An Architectural Tour of Sagrada Família, Antoni Gaudí’s Audacious Cathedral That is Been Beneath Building for 142 Years

In lower than a 12 months and a half, the cen­te­nary of Antoni Gaudí’s loss of life will likely be right here. Confronted with this reality, espe­cial­ly ded­i­cat­ed enthu­si­asts of Cata­lan archi­tec­ture might already be plan­ning their fes­tiv­i­ties. However we will be positive the place the actual pres­positive is felt: the Basíli­ca i Tem­ple Expi­a­tori de la Sagra­da Família, Gaudí’s most well-known construct­ing, which — as of tomor­row — has been underneath con­struc­tion for 142 years. When it first broke floor in 1882, Gaudí was­n’t concerned in any respect, however when he took over the challenge the fol­low­ing 12 months, he re-envi­sioned it in a dis­tinc­tive com­bi­na­tion of the Goth­ic and Artwork Nou­veau kinds. The remaining, as they are saying, is his­to­ry: a trou­bled, unpre­dictable his­to­ry con­tin­u­ing to at the present time, defined by archi­tec­ture-and-his­to­ry Youtu­ber Manuel Bra­vo in the video above.

Although it isn’t but com­plete, you possibly can vis­it Sagra­da Família; certainly, it’s lengthy been essentially the most pop­u­lar vacationer attrac­tion in Barcelona. The expe­ri­ence of mar­veling on the cathe­dral’s aston­ish­ing diploma of element and not-quite-of-this-Earth struc­ture is definitely worth the value of admis­sion, which has helped to fund its ongo­ing con­struc­tion. However you’ll appre­ci­ate it on a excessive­er lev­el in the event you go along with some­one who can clarify its many unusu­al fea­tures, each archi­tec­tur­al and reli­gious — some­one with as a lot knowl­edge advert enthu­si­asm as Bra­vo, whom we’ve pre­vi­ous­ly fea­tured right here on Open Cul­ture for his movies on Pom­peii, Venice, the Nice Pyra­mids of Giza, and the Duo­mo di Firen­ze.

With Sagra­da Famíli­a’s pyra­mi­dal form, Bra­vo explains, Gaudí “hoped to sug­gest a con­nec­tion between the human and the divine.” Its three façades are ded­i­cat­ed to the start, loss of life, and eter­nal lifetime of Jesus Christ, to whom the cen­tral and tallest of its deliberate eigh­teen tow­ers will likely be ded­i­cat­ed. The cathe­dral’s exte­ri­or alone con­sti­tutes an “authen­tic Bible of stone,” however it will probably exhausting­ly pre­pare you to step into the inte­ri­or, with its “beau­ti­ful play of area, gentle, and col­or.” As Bra­vo places it, “the professional­tag­o­nist right here is the area itself,” envi­sioned by Gaudí as “an enormous for­est” involv­ing no un-nature-like straight traces. All of it present­cas­es “the com­bi­na­tion of aes­thet­ics and effi­cien­cy” that defines the archi­tec­t’s work.

Bravo’s video runs a bit over twen­ty min­utes, however you may spend a lot, for much longer appre­ci­at­ing each facet of Sagra­da Família, these com­plet­ed in Gaudí’s life­time in addition to these com­plet­ed by the numerous devot­ed arti­sans who’ve con­tin­ued his work for nearly 100 years now. The archi­tect “knew fairly effectively that he wouldn’t dwell to see the tem­ple com­plet­ed,” says Bra­vo, therefore his hav­ing “left behind so many mod­els and draw­ings” for his suc­ces­sors to go on. They’re work­ing on a 2026 lifeless­line, however as Bra­vo notes, giv­en the inter­rup­tions inflict­ed by COVID-19, “that date appears not like­ly.” However then, has there ever been as not like­ly a construct­ing as Sagra­da Família?

Relat­ed con­tent:

The Incred­i­ble Engi­neer­ing of Anto­nio Gaudí’s Sagra­da Famil­ia, the 137 Yr Con­struc­tion Mission

The Japan­ese Sculp­tor Who Ded­i­cat­ed His Life to Fin­ish­ing Gaudí’s Magazine­num Opus, the Sagra­da Família

Venice Defined: Its Archi­tec­ture, Its Streets, Its Canals, and How Finest to Expe­ri­ence Them All

Take a Excessive Def, Guid­ed Tour of Pom­peii

How the World’s Greatest Dome Was Constructed: The Sto­ry of Fil­ip­po Brunelleschi and the Duo­mo in Flo­rence

What the Nice Pyra­mids of Giza Orig­i­nal­ly Seemed Like

Primarily based in Seoul, Col­in Marshall writes and broad­casts on cities, lan­guage, and cul­ture. His initiatives embody the Sub­stack newslet­ter Books on Cities, the guide The State­much less Metropolis: a Stroll via Twenty first-Cen­tu­ry Los Ange­les and the video collection The Metropolis in Cin­e­ma. Fol­low him on Twit­ter at @colinmarshall or on Face­guide.