Spanish War. Unfortunately, most of them were burnt or scattered during the Spanish War. It was not until the middle of the 20th century that construction, which had been halted due to the chaos during and after the war, resumed. Architects, sculptors, glass craftsmen, and other specialists gathered to carry on Gaudi’s legacy, and they decided to complete the project again, using the few remaining materials and the characteristics of Gaudi’s other buildings to deduce Gaudi’s intentions.
More than 60 years after that fresh start, the project was again interrupted for more than a year, this time by the new Corona pandemic. In December 2021, the “Star of Bethlehem” at the top of the tower was lit up with the light of hope as the people who had been suffering from the new Corona looked on. This was the ninth such event. This was the completion of the ninth new tower, the first in 45 years.
Now, 11 towers have been completed, and all 18 are scheduled for completion in 2026. 144 years in the making, this is truly the project of the century.
The Sagrada Familia is not only an important place for Catholics, but also for architectural engineering and art. The “Tower of Jesus,” now under construction, will be 172 meters high, an astonishing feat for a structure of stone blocks. How are the beautiful arched ceilings and columns balanced? Gaudi conducted his own experiments to determine the optimum values. Multiple ropes that look like pillars are stopped at both ends and hung down with weights attached in the center. He adjusted the position and weight of the weights and the length of the ropes to find the natural state, and then turned them upside down 180 degrees to find the most physically stable arch with no extra load. It is not difficult to imagine how much time and effort it must have taken to draw the drawings, since we do not live in an age when models can be easily made with a 3D printer. Today, reinforced concrete is also used in some parts of the building, but in the initial plans 140 years ago, of course, everything was designed in masonry. In a sense, it can be said that the technology is superior to that of today.
The project team includes the Japanese sculptor Etsuro Sotoo, who is supervising the decorative elements of the building, such as the sculptures. According to Mr. Sotoo, Gaudi wanted to express, through the beauty of the Sagrada Familia, a world without prejudice or discrimination, a world in which people live in peace with others, and he came up with the idea of expressing this in the “gradation of colors without boundaries” on the interior walls of the “Tower of Jesus. He came up with the idea of expressing it on the interior walls of the “Tower of Jesus” in “a gradation of colors without boundaries. He is currently working with a tile craftsman to create a series of prototypes in search of the ideal color.
Gaudi seems to have devoted his entire life to the construction of the Sagrada Familia. He sometimes refused his own salary if he ran out of funds, and he always dressed modestly and concentrated on his work. At the end of the day, Gaudí said, “God is not in a hurry to finish. In June 1926, on his way to mass, he was hit by a tram and died. Mistaken for a vagrant because of his poor appearance, he was treated too late. His body is said to be buried in the crypt of the Sagrada Familia.
By Admin|2023-08-25|2023,News Release|