Sagrada Familia (4th March 2011)

Probably Barcelona's best known landmark, this Gaudi building has been in construction over 70 years, and is still unfinished. Many of Gaudi's building structures, especially columns, are inspired by bones, which is why the Sagrada Familia, as well as La Pedrera and his famous Casa Batllo, have columns which echo bones.



The basilica was formally consecrated by the Pope in mid 2010, after the interior of the church had been finished. The Escolania de Montserrat were asked to sing at the Mass, presided by the Pope, where they sand Pau Casal's Nigra Sum and his Oracio a la Verge de Montserrat, which are accessible through YouTube.

The church itself is a huge building, with tiers of seats set in balconies all the way round the nave, almost as if it were an auditorium. One of the most interesting aspects of the church is the innovative design of the columns, which are mostly inspired by bones, and the majority of which seem to sprout arms at the top to create more support for the huge roof over the church. Almost all of these columns have a different design at the top, and create a wonderful pattern of stars and crosses on the roof. The nave and the two transepts meet right before the main altar in a wonderful pattern of pillars and colours, as well as many different shapes and marble and granite colours.



Another aspect of the building which is very common in all of Gaudi's architecture is the use of natural light. The ceiling is pierced all the way down the nave with skylights which allow the sun's light to flood in. If we were to compare this church to Notre Dame of Paris, for instance, we would immediately see that one of them is full of light and the other one is very dark. Gaudi was aiming to fill this building with light to showcase a new wave of architecture style, which we can now see is a very common thing in contemporary projects, where floor-to-ceiling windows are a must-do.

At the bottom of the picture above we see a big opening, which allows the sun to shine on a triangle of gold. This is apparently meant to represent God, who is associated heavily with Light, creating a very nice effect, especially with the darker area around and behind the main altar.






These two photos are also from the Sagrada Familia, and show another typical aspect of Gaudi architecture. Gaudi liked to decorate the top of his buildings, either with images or with colourful tiled ceilings, such as at Casa Batllo. Here he does bith, by decorating each turret with fruits and white birds, both of which create a very colourful picture. Like his famous lizard and benches at the Parc Güell, Gaudi used these images as his own "signature dish".