Sagrada Familia: The Unfulfilled Vision of a Unique Architect

Today the architectural world remains divided. Should the cathedral be completed in a less ambitious contemporary style? Or should it be left, unfinished, as an original creation?

One exhibit in the Paris Exhibition of 1910 stole the show. It was a plaster model of a church designed by the Spanish architect Antonio Gaudi – a design so daring and outrageous that it was difficult to believe anyone seriously consider building it.

An extraordinary fusion of Gothic and Art Nouveau in style, the model was painted in vibrant colors that further enhanced the exuberant design. The plans called for spotlights to direct shafts of light into parts of the interior. Three sets of bell towers, housing both manually operated and electronically controlled tubular bells, were to be topped by stone statues of cherubim with wings that would move in the wind.

One hundred years later, the project is still unfinished. Link

 

(via Neatorama)

 

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IMHO Barcelona is the San Francisco of Spain. Spain is my favorite country, and San Francisco is my favorite city, so naturally I was smitten with Barcelona when i visited there way back in 2002. That said, there are legacies of Gaudi all over the city, none the least assuming being the Sagrada Familia. I sincerely believe an entire day was not long enough to take in the intricacy and enormity of this Dr. Seuss-like structure, but if you ever have the chance to check it out, it's definitely worth it.

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