Tuesday, March 19

Architectural Inspiration: La Sagrada Familia



This incredible ceiling belongs to La Sagrada Familia, a large, beautiful Roman Catholic church in Barcelona, Spain designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi. 
How amazing is that ceiling? It gets better.


The church started construction in 1882 (130 years ago) and still is not complete. At the time of Gaudi's death in 1926, the project was only a quarter complete. The construction passed it's midway point in 2010 and is estimated to be completed by 2026! It was delayed by funding and the Spanish Civil War.



The design of the building combines Gothic and curvilinear Art Nouveau forms as you can see in this detail above.


The church holds 9,000 people! And how amazing are those columns??

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The stained glass window creates some amazing colors on the forms inside the building.

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Aren't those colors magical?

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This is one church that I would absolutely LOVE to visit. Though I am not involved with the church, to hear the echoes of the mass in that structure must be incredible. Just to see the building would be incredible!

Have any of you ever been there?
I would love to hear about your experience if you have!

♥ K

3 comments:

  1. Let's go together!!!! The columns were meant to resemble groves of trees. I would say he was very successful. Many of his ideas were so far ahead of his time that engineers have only recently figured out how to build what he designed. But he did figure out how to overcome tons of engineering problems before he died. Sort of like Brunelleschi's dome in Italy....and that's a great story if you haven't read it, please borrow my copy of the book. Gaudi'w work makes me so happy. :)

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  2. Its sad that im spanish and I havent already seen this beautiful church. Awsome photos. One day, maybe soon, I will be able to make my own there :)

    http://justohana.blogspot.com.es/

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  3. All I can say is wOOOW! very fascinating photos. An obvious number one for this list of architecture in Barcelona, not everyone likes it, but everyone has to see it.

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