Sagrada Familia
Upon entering from the Nativity facade, I went first to a room with twelve kiosks describing Gaudi’s study and incorporation of nature into the church. This also included how he used mathematics and geometry to interpret nature and create the forms not just of this project. I looked but have not found that presentation on line, though I did find this excellent page http://euler.slu.edu/escher/index.php/The_Geometry_of_Antoni_Gaudi. (In doing some searches for this post, I found many excellent articles on Gaudi, Modernisme and Barcelona. But the point of this post is to share my experience. That is, my preconceptions, my ignorance, my discoveries and my conclusions however ill formed or inaccurate they may be.)
I stayed more than three hours in the church. It was a mesmerizing experience. An enormous space, very unique. Blue stain glass on the east and yellow stain glass on the west. I am so thankful it was a sunny day and the sunlight streamed in. Gaudi was a religious man and there seemed to be symbolism in everything. Artists, architects and theologians have been creating churchs for a thousand years, but he manages to have an original approach. That is genius. Like I said, I don’t feel like I really get it. (I want to use “grok” here.) It just feels like it is outside of Western culture. No flying buttresses? There must be.
You can read more about the Sagrada Familia here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagrada_Fam%C3%ADlia