Assignment One

Louise Sang-Cheung Burling

802295367

Antoni Gaud: La Sagrada Familia

An Essay

La Sagrada Familia Basilica in Barcelona, Catalonia (Spain) is an architectural

masterpiece of the 19th century - a project well ahead of its time, designed and instituted by
renowned Catalonian architect Antoni Gaud (1852-1926). The Art Nouveau period (1890 1910) was only beginning to emerge and materialise at the time of Gauds entry into the
Sagrada Familia project in 1883. The site was originally reserved for a drastically smaller
church designed by Francisco de Paula del Villar, in the Gothic revival style (see fig. 1.1).
Construction for this original project began in 1882, however only a small portion of Villars
design, namely the apse crypt, was completed before his resignation in 1883 (see fig 1.2), and
consequently, the handover of the project to Gaud. Thus, the beginning of what would
become an architectural and technological phenomenon of its time.

fig. 1.1, Villars original plan.1

fig. 1.2, Construction before Gauds entry.2

Xavier Gell, Antoni Gaud, (Barcelona: Editorial Gustavo Gili, 1986), 189.

Ibid.

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Inspired by the architectural language of Gothic revival, Gaud was determined to

design a Cathedral that respected Villars original plan, while still relating to the land and the
people of Catalonia. Gaud was heavily influenced by nature - the rugged hills and draping
forests of El Montserrat in Catalonia are resonant in the tall towers of La Sagrada Familia;
the temple upon Montserrat gave a spiritual language that seemed to present a narrative for
the largely religious population, and rang true with the religiously inclined La Sagrada
Familia Basilica. Juan Jos Lahuerta writes about the towers of Sagrada Familia, and their
direct relationship to to Montserrat: [the towers are] a mountain, vaguely reminiscent of the
strangely shaped rocks and hallucinatory land-scape of Montserrat3 (see fig. 2.1).

fig. 2.1, The Passion faade with the tallest towers (currently), La Sagrada Familia.4
Lahuerta continues, it is well known that Montserrat has been a sacred mountain since the
earliest times, but that it is the sacred mountain of Catalonia in the strict sense that its very form as such
expresses a supposed essence of Catalonia - something that thus goes beyond religion5

Juan Jos Lahuerta, Antoni Gaud (Milano: Electa Architecture Mondadori Electa spa, 2003), 258.

Rennie Jones, AD Classics: La Sagrada Familia/Antoni Gaud, ArchDaily, accessed August 9, 2015, http://
www.archdaily.com/438992/ad-classics-la-sagrada-familia-antoni-gaudi.
4

Lahuerta, Antoni Gaud, 260.

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This proposes Gauds Sagrada Familia as more than just a religious monument, but
rather, a symbol of the very lifeblood that runs through the towns, cities and people of
Catalonia.
Barcelonas city plan follows a strict grid system, and La Sagrada Familia is no
exception to this (see fig. 3.1, 3.2 and 4.2).

fig. 3.1, L. Jausselys plan for the remodelling of Barcelona.6

fig. 3.2, Aerial view of Barcelona.7

Much like the symmetrical grid plan of Barcelona, La Sagrada Familia is also very
symmetrical and axial (see fig. 4.1 and 4.2). The Eastern and Western sides of the plan imitate
each other; the towers are evenly spaced so as the symmetrical language of each rising pillar
is evidently seen; the alter is centred perfectly at the Northern end of the Basilica - Gaud has
distributed each fundamental aspect (beams and columns) in the same grid pattern associated
with the city grid plan of Barcelona, again, connecting his piece of art with the city and the
people.

Lahuerta, Antoni Gaud, 270.

Spectacular Images, Dized, accessed August 13, 2015, http://www.dized.net/newspage.php?news=2677.

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fig. 4.1, Gauds La Sagrada Familia floor plan.8

fig. 4.2, Site plan and study of optimum visibility.9

Gaud had designed Sagrada Familia to have three faades: the Nativity, Passion and Glory.
Each faade represents different aspects of religious and pastoral life. The Nativity faade
facing East, is veiled in symbols of nature such as intricate floral designs, joyful people, as well
as animals - all carved out of stone (see fig. 4.3). It is said to represent the birth of Christ,
hence facing toward the Northeast sunrise. It was also the first of the three faades to be built
(1894 - 1930), as he would need to set an artistic and architectural example for others to follow.10

fig. 4.3, The Nativity faade, La Sagrada Familia.11

The Passion faade, created by Catalonian sculptor Josep Maria Subirachs, was
designed to completely contrast the Nativity faade in all ways - the depiction of Christs
death was therefore the artistic direction taken for this sculptural faade (see fig. 5.1).
8

Gell, Antoni Gaud, 190.

Ibid., 191.

