Sagrada Familia, Barcelona

Being consecrated by Il Papa on Sunday 7th November 2010 the Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia in Barcelona has survived the death of its visionary architect, World and Civil Wars and the contempt of Fascism and the repression of Catalonia to persevere. This wonderfully naturalistic building which transcends its surroundings is a great tribute to the genius of Antoni Gaudí and the unquenchable spirit of Catalunya.




Nativity Facade

The Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia or simply Sagrada Familia, Antoni Gaudí's unfinished masterpiece, is one of Barcelona's most popular tourist attractions. Construction on this church will continue at least until 2014, but it has already become Barcelona's most important landmark.

Gaudí devoted more than 40 years of his life to this great and still unfinished masterpiece, in fact he dedicated the last 12 years of his life exclusively to it from 1914 – 1926 declining any other work he was offered. He even moved within the precincts of the church to devote himself to this project. Funded by private donations the church you see today transcends Gaudí representing the separate identity of Catalonia and the many people, craftsmen, designers and architects and in this is far more a medieval building in character representing the will of the people to rise above the mundainity of their surroundings and build a breathtaking expression of their belief. Indeed in its abstraction (for all its figurative sculpture) I’m not sure that a cathedral is the best comparator; maybe it should be compared to something from outside the Catholic world such as the Mezquita (Spanish for "mosque") of Cordoba or the Shah Mosque of Isfahan as buildings which completely transcend their surroundings.

When Antoni Gaudí met his untimely death under the wheels of a Barcelona tram in 1926, he took with him to the grave his vision for his masterpiece, the church of the Sagrada Familia. Since then, a succession of architects has laboured to finish the fantastical spired building which has come to symbolise the city. Hampered by Gaudí's eccentric way of working, not to mention the efforts of anarchists to destroy the original plans for the turreted temple, their job has been far from easy.






Passion Facade

But as the work finally draws somewhere close to an end - 125 years after it began - an influential group of Spanish artists, architects and art gallery directors are increasingly concerned the result will bear little resemblance to Gaudí's original vision of an architectural homage to God. Instead, they claim, millions of tourists visiting the surrealist structure will find it impossible to tell "where Gaudí's work begins and ends".

Manuel Borja-Villel, the influential director of Madrid's Reina Sofia art Museum, leads a group of 100 members of the Barcelona artistic and architectural establishment who have signed a manifesto protesting at what they see as a betrayal of Gaudí's spirit. They claim those entrusted with finishing off the temple are putting their own stamp on the works instead of faithfully following the ideas of the architect who devoted much of his later life to the Sagrada Familia.

In a statement, the group said: "What stands out is the mediocrity of a group of technicians and developers who are well-meaning but full of an anachronistic paternalism in the best of cases and are once more using Gaudí to leave their personal mark on the building to the detriment of the original work."





Sagrada Familia or the Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia was begun in 1882 by public subscription. A year later Gaudí became director of the project, a post he would hold for more than 40 years until his death in 1926. After the completion of Parc Güell in 1911, he vowed that his architecture would not be devoted to secular aims. His commitment to this project is indicated as well by the fact that he lived in a studio on the site. "He was assisted by architects Berenguer, Rubió, Jujol, Canaleta and Ràfols, and in the last stage, by Sugrañes and Quintana; these last continued with the work after his death in 1926, until the towers of the Nativity facade were completed. After the Civil War, progress continued under Quintana, Puig i Boada and Bonet Garí, with the help of Bergós, Martinell and Dapena. In most recent decades, it has been Cardoner and Bonet Armengol assisted by architects Margarit, Buixadé and Gómez"

Work continued on the church based on Gaudí's general plan and studies. Unlike many churches, it survived during the Spanish Civil War, when many churches were burned; it was and is seen as a kind of symbol for the city of Barcelona. Although it is not the cathedral of Barcelona (which dates from the 13th century), it is sometimes called Barcelona's third cathedral. It is still unfinished today and it is anybody's guess when it will be completed, although 2014 is the official date. It is a combination of Modernista elements and a unique version of the Gothic style - seen primarily in its height, use of rose windows and arches, triple portals, and architectural sculpture.





