The Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família (Catalan pronunciation: [səˈɣɾaðə fəˈmiɫiə]; Spanish: Templo Expiatorio de la Sagrada Familia; English: Basilica and Expiatory Church
of the Holy Family) is a large unfinished Roman Catholic church in Barcelona,
designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926). Gaudí's work on the building is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and in November 2010 Pope Benedict XVI consecrated and proclaimed it a minor basilica, as distinct from a cathedral, which must be the seat of a bishop.
In 1882 construction
of Sagrada Família commenced under architect Francisco Paula de Villar until
1883, when Gaudí became involved when Francisco resigned as the head
architect. Taking over the project, Gaudí transformed it with his
architectural and engineering style, combining Gothic and
curvilinear Art
Nouveau forms. Gaudí devoted his last years to the project, and at the
time of his death at age 73 in 1926, less than a quarter of the project was
complete.
Sagrada Familia's
construction progressed slowly, as it relied on private donations and was
interrupted by the Spanish Civil War,
only to resume intermittent progress in the 1950s. Construction passed the
midpoint in 2010 with some of the project's greatest challenges
remaining and an anticipated completion date of 2026, the centenary of
Gaudí's death.
The basílica has a
long history of dividing the citizens of Barcelona: over the initial
possibility it might compete with Barcelona's
cathedral, over Gaudí's design itself, over the possibility that work after
Gaudí's death disregarded his design, and the 2007 proposal to build an
underground tunnel of Spain's high-speed
rail link to France which could disturb its stability. Describing
Sagrada Família, art critic Rainer Zerbst said, "It is probably impossible
to find a church building anything like it in the entire history of
art" and Paul
Goldberger describes it as, "The most extraordinary personal
interpretation of Gothic architecture since the Middle Ages."
History
Background
The Basilica of the
Sagrada Família was the inspiration of a bookseller, Josep Maria Bocabella,
founder of Asociación Espiritual de Devotos de San José (Spiritual Association
of Devotees of St. Joseph).
After a visit to
the Vatican in
1872, Bocabella returned from Italy with the intention of building a church
inspired by that at Loreto. The apse
crypt of the church, funded by donations, was begun 19 March 1882, on the
festival of St Joseph, to the design of the architect Francisco
de Paula del Villar, whose plan was for a Gothic revivalchurch of
a standard form. The apse crypt was completed before Villar's resignation
on 18 March 1883, when Gaudí assumed responsibility for its design, which he
changed radically. Antoni Gaudí began work on the church in 1883 but was
not appointed Architect Director until 1884.
Construction
On the subject of
the extremely long construction period, Gaudí is said to have remarked:
"My client is not in a hurry." When Gaudí died in 1926, the
basilica was between 15 and 25 percent complete. After Gaudí's death, work
continued under the direction of Domènec
Sugrañes i Grasuntil interrupted by the Spanish Civil War in
1936.
Parts of the
unfinished basilica and Gaudí's models and workshop were destroyed during the
war by Catalan
anarchists. The present design is based on reconstructed versions of the
plans that were burned in a fire as well as on modern adaptations. Since 1940
the architects Francesc Quintana, Isidre Puig Boada,
Lluís Bonet i Gari and Francesc Cardoner have carried on the work. The
illumination was designed by Carles Buigas.
The current
director and son of Lluís Bonet, Jordi Bonet i Armengol, has been introducing
computers into the design and construction process since the 1980s. Mark Burry of New
Zealand serves as Executive Architect and Researcher. Sculptures by J. Busquets, Etsuro Sotoo and the
controversial Josep
Subirachs decorate the fantastical façades. Barcelona-born Jordi Fauli
took over as chief architect in 2012.
The central nave vaulting was
completed in 2000 and the main tasks since then have been the construction of
the transept vaults
and apse. As of 2006,
work concentrated on the crossing and supporting structure for the main tower
of Jesus Christ as
well as the southern enclosure of the central nave, which will become the Glory
façade.
The church shares
its site with the Sagrada
Família Schools building, a school originally designed by Gaudí in
1909 for the children of the construction workers. Relocated in 2002 from the
eastern corner of the site to the southern corner, the building now houses an
exhibition.
