2004

The Sagrada Familia is Antonio Gaudi’s most famous structure. A basilica, a church that is large and based on the shape of ancient Roman public buildings – with a large nave or main section with an apse or spherical area at one end – is used for Christian worship and prayer. This one is dedicated to the Holy Family.

It was begun in 1884. It has not yet been completed yet. Gaudi gave this work his primary attention for the last forty years of his life, and dedicated his own money to its construction.

The building attracts attention because of its fantastic size and the way Gaudi used natural shapes and forms to decorate it. The Holy Family is found in a sort of opening at the bottom of a Christmas tree that creates the entrance to the Church.

There are many, wonderful details in this work of art. Gaudi was attracted to the Gothic style. But he believed that the forms should derive from nature. He disliked straight lines, delighting in the fluidity of organic forms.

The towers are topped by geometrical crosses, but otherwise seem childlike – like something one might find in a sand-castle. Early on, Gaudi's work was not highly respected. George Orwell, for one, thought his buildings were ugly. But in time, Gaudi became a great Catalan treasure.

Gaudi died in 1924, victim of an accident with a tram. (He died in a public hospital, and his identity was unknown at the time. He was assumed to be an old beggar!) After World War II, interest in completing the building was renewed. Architects were commissioned to design the “passion” side of the Church, opposite the main entrance. Unfortunately, from our point of view, it lacks the imaginative character and style of the Gaudi portions of the work.

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