Barcelona's Natural Wonder

Barcelona's Natural Wonder Symbolic Towers Still unconstructed, the church's primary pillars will represent some of Christianity's most important figures: Jesus. Mary, the Gospel writers. Design by Nature Jesus tower 558 feet Antoni Gaudí pioneered an architecture based on Sketch by Gaud nature's geometric forms. Structural and ornamental, they reflect his native region-and ingenuity. Financed entirely through private donations and tourist revenue, the Sagrada Familia is inching closer to completion. A look at the church's layout and design reveals a marvel of imaginative-and unprecedented-engineering. Structures Having observed their functional perfection in nature, Gaudi used twisted surfaces and curved planes as the organic bases of his buildings. His columns, arches, and stairways all stem from this notion of natural design. Ornaments Gaudi's sense of aesthetic beauty was directly tied to physical utility. If perfect practicality arises in the natural world, he concluded, so too must sublime decoration. THOMAS BARTHOLOOMEW JUDE MATAS Apostles towers Evangelists towers Mary tower THE LESSER LUKE MARY MARK Ma Passion facade Columns Other Structures - Grand Facades Each of the ch ts an In his quest for a perfect column, Gaudi studied the helicoid growth of many plants-patterns that let leaves receive and lend structural stre ght Arches Follow Gravity All of Gaudis works feature ca vity Honeycomb Gates The patterns of honeycombs and palm fronds are etched on the gates, walls, and floors of many of Gaudi's early architectural works. 367 teet three facades event in the life of Christ. The east-facing Nativity symbolizes Christ's birth, the Passion (west) his h and resurrection incomplete Gloria the salvation of humanity arches, which form naturally via and are visible when a rope is hung. To determine the load capabilities of the church's arches, Gaudi hung proportionally measured sacks of lead. Construction stages Completed section L the yet built Details not yet finalired Gaudi's ingenious three-dimensional Iron railing on the Netivity tácade arch models were photographed and used in lieu of building plans. Chinese abelia grows in a helicoid patterm Vine Lines Gaudi often incorporated Gloria facade For his pirgoyles Gaudi chose naturally spiraling helices. Passion fruit tendrils, instance, adorn the side walls of the Nativity facade. How It Works Double Roof Passion fruit vine Gaudi's columns follow the A unique feature of the church's roof. quadric surfaces called hyperboloids reflect and fiter particular, es (ike this Szard) displaced by the church's construction natural weight-distribution pattern of trees. Beginning with an eight-sided polygon and following the logic of double-twides and Chapel of Denitence apd Frieze on the the Blessed ahelicoid, Nativity facade Sacrament natural light. columns gain s strength with height Sacristy Cologne Cathedral Germany Spiral Stairways Found in plants, animals, and planetary systems, spirals are a recurring shape and theme in Gaudi's works. Organic Windows THE Following the patterns found on natural objects, like those on a marine diatom, Gaudi designed windows to allow for greater passage of natural light. STATUS QUO In Gothie cathedrals lateral loads are supported by Bying buttresses Gaudi disliked the aesthetins of this system and considered buttresses to be "crutches" Snail shells and faling maple-seed pods are among the natural spirals that Gaudi studied Nativity facade 199 356 psi 142 psi Marine datom -Chapel of the Assumption Pressure on the columns in pounds Stairway in Sagrada Familia Windows cloister Leaflike Roofs Area of detail Taken from the structure Central vault 230 feet An Inner Forest of a leaf and applied to a roof design, a curved plane called a conoid bears great and can The Gothic interior is based the Latin cross and set by initial architect Francisco del Villar. But Gaudi wanted the space to feel like a sylvan canopy. Columns Double roof covering Magnolia leaf Pinnacles of Detail rainwater. The tower tops of the Sagrada Familia are