T
he "S
agrada
F amília"
Gaudí considered some
monumental stairways to the
door, of such size that they
would cross Mallorca street
over a tunnel, but this will
be impossible because the grounds
across the street is not property
of the Temple. In the square
in front of the Gloria Façade
there will be two great monuments:
one dedicated to water, with
helix-shaped fountains, on the
side of the baptistery, and
the other dedicated to fire,
near the door of Penitence,
because these two elements are
those that purify man. The other
two elements will be represented
naturally, as they are, earth
and air.
Gaudí left no written
plan but he left, clearly specified
on the model which was built,
his thought about the form and
symbolism of the building. He
was always conscious that he
would not be able to finish
the work due to its great magnitude.
He also left some drawings in
which the polychrome nature
that the building will have
can be observed-because he said
that color is life.
The Holy Family can be considered
a Bible in stone, due to the
great quantity of catholic symbols
which Gaudí chose to
mold into his façades.
In them are found (or will be)
from Adam and Eve to the Twelve
Apostles, passing through all
the episodes of the life of
Jesus as well as the symbols
of the Old Testament. It is
a monument which declares the
catholic creed.
But the importance of Gaudí's
unfinished building is not only
religious; it may be considered
the "Book of Gaudí" because
it is the clearest explanation
of his method of construction.
In this work Gaudí applied
all the structural solutions
that he had studied and tested
more than once in the works
which he created throughout
his life. These solutions were,
for him, simple corrections
of the errors that previous
styles committed. Gaudí
had learned much by observing
nature and its shapes, and by
simply trying to imitate them.
The structure of the temple
is formed, based on leaning
columns, with abundant ramifications
in the upper sections, whose
branches hold up small fragments
of hyperboloid vaults, which
produce the effect of a forest.