Construction status
Chief architect
Jordi Fauli announced in October 2015 that construction is 70 percent complete
and has entered its final phase of raising six immense towers. The towers and
most of the church's structure are to be completed by 2026, the centennial of
Gaudí's death; decorative elements should be complete by 2030 or 2032. Visitor
entrance fees of 15–20 euros ($17–22) finance the annual construction budget of
25 million euros ($28.38 million).
Computer-aided design technology
has been used to accelerate construction of the building. Current technology
allows stone to be shaped off-site by a CNC milling machine,
whereas in the 20th century the stone was carved by hand.
In 2008, some
renowned Catalan architects advocated halting construction, to respect
Gaudí's original designs, which although they were not exhaustive and were
partially destroyed, have been partially reconstructed in recent years.
A 2010 exhibition,
"Gaudí Unseen, Completing La Sagrada Família" at the German
Architecture Museum, Frankfurt am Main, describes the current construction
methods and future plans for the Sagrada Família.
AVE tunnel
Since 2013, AVE high-speed trains have
passed near the Sagrada Família through an underground tunnel that runs beneath
the centre of Barcelona.
The tunnel's
construction, which began on 26 March 2010, was controversial. The
Ministry of Public Works of Spain (Ministerio
de Fomento) claimed the project posed no risk to the church. Sagrada
Família engineers and architects disagreed, saying there was no guarantee that
the tunnel would not affect the stability of the building. The Board of the
Sagrada Família (Patronat de la Sagrada Família)
and the neighborhood association AVE pel
Litoral (AVE by the Coast) had led a campaign against this route
for the AVE, without success.
In October 2010,
the tunnel
boring machine reached the church underground under the location of
the building's principal façade. Service through the tunnel was
inaugurated on 8 January 2013. Track in the tunnel makes use of a
system by Edilon
Sedra in which the rails are embedded in an elastic material to dampen
vibrations. No damage to the Sagrada Família has been reported to date.
Consecration
The main nave was
covered and an organ installed in mid-2010, allowing the still-unfinished
building to be used for religious services.[26] The church was consecrated by
Pope Benedict XVI on
7 November 2010 in front of a congregation of 6,500 people.[27] A further 50,000 people
followed the consecration Mass from outside
the basilica, where more than 100 bishops and 300 priests were on
hand to offer Holy
Communion.[28] There are currently no
regularly scheduled Masses celebrated at the basilica, although visitors may
pray at the Chapel of the Holy Sacrament and Penitence. Occasionally, Mass is
celebrated, although attendance requires an invitation. When Masses are
scheduled, instructions to obtain an invitation are posted on the basilica's
website.
Fire
On 19 April 2011,
an arsonist started
a small fire in the sacristy which
forced the evacuation of tourists and construction workers; the sacristy
was damaged, and the fire took 45 minutes to contain.
Design
The style of la
Sagrada Família is variously likened to Spanish Late
Gothic, Catalan
Modernism and to Art Nouveau or
Catalan Noucentisme.
While the Sagrada Família falls within the Art Nouveau period, Nikolaus Pevsner points
out that, along with Charles Rennie
Macintosh in Glasgow, Gaudí carried the Art Nouveau style far beyond
its usual application as a surface decoration.
Plan
While never
intended to be a cathedral (seat
of a bishop), the Sagrada Família was planned from the outset to be a
cathedral-sized building. Its ground-plan has obvious links to earlier Spanish
cathedrals such as Burgos
Cathedral, Leon
Cathedral and Seville Cathedral.
In common with Catalan and many other European Gothic cathedrals, the Sagrada
Família is short in comparison to its width, and has a great complexity of
parts, which include double aisles, an ambulatory with
a chevet of
seven apsidal chapels,
a multitude of towers and three portals, each widely different in structure as
well as ornament. Where it is common for cathedrals in Spain to be surrounded
by numerous chapels and ecclesiastical buildings, the plan of this church has
an unusual feature: a covered passage or cloister which forms a
rectangle enclosing the church and passing through the narthex of each of its
three portals. With this peculiarity aside, the plan, influenced by Villar's
crypt, barely hints at the complexity of Gaudí's design or its deviations from
traditional church architecture.
Spires
Gaudí's original
design calls for a total of eighteen spires, representing in ascending order of
height the Twelve
Apostles, the Virgin Mary,
the four
Evangelists and, tallest of all, Jesus Christ. Eight spires have been
built as of 2010, corresponding to four apostles at the Nativity façade and
four apostles at the Passion façade.
