Barcelona ~ The Genius of Gaudi
Barcelona Sagrada Familia
“The straight line belongs to men, the curved one to God.” - Antoni Gaudi
Sagrada Familia, meaning the “Holy Family”, is an architectural marvel of a gigantic magnitude. The basilica is perhaps Barcelona’s most renowned symbol and its imposing spires dominate the city’s skyline. Despite that Sagrada Familia is not even finished yet, exploring its spellbinding outer and inner beauty is a must.
The undisputed symbol of the city, Basilica of the Sagrada Familia is a World Heritage Site that astonishes visitors with its sheer height and intricacy of design. Though Gaudí produced some of the country’s most inspiring buildings, this church is his most famous work. This masterpiece in the very heart of the city, featuring Gothic and Art Nouveau elements, is 95 m (312 ft) long and 60 m (197 ft) wide, with a seating capacity of 13,000. The central tower rises 170 m (558 ft) above the transept, with 17 other towers of 100 m (328 ft) or more.
In the center is a raised altar, crowned by the Latin cross with a canopy, decorated with vines and grapes of a vine, as Gaudí's only concession to the traditional church design. Behind the altar are the organ pipes, which, although they have very large dimensions, represent very delicate work.
Captivating Light ~ Stained Glass Windows
In the same way that the façades carry a rich symbology, the layout of the church is also full of symbols. Every door, every column, and almost every area has its own concrete or symbolic significance.
Gaudí sought out maximum contrast. The most transparent stained-glass windows are those highest up, so that the light can stream in and illuminate the mosaics and golden vaults that characterize the nave. However, the illustrations and texts are in the lower windows, where visitors can see and read them better.
Glazier Joan Vila-Grau created the stained glass windows for the Basilica following Gaudi’s vision to create a transcendent atmosphere and place for reflection and introspection. In short, a temple.
Sagrada Familia has 3 different facades with different meanings, The first one, the Nativity façade, was completed in 1935 and is influenced directly from Gaudí’s style. The Passion Façade – representing the Horrendous Suffering of Jesus is a stark contrast to the richly decorated Nativity Façade, this one is plain and simple, grim, and engraved with straight lines, resembling skeleton bones. The Glory Façade – representing Bliss and Eternal Life The most gigantic and definitely most imposing of the three façades devoted to the Heavenly Glory of Jesus, it is a representative of the road to God, consisting of death, final judgement, and glory.
Park Guell
It’s a playground for the mind: visual jokes, like columns that simulate palm-tree trunks, rubble-surfaced arches that grow out of the ground, quilts of ceramic tiles. A graceful gazebo is made of twisted angle iron – cheap to make, looks good, does not lie about its material yet its shape is as softly curved as climbing vines. The centerpiece is the intended covered market, a majestic forest of fluted columns. Its roof forms a vast terrace with a view of the city.
It’s surrounded by an undulating continuous bench, the back of which forms a balustrade, its entire surface encrusted with ceramic shards of all colors, some randomly arranged, some in patterns. This is probably the most crowded of areas in the park as visitors seat themselves and gaze out all the way to way the ocean is visible in the distance.
The Dragon water fountain
Past the entrance a smiling dragon stretches in the middle of the divided stairway. Children love it and few adult visitors can resist patting the beast on the head – the park has that kind of spirit.
Whimsical Casa Batlo
Casa Batlló is a building in the center of Barcelona designed by Antoni Gaudi. IT is considered one of his mater pieces and was a a remodel of a previously built house, it was redesigned in 1904 by Gaudí and has been refurbished several times after that.
“There are no straight lines or sharp corners in nature, therefore buildings must have no sharp lines or straight corners.” Antoni Gaudi