The Sagrada Família is a temple of basilica type with a shape of Latin cross in which the central axis is occupied for four lateral naves of 7.5 meters wide each one and a central nave of 15 meters wide, a total of 45 meters. The total length of the temple, including the nave and the apse is of 95 meters. The transept is formed by three naves with a total width of 30 meters and a length of 60. This transept has two exits, one to the Nativity façade and the other to the Passion façade. The main nave has the exit to the Glory façade, the most important one and still not built, the Glory façade will be the main gate of the temple and will be located on the Mallorca street. These façades have the mission to illustrate in a understandable way the mysteries of the birth, passion and resurrection - glory - of Jesus.



The first sight to greet tourists as they approach the cathedral's spires is the original Nacimiento facade which Gaudí lived to see completed. But since his death, the Sagrada Familia has tripled in size. A 170-metre dome which is to crown the building and an elevated flight of stairs are the biggest challenges ahead for those finishing Gaudí's masterpiece. As if that were not enough, the planned route of a high-speed rail link between Madrid and Barcelona lies within metres of its foundations, raising fears it could be damaged.

There are two things to be said about the Sagrada Família. Firstly it is a miracle that it exists at all let alone become a great symbol of Barcelona and Catalan identity for this is a city which lived through a troubled and often anticlerical 20th Century. Tragic Week (in Catalan la Setmana Tràgica, in Spanish la Semana Trágica) (July 25-August 2, 1909) is the name used for a series of bloody confrontations between the army and the working classes of Barcelona and other cities of Catalonia, backed by the anarchists, socialists and republicans. Many of the rioters were antimilitarist, anticolonial and anticlerical. The rioters considered the Church to form part of the corrupt bourgeois structure whose sons did not have to go to war, and the flames had been fanned against the Church by anarchist elements within the city. Thus, not only convents were burned, but sepulchres were profaned and graves were emptied, with many of the rioters dancing with the corpses taken out of them.


Bell Tower finial


Hyperboloid Leaf

Barcelona was peopled by the rural poor who had come there to work in its burgeoning industries and their poverty made them highly politicised. The power and wealth of the Catholic Church was greatly resented by many. It was closely identified with the wealthy classes and was seen as an enemy of change. Although the majority of Spaniards did not go to mass it had a strong following in the countryside where religious devotion was strong. It had a virtual monopoly of education. Curbing the power of the church was seen as essential if a fairer Spain was to be created. The Republican government of 1931 brought in a series of anti-clerical measures e.g. the Jesuits were dissolved and Church and State were separated. Civil marriage was instituted and divorce was allowed. It granted Catalan autonomy.





In May 1937 the divisions on the Republican side were clearly shown by events in Barcelona. This civil war within a civil war saw the Socialists and Communists fight street battles with the Anarchists and Trotskyites. The former won and a bloody purge was carried out against enemies of the communists. Also at this time the original drawings and models of Sagrada Família were destroyed by the anarchists. The models were to be of particular importance as the church is very much a 3 dimensional building with much of Gaudi’s design being three dimensional, replicating natural forms and very plastic.


Elevation of completed church


Section


Floorplan

Since work began again on the church in 1954 on the Passion Façade there has been much carping from Gaudí purists about his vision being lost. I think this criticism misses the point because the scale and vision of Sagrada Família is greater than any one man and indeed any one generation. Walking through the church in progress you can see Gaudí’s vision of an interior which reflects the natural world in being a forest and widespread use of natural forms to reflect God’s creation; the one-leaf hyperboloid reflected in the vaulted ceiling encrusted with stones to give the vaults a jewel like quality or the helix of the snail’s shell in reflected in the stairs to the crypt. There is also the sheer scale of what is proposed, the 18 towers with the central five representing Jesus (rising to 170 metres) surrounded by the 4 evangelists; Or the bell towers emerging from the vestibule and rising to 100 metres in a spiral structure where Gaudí foresaw placing tubular bells to combine with the 5 organs and the 1,500 voices of the choir that would extend along both sides of the nave and the Glory façade.


Sagrada Familia from top of Bell Tower


Bell Tower staircase


Bell Tower

Truly this is a monumental undertaking on a scale not seen in the modern world but which strikes a deep resonance with the people of Barcelona and Catalonia as an assertion of their identity. As such it is wholly appropriate that it is an organic building which, whilst it will always be associated with the genius of Antoni Gaudí, is the result of the efforts of many people, designers, masons and architects but will belong not to them when it is complete but to all the people of Barcelona. And in its conception, execution and scale when it is finished all the debate will peel away as people continue to travel in their thousands to marvel at Sagrada Família, one of the greatest buildings in the world and one of the finest expressions of mankind’s longing for something beyond ourselves.