According to the
2005 "Works Report" of the project's official website, drawings
signed by Gaudí and recently found in the Municipal Archives, indicate that the
spire of the Virgin was in fact intended by Gaudí to be shorter than those of
the evangelists. The spire height will follow Gaudí's intention, which
according to the report will work with the existing foundation.
The Evangelists'
spires will be surmounted by sculptures of their traditional symbols: a winged
bull (Saint Luke),
a winged man (Saint
Matthew), an eagle (Saint John), and a
winged lion (Saint
Mark). The central spire of Jesus Christ is to be surmounted by a
giant cross;
its total height (170 metres (560 ft)) will be one metre less than that
of Montjuïc hill
in Barcelona as Gaudí believed that his creation should not surpass God's. The
lower spires are surmounted by communion hosts with sheaves of wheat and
chalices with bunches of grapes, representing the Eucharist.
The completion of
the spires will make Sagrada Família the tallest
church building in the world.
Façades
The Church will
have three grand façades: the Nativity façade
to the East, the Passion façade
to the West, and the Glory façade to
the South (yet to be completed). The Nativity Façade was built before work was
interrupted in 1935 and bears the most direct Gaudí influence. The Passion
façade was built according to the design that Gaudi created in 1917. The
construction began in 1954, and the towers, built over the elliptical plan,
were finished in 1976. It is especially striking for its spare, gaunt,
tormented characters, including emaciated figures of Christ being scourged at
the pillar; and Christ on the Cross. These
controversial designs are the work of Josep Maria
Subirachs. The Glory façade, on which construction began in 2002, will be
the largest and most monumental of the three and will represent one's ascension
to God. It will also depict various scenes such as Hell, Purgatory, and will
include elements such as the Seven Deadly Sins and
the Seven
Heavenly Virtues.
Nativity Façade
Constructed between
1894 and 1930, the Nativity façade was the first façade to be completed.
Dedicated to the birth of Jesus, it is decorated with scenes reminiscent of
elements of life. Characteristic of Gaudí's naturalistic style, the sculptures
are ornately arranged and decorated with scenes and images from nature, each a
symbol in their own manner. For instance, the three porticos are separated by
two large columns, and at the base of each lies a turtle or a tortoise (one to
represent the land and the other the sea; each are symbols of time as something
set in stone and unchangeable). In contrast to the figures of turtles and their
symbolism, two chameleons can be found at either side of the façade, and are
symbolic of change.
The façade faces
the rising sun to the northeast, a symbol for the birth of Christ. It is
divided into three porticos, each of which represents a theological virtue
(Hope, Faith and Charity). The Tree of Life rises
above the door of Jesus in the portico of Charity. Four towers complete the
façade and are each dedicated to a Saint (Matthias the Apostle, Saint Barnabas, Jude the Apostle,
and Simon the
Zealot).
Originally, Gaudí
intended for this façade to be polychromed, for each archivolt to be painted
with a wide array of colours. He wanted every statue and figure to be painted.
In this way the figures of humans would appear as much alive as the figures of
plants and animals.
Gaudí chose this
façade to embody the structure and decoration of the whole church. He was well
aware that he would not finish the church and that he would need to set an
artistic and architectural example for others to follow. He also chose for this
façade to be the first on which to begin construction and for it to be, in his
opinion, the most attractive and accessible to the public. He believed that if
he had begun construction with the Passion Façade, one that would be hard and
bare (as if made of bones), before the Nativity Façade, people would have
withdrawn at the sight of it. Some of the statues were destroyed in
1936, and subsequently were reconstructed by the japanese artist Etsuro Sotoo.
Passion Façade
In contrast to the
highly decorated Nativity Façade, the Passion Façade is austere, plain and
simple, with ample bare stone, and is carved with harsh straight lines to
resemble the bones of a skeleton. Dedicated to the Passion of
Christ, the suffering of Jesus during his crucifixion, the façade
was intended to portray the sins of man. Construction began in 1954, following
the drawings and instructions left by Gaudí for future architects and
sculptors. The towers were completed in 1976, and in 1987 a team of sculptors,
headed by Josep
Maria Subirachs, began work sculpting the various scenes and details of the
façade. They aimed to give a rigid, angular form to provoke a dramatic effect.