Sagrada Familia, Wikipedia, accessed August 10, 2015, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagrada_Fam

%C3%ADlia#cite_note-32.
10

Details of Gauds Nativity Faade on La Sagrada Familia, Lightbox 3D, accessed August 13, 2015, https://
lightbox3d.wordpress.com/2014/11/05/details-of-the-gaudis-nativity-facade-on-the-sagrada-familia-basilica/.
11

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fig. 5.1, The Passion Faade, La Sagrada Familia.12

The stone is again carved, but minimally so, with little-to-no intricate detailing, with the
exception of the depictions of hollowed men caving in at the sight of Christ, crucified on a
vertical cross: In contrast to the highly decorated Nativity Faade, the Passion Faade is carved with
harsh straight lines to resemble the bones of a skeleton. Dedicated to the Passion of Christ, the suffering of
Jesus during his crucifixion, the faade was intended to portray the sins of man.13 The monstrous
columns supporting this side of the Cathedral look like the bare, skeletal rib-cage of man without life and tensely pulling the roof of the Cathedral down into the ground, perhaps
suggesting graveyard symbolism, and intensifying the emotional relationship between human
kind and death.
The third and final faade, Glory, is currently under construction. It was designed to be
the largest and most striking of the three, and is said to represent ones ascension to God.14 Before
Gaud's death in 1926, the architect built a scale model of the largest and most religiously
significant faade. During the Spanish Civil War, most of this model was destroyed (along
with many of his other models and drawings), however, technological advancements of the

The Passion Faade, A Certain Slant of Light, accessed August 13, 2015, https://lightslant.wordpress.com/
2011/05/31/the-passion-facade/.
12

13

Sagrada Familia.

14

Ibid.

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20th and 21st century have allowed for 3D imaging to show the original states of many of the
original fragments discovered, and therefore allowed a new generation of architects to
recreate it in respect to Gaud's original wishes (see fig. 6.1). Scenes on this faade will include
essential religious elements such as Hell, Purgatory, the Seven Deadly Sins and the Seven
Heavenly Virtues.

fig. 6.1, Gauds remodelled Glory faade to scale plaster.15

Gaud: Sagrada Familia, Glory Faade, Gaud and Art Nouveau in Catalonia, accessed August 10, 2015, http://
www.gaudiallgaudi.com/AA012c.htm.
15

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Early floor plans of La Sagrada Familia show a very standard cathedral layout, with the
nave, altar and transepts forming a cross shape (see fig. 4.1). Each area is shown in the plan
drawing to have a variety of formulated columns in areas where the congregation would
generally be seated (see fig. 6.2 and 6.3).

fig.6.2, Early photograph of the canopy ceiling under construction.16

fig. 6.3, Subdivisions of the columns.17

Stone columns rise from the ground forming geometric shapes known as double twist
columns: What makes this column interesting is that [it] can be subdivided according to geometry and the
continuity of lines and surfaces, just like on trees, or between our fingers and the rest of the hand.18 Atop the
subdivided, tree-like columns, a canopy of brightly coloured tiles, formed in all sorts of
geometric shapes, look down toward tourists and Gaud enthusiasts, with circular skylights
allowing the blue of the Catalonian sky to drip down along the columns, trying to reach for
the floor 170 metres below. Stained glass windows filter the outside light into a spectrum of
colours, creating a truly realistic forest scene (see fig. 7.1 and 7.2).

16

Yukio Futagawa, Gaud (Tokyo: A.D.A EDITA Tokyo Co., Ltd., 2003), 26-27.

17

Ibid., 20-21.

Jordi Fauli, et al., Liquid Stone: Unlocking Gauds Secrets. Documentary. Directed by Polly Watkins. New Zealand:
TVNZ, 2011.
18

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fig 7.1, View of the highly decorated ceiling and columns.19

fig. 7.2, Light streaming through the multi-coloured stained-glass windows.20

To conclude, Gauds masterpiece La Sagrada Familia Basilica in Barcelona is not only
an architectural phenomenon of its time, but an artistic, sculptural and religious monument,
that will forever defy the odds of time. Catalonian poet of the 19th Century, Joan Maragall,
puts the essence of La Sagrada Familia into words: The temple that shall not be completed, that is in
everlasting formation, that never finally closes its roof to the blue sky, or its walls to the winds, or its doors to
the chance steps of men The temple that constantly awaits its altars.21

Daily Prompt - Tourist Trap, My Life, Such as it is, accessed August 13, 2015, https://
mairedubhtx.wordpress.com/2013/06/03/daily-prompt-tourist-trap/.
19

La Sagrada Familia, Living Outside the Box, accessed August 13, 2015, https://angiedeptula.wordpress.com/
2013/12/11/la-sagrada-familia/.
20

21

Lahuerta, Antoni Gaudi, 274.

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WORD COUNT: 1,097

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