{"id":1896,"date":"2014-06-12T02:23:42","date_gmt":"2014-06-12T02:23:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jenniferbooher.com\/wp\/?p=1896"},"modified":"2014-06-12T02:23:42","modified_gmt":"2014-06-12T02:23:42","slug":"basilica-de-la-sagrada-familia-barcelona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/jenniferbooher.com\/wp\/basilica-de-la-sagrada-familia-barcelona\/","title":{"rendered":"Basilica de la Sagrada Fam\u00edlia, Barcelona"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Sagrada Fam\u00edlia<\/a> left me speechless. I never studied Gaud\u00ed, although my undergrad major was art history. He was mentioned but not discussed, so I arrived at the basilica with no real idea what I was looking at. I knew that it had been begun in the late 1800s and was still under construction, but very little more than that. I also knew that it is a World Heritage site ( No.320<\/a>) and I’ll visit any site on that list without knowing a thing about it. They never disappoint.<\/p>\n

At first sight the exterior was a confusing jumble of towers, sculptures, scaffolding, and cranes:<\/p>\n

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The style of the sculptures changes as you move around the building, reflecting the different artists and architects who have worked on it over the hundred-odd years of its construction.<\/p>\n

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When we walked inside, the light struck me so profoundly I couldn’t really look at the building, only the way it captured and channeled light. The windows are not finished – some still have clear glass – and you can immediately see the change in the quality of light in the unfinished portions:<\/p>\n

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This is what you see when you walk in through the main door in the Nativity fa\u00e7ade:<\/p>\n

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It’s a miracle I didn’t walk straight into another tourist, stumbling around with my eyes on the light pouring through the ceiling. When I finally was able to study the architecture, I was bewildered and amazed. It was like looking at an inscription in a foreign alphabet. Looking at hieroglyphs or runes. You know they mean something, you know there’s a logic to it, but what?<\/p>\n

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Fortunately, there is a small exhibit just off the entrance in the Nativity fa\u00e7ade which translates the architecture, describing the mathematical underpinnings and the natural forms that inspired them. I can’t explain it – I’m still trying to wrap my brain around the hyperbolic paraboloid<\/a> – but there’s some explanation on the basilica’s website<\/a> if you’re curious.\u00a0 There also a museum\/workshop in the basement below the entrance where you can see dozens of models used in constructing the church. Some are by Gaud\u00ed, others are still under construction, like the church itself. It’s included in the admission ticket, so don’t miss it!<\/p>\n

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There’s a fair amount of information about how the forms were constructed, which was fascinating, because many of them, like the twisted columns<\/a> and honeycomb forms, seem almost alien.<\/p>\n

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If you know something about ordinary building techniques, or if you think about things like how bricks are laid, this place is going to disconcert and bewilder you. The Palau de la Musica<\/a> was amazing for the craftsmanship and detail, but I never once wondered “How did they do that?” because the answer was pretty obviously patience and practice. At the Sagrada Familia, I kept blinking at the columns and trying to figure out how they could possibly have shaped them. (There’s a machine in the basement that demonstrates.)<\/p>\n

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Even the stained glass was cryptic. I kept looking for the figures and stories that I’m used to seeing in Catholic churches, but could only see shifting colors and abstract patterns. Beautiful, but meaningless. Later, one of my friends tried to show me the scenes of the Passion in those windows, but I could only vaguely see the shapes he pointed out. It was humbling.<\/p>\n

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I’m still not sure what I think of this building. Parts of it are stunningly beautiful. The play of light is exquisite. Other parts seemed, to my eyes, chaotic. All of it was somewhat bewildering.\u00a0 As I’ve worked through editing these photos, I’ve had a chance to study the building more, and reading through the UNESCO website I’ve started to get a sense of the construction history. Now I can glimpse the Gothic-Revival skeleton under the oldest part of the church, and the places where Gaud\u00ed’s work begins to grow outward from it…<\/p>\n

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And just today I found a video showing what the final form of the church will be, and seeing how much remains unbuilt I can accept the current bizarre mess on the exterior – it’s just a construction site, something I understand.<\/p>\n