modeled on the architect's study of órystals, cereal grain spikes, and grasses growing in and around Barcelona. Sagrada Familia. Light is cantured Spain and reflected through a double roof. GAUDI' RESPONSE The only facade with sculptures designed by Gaudi himselt, the Nativity focuses on the church's namesake: the Holy Family The choirs raised space holds 1,100 singers. The basic structure of the entire church is Gaudi straved School designed by Gaudi Choir eom the Gothic premised on a 24.6 Pyrite foot grid. Most of the prominent features have proportions derived t this base measure. H) by shifting the lateral load of Familia onto the nave columns- an engineering feat made possible due Tree Structures To create the church's inner "forest," Gaudi etched tree features Gaudi looked at the geometry of crystallzation in minerals such as pyrte, floorite, and galena and incorporated them in many of his works to the column systems' unique load-bearing capabilities Designed to into his The crown of the column in the central nave represents the transition between the trunk and branches of a great tree. house artificial bearing the styized initials of Jesus, Mary. and Joseph to mark the church's crossing and apse lights, Gaudis columns copy wheat, and form naturally grasses were when a tree some of the plants Gaudi studied as he designed his 13 feet Hyperbolic paraboloid Hyperbolic paraboloids abound in nature. Examples include tree roots connected to trunks and the webbing between the human thumb and index finger. Top view Area of detail The main columns of the Sagrada Familia come in four sizes and shapes all of The total interior surface area of the church is 48438 square which hinah ina and number of sides depend on the feet and has room to load the column needs to bear. 26 fet seat 8,000 people NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC 12-sided 69 feet tall 8-sided 6-sided Kapok tree 10-sided 57 feet Column base from the Passion facade ART FERNANDO a BAPTA SHKA AC 46 feet 34 feet DESION FERNANDO G BASA AND OLVER UBE COPYRIGHT e 2010 NATIONALODOGRAPec RESEAROR KAUNM YARNALL TEEXT EREMY BERLIN useo wne PERssON FROM NATIONAL church's crvpt with light weldoming s He is st FAMLA ORD cussO ANLES JOAN BASSEGODA NONELL ANDREWO OFERN PHOTOS DOS DE ARTE OZARO. NATVITY FACADE JUNTA CONSTRUCTORA DEL he only person buried here Barcelona 1 Sagrada Familia 2 Casa Vicens 3 Finca Goell COPIOTE O NATION GROnano nEn WIT eassON ROMarioNL GEOORAPHC MAGANE DECEMBER 20no 5 Collegi de les A Work in Progress Teresianes 6 Casa Calvet 7 Cripta de la Colonia Guel 8 Bellesguard 9 Pacn Güel Here are some key steps in the church's slow march to completion. AVINGUDA DIAGONAL CORS CATALANES GOTHIC "QUARTER 10 Finca Mirales 11 Casa Batlo 12 Casa Mia (La Pedrera) 13 ECapricho GRAN VA DE LES 1893 1933 2010 2020 2026 MONTJUIC The Nativity facade-which Gaudi intended as the church's structural and decorative template-is completed. The Passion towers are completed. Later, sculptor Josep Maria Subirachs begins the facade. Eleven years after the After 144 years, Designed by Gaudi to both capture and distribute light, the central nave's vaulting is completed. The church's main towers are slated to be finished. This will nearly double the structure's total height. de Comilas Palacio Episcopal de Astorna work on the Sagrada Familia will be completed. Barcelona's Architect Most of Gaudis works are found in or around Barcelona. They have FRANCE the church's crypt and apse are finalized. Botines de Leon Madrid ecome symbols of both the city and the 17 Primer Misteri de 1926 Gaudi dies 1936 The Spanish Civi War begins. Many of Gaudi's 3-D models are burned. 2010 Pope Benedict XVI consecrates the basilica. Gloria a Montserrat 18 Catedral de Palma de Mallorca 1939 The civil war ends. 1992 Barcelona hosts the Summer Olympics, boosting church revenue via tourism. 1883 Gaudi becomes chief region of Catalonia. architect of the church in Barcelona, Rappelling workers lend a sense of scale to the church's central nave vaulting. Construction begins again based on remaining models