Sunday 24 June 2012

The Genius of Gaudi - The Sagrada Familia





It would be hard to go to Barcelona and not get absolutely immersed in the sheer brilliance of Antoni Gaudi.

Neither of us really knows all that much about architecture…but gee whiz we were impressed!

The first stop of the tour de force of Gaudi’s work was the Sagrada Familia. Gaudi began working on the project in 1883…129 years later, they’re still going, and they estimate that it won’t be finished until somewhere in the next 30 to 80 years…a few less siestas and a bit more hard work probably wouldn’t go astray!!

Having been fortunate to see some of the best cathedrals that Europe has to offer on the course of our campervanning adventure, we can comfortably say that the Sagrada Familia is up there with the most breathtaking. We were particularly fortunate to be there after they had just finished the interior, so we saw it in its most resplendent scaffold-free glory. Gaudi intended the interior to look like a forest, with the inclined columns looking like branching trees. We think he succeeded! It was truly fascinating looking around some of the smallest details and seeing how he had drawn so much of his architectural influence from nature.

The exterior was equally amazing. The columns looked like giant beehives with flowers on top, and the rear façade resembled something from a Star Wars movie. Gaudi…what a genius!

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