You know, what I found most neat about Sagrada Familia is that they're building a cathedral, like a real medieval visionary cathedral, today, in the way that medieval cathedrals were built then, with all the weirdly divergent personal touches and varying architectual styles that you see on most European cathedrals.

So the idea that it's changing architecturally as time passes is rather normal, it seems to me. That's what happens when it takes more than a century to build something. You start out Romanesque and you veer into Gothic and the restorations are all Neo-Classical.

It in fact seems to honor Gaudi's art, in some way, to let it evolve, like a natural form.

That's a cool observation, occhi. I like that.

I don't know a lot about Gaudi, but I know he intended for the cathedral to be built over a very long period of time, so it makes sense he would have expected it to evolve in the process, as you said.

Holy Crap, that's an amazing building. I'd never heard of it before. It looks more like CGI than reality.

I don't know a lot about Gaudi

He uses a lot of natural, asymmetrical forms to look like tree branches, leaves, etc., which was more or less what a lot of Gothic architecture was about -- that idea of letting organic forms evolve and shift rather than being totally geometric. Then the Renaissance came in with all the rationality and the "triumph of humans over nature" thing and got all symmetrical and planned. Gaudi (and Barcelona in general!) seems like a reaction against that planning, to me.

The article makes it seem like in some ways the argument is between people who see Sagrada Familia as "Gaudi's cathedral" and those who see it as "Barcelona's cathedral." It also reminds me of a comment that one of my professors made about Michelangelo, about how modern people see his unfinished pieces as more compelling and soul-baring than his finished pieces, while during his time the unfinished pieces would have been worthless. There is some sense, I think, that looking at an artist's unfinished works gives us an "in," that it lets us be part of the process or at least see how the process works, and that we're somehow peering deep into the soul of the artist *during* the creative process rather than just seeing the "superficial" layer on top that signals the *end* of that process. That seems to be playing in here, too, in some ways.

He uses a lot of natural, asymmetrical forms to look like tree branches, leaves, etc.

Yeah, the inside is especially organic-looking. Wow.

I would normally side with the architects and preservationists, but I think the "Barcelona's cathedral" description is closer to the way I feel about this. Gaudi wouldn't have wanted it cast in amber and left unfinished, I am certain.

Incidentally, if you don't know it, Watts Towers is a fascinating folk art structure with great coincidental similarity.

I always thought that the word 'gaudy' was taken from his name. It seems I'm mistaken.

I was lucky enough to live in Northern Spain for a few years and some friends rented an apartment in in this building.

It was absolutely amazing. He also designed the interiors and furniture although very little of that is left now as Leon was so "facha" in the Civil War.
Pity!

I always thought that the word 'gaudy' was taken from his name.

deborah, that makes my day. :D

And OMG Wilder, that building is too cool. Apartment buildings are some of my favorite architecture, because they force the architect to squeeze a livable area into a certain amount of space. It seems like more of a challenge, and I love seeing what they do with it.

I'm an idiot, aren't I.

No you aren't, deborah! I think it's hilarious because it's so appropriate. Gaudi's style is sort of flamboyant, so I can totally see where you made that connection.

Wow... I've been looking at pics of Gaudi architecture all afternoon, and it looks to me like you only have to make one sharp turn from Gaudi to arrive at Giger, whose architecture is mostly imaginary (nobody wants to build his buildings, which is a shame). One makes "organic" look pretty, the other makes it look sorta scary... but it's interesting how similar they are at first glance.

Gaudi is one of my favorite architects ever. I think occhi nailed it.

In person it is even more amazing than it looks in photos.

They should definitely finish it.