Gaudí intended for this façade to strike fear into the onlooker. He wanted to
"break" arcs and "cut" columns, and to use the effect
of chiaroscuro (dark
angular shadows contrasted by harsh rigid light) to further show the severity
and brutality of Christ's sacrifice.
Facing the setting
sun, indicative and symbolic of the death of Christ, the Passion Façade is
supported by six large and inclined columns, designed to resemble sequoia trunks.
Above there is a pyramidal pediment,
made up of eighteen bone-shaped columns, which culminate in a large cross with
a crown of thorns. Each of the four towers is dedicated to an apostle (James, Thomas, Philip, or Bartholomew) and, like the
Nativity Façade, there are three porticos, each representing the theological
virtues, though in a much different light.
The scenes sculpted
into the façade may be divided into three levels, which ascend in an S form and reproduce the Via Crucis of Christ.[2]The lowest level depicts scenes from
Jesus' last night before the crucifixion, including The Last Supper, Kiss of Judas, Ecce Homo, and the Sanhedrin Trial
of Jesus. The middle level portrays the Calvary, or Golgotha, of Christ,
and includes The
Three Marys, Saint
Longinus, Saint
Veronica, and a hollow-face illusion of
Christ on the Veil
of Veronica. In the third and final level the Death, Burial and the Resurrection of
Christ can be seen. A bronze figure situated on a bridge creating a
link between the towers of Saint Bartholomew and Saint Thomas represents
the Ascension
of Jesus.
Glory Façade
The largest and
most striking of the façades will be the Glory Façade, on which construction
began in 2002. It will be the principal façade and will offer access to the
central nave. Dedicated
to the Celestial Glory of Jesus, it represents the road to God: Death, Final
Judgment, and Glory, while Hell is
left for those who deviate from God's will. Aware that he would not live long
enough to see this façade completed, Gaudí made a model which was demolished in
1936, whose original fragments were base for the development of the design for
the façade. The completion of this façade will require the demolition of the
complete block with buildings across the Carrer de Mallorca. To reach the Glory
Portico the large staircase will lead over the underground passage built over
Carrer de Mallorca with the decoration representing Hell and vice. It will be
decorated with demons, idols, false gods, heresy and schisms, etc. Purgatory
and death will also be depicted, the latter using tombs along the ground. The
portico will have seven large columns dedicated to spiritual gifts. At
the base of the columns there will be representations of the Seven Deadly Sins,
and at the top, The Seven Heavenly Virtues.
Interior
The church plan is
that of a Latin cross with five aisles. The central nave vaults reach
forty-five metres (150 ft) while the side nave vaults reach thirty metres
(100 ft). The transept has three aisles. The columns are on a
7.5 metre (25 ft) grid. However, the columns of the apse, resting on del Villar's
foundation, do not adhere to the grid, requiring a section of columns of the
ambulatory to transition to the grid thus creating a horseshoe pattern to the
layout of those columns. The crossing rests on the four central columns of
porphyry supporting a great hyperboloid surrounded by two rings of twelve
hyperboloids (currently under construction). The central vault reaches sixty
metres (200 ft). The apse is capped by a hyperboloid vault reaching
seventy-five metres (250 ft). Gaudí intended that a visitor standing at
the main entrance be able to see the vaults of the nave, crossing, and apse;
thus the graduated increase in vault loft.
There are gaps in
the floor of the apse, providing a view down into the crypt below.
The columns of the
interior are a unique Gaudí design. Besides branching to support their load,
their ever-changing surfaces are the result of the intersection of various
geometric forms. The simplest example is that of a square base evolving into an
octagon as the column rises, then a sixteen-sided form, and eventually to a
circle. This effect is the result of a three-dimensional intersection of
helicoidal columns (for example a square cross-section column twisting
clockwise and a similar one twisting counter-clockwise).
Essentially none of
the interior surfaces are flat; the ornamentation is comprehensive and rich,
consisting in large part of abstract shapes which combine smooth curves and
jagged points. Even detail-level work such as the iron railings for balconies
and stairways are full of curvaceous elaboration.
Organ
In 2010 an organ was installed
in the presbytery by
the Blancafort Orgueners de Montserrat organ builders. The instrument has 26
stops (1,492 pipes) on two manuals and a pedalboard.
To overcome the
unique acoustical challenges posed by the church's architecture and vast size,
several additional organs will be installed at various points within the
building. These instruments will be playable separately (from their own
individual consoles) and simultaneously (from a single mobile console),
yielding an organ of some 8000 pipes when completed.
Geometric details
The towers on the
Nativity façade are crowned with geometrically shaped tops
that are reminiscent of Cubism (they
were finished around 1930), and the intricate decoration is contemporary to the
style of Art Nouveau,
but Gaudí's unique style drew primarily from nature, not other artists or
architects, and resists categorization.
Gaudí used hyperboloid
structures in later designs of the Sagrada Família (more obviously
after 1914), however there are a few places on the nativity façade—a design not
equated with Gaudí's ruled-surfacedesign—where
the hyperboloid crops
up. For example, all around the scene with the pelican there are numerous
examples (including the basket held by one of the figures). There is a
hyperboloid adding structural stability to the cypress tree (by connecting it
to the bridge). And finally, the "bishop's mitre" spires are capped
with hyperboloid structures. In his later designs, ruled surfaces are
prominent in the nave's vaults and windows and the surfaces of the Passion
façade.
Symbolism
Themes throughout
the decoration include words from the liturgy. The towers are decorated with
words such as "Hosanna", "Excelsis", and
"Sanctus"; the great doors of the Passion façade reproduce words from
the Bible in various languages including Catalan; and the Glory façade is to be
decorated with the words from the Apostles' Creed. The
three entrances symbolize the three virtues: Faith, Hope and Love. Each of them
is also dedicated to a part of Christ's life. The Nativity Façade is dedicated
to his birth; it also has a cypress tree which symbolizes the tree of life. The
Glory façade is dedicated to his glory period. The Passion façade is symbolic
of his suffering. The apse tower bears Latin text of Hail Mary. All in all, the
Sagrada Família is symbolic of the lifetime of Christ.
Areas of the
sanctuary will be designated to represent various concepts, such as saints,
virtues and sins, and secular concepts such as regions, presumably with
decoration to match.
Appraisal
The art
historian Nikolaus
Pevsner, writing in the 1960s, referred to Gaudí's buildings as growing
"like sugar loaves and
anthills" and describes the ornamenting of buildings with shards of broken
pottery as possibly "bad taste" but handled with vitality and
"ruthless audacity".
The building's
design itself has been polarizing. Assessments by Gaudí's fellow architects
were generally positive; Louis Sullivan greatly
admired it, describing Sagrada Família as the "greatest piece of creative
architecture in the last twenty-five years. It is spirit symbolised in
stone!" Walter
Gropius also praised the Sagrada Família, describing the building's
walls as "a marvel of technical perfection". Time Magazine called
it "sensual, spiritual, whimsical, exuberant", George Orwell called
it "one of the most hideous buildings in the world",James A. Michener called
it "one of the strangest-looking serious buildings in the
world" and British historian Gerald Brenan stated
about the building "Not even in the European architecture of the period
can one discover anything so vulgar or pretentious." The building's
distinctive silhouette has nevertheless become symbolic of Barcelona
itself, drawing an estimated 2.5 million visitors annually.
World Heritage status
Together with six
other Gaudí buildings in Barcelona, part of la Sagrada Família is a
UNESCO World
Heritage Site, as testifying "to Gaudí's exceptional creative
contribution to the development of architecture and building technology",
"having represented el Modernisme of Catalonia" and "anticipated
and influenced many of the forms and techniques that were relevant to the
development of modern construction in the 20th century". The inscription
only includes the Crypt and the Nativity Facade.
Visiting
Visitors can access
the Nave, Crypt, Museum, Shop, and the Passion and Nativity towers. Entrance to
either of the towers requires a reservation and advance purchase of a ticket.
Access is possible only by lift (elevator) and a short walk up the remainder of
the towers to the bridge between the towers. Descent is via a very narrow
spiral staircase of over 300 steps. There is a posted caution for those with
medical conditions.
As of June 2017,
on-line ticket purchase has been available. As of August 2010, there had been a
service whereby visitors could buy an entry code either at Servicaixa ATM kiosks
(part of "La Caixa") or online. During the peak season, May to
October, reservation delays for entrance of up to a few days are not unusual.
Funding
Construction on
Sagrada Família is not supported by any government or official church sources.
Private patrons funded the initial stages. Money from tickets purchased by
tourists is now used to pay for the work, and private donations are accepted through
the Friends of the Sagrada Família.
The construction
budget for 2009 was €18 million