At least once in your life, visit the Sagrada Família. As you approach, don't look up to it. It's tempting, but wait. Keep walking until you're right in front of it. Then look up. You'll be staring at the most stunning building ever made by human hands: the scale, the intricacy, the stonework.
Go inside. It’s worth it. The light is beautiful, and the architecture rewards unhurried attention. Take your time to wander, don't rush.
One hundred and fifty years in the making, and still unfinished. The two completed façades serve as the "secondary" entrances; the main entrance is yet to be built. Completing the project will require demolishing four city blocks, a plan that is controversial and complicated because people live there. Many of those residents bought at lower prices with a clause acknowledging this; when the Sagrada Família is finished, they will have to leave.
zachrip 10 hours ago [-]
When I found out I am going blind, I traveled around Europe solo for a summer and I found myself at La Sagrada Familia...once inside I almost cried because the light was so beautiful. And finding a special spot to just sit and enjoy an espresso on a sunny day with it in the background is blissful. I'm not religious at all, but many of the nicest buildings throughout my travels were places of worship.
prox 9 hours ago [-]
That sounds lovely and very special.
I think it might be because places of worship have a function that is nowhere else to be found: a place for introspection.
Where a city is usually all entertainment and shops, a place for true rest and just enjoying the places is far rarer. Although some cities are wising up and creating more of those places in city planning.
ggambetta 12 hours ago [-]
I was generally underwhelmed by it (possibly because of the extensive hype) but the light inside did blow me away, made the visit worth it.
abc123abc123 10 hours ago [-]
Same here. On the other hand I think it is just how some people are. I do not appreciate art, and can live happily without music. Art in general, never gives me any profound experiences. Books on the other hand, now we're talking! Political performance art, also entertaining.
amunozo 12 hours ago [-]
The lights are make it the most beautiful interior I've ever seen.
s_dev 11 hours ago [-]
>I was generally underwhelmed by it
What church/cathedral is superior in your opinion?
rahen 11 hours ago [-]
For some, it’s the sheer grandeur and architectural splendor. Strasbourg, Chartres, Cologne or Rouen Cathedrals, with their scale and delicate designs, often stand out.
For others, it’s the spiritual resonance of a place. The Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela has stirred something deeper within, but maybe that was just me. I experienced the same with Lourdes and Le Puy-en-Velay in France because they carried something that felt "sacred" and transformative, not only from the buildings but the actual place.
Then there are those who value historical or religious authority. Cathedrals like St. Peter’s in Rome or the Papal Palace in Avignon have that kind of symbolic weight, and I assume some would favor them over the more "profane" work of Gaudi.
rob74 4 hours ago [-]
As I wrote in another comment, I think the Sagrada Familia is a worthy successor for the grand gothic cathedrals you mentioned, because Gaudí made the most out of late 19th century technology, same as the medieval builders made the most out of the technology available at their time. I mean, just look at those branching columns: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagrada_Fam%C3%ADlia#/media/Da... But, to each his own.
I would like to add two (former) churches to your list: the Hagia Sophia (it's really humbling to think that it was already standing for 900+ years when the Turks conquered Constantinople 500+ years ago) and the Pantheon in Rome, which despite being several centuries older, had the largest dome in the world for more than 1000 years.
5 hours ago [-]
emptyfile 11 hours ago [-]
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rob74 5 hours ago [-]
Yeah, this is really a building that you have to experience yourself, words and pictures don't do it justice. Gaudí is a worthy successor to the unknown masters who built the great gothic cathedrals: like them, he used the technology of his time to maximum effect. If you see all those towers from the outside and then go in, you're bound to wonder how the church can be so spacious on the inside. But somehow, it works...
hbarka 2 hours ago [-]
Over a span of three decades visiting Barcelona I have not seen the Sagrada Familia not surrounded by cranes and construction fences.
motorest 10 hours ago [-]
> One hundred and fifty years in the making, and still unfinished.
The explanation behind this is usually the Spanish civil war, and then it's how the construction is funded by donations. The latter brings in a cynical twist, because the argument to keep the money flowing in ends the moment the cathedral is deemed finished. So you have a perverse incentive to stall the construction because once it's done then the whole economy around it will end as well.
Taking so long to finish it is not the badge of honor that's depicted. The project is just as complex as when it was when Gaudi died.
ricardobeat 10 hours ago [-]
Gaudi himself initially expected it would take 700 years to build. You’re underestimating the scale of it.
stevoski 3 hours ago [-]
Maintaining a building like La Sagrada Familia is a very expensive undertaking.
There’s no “done, so we don’t need money any more”
noreplydev 10 hours ago [-]
here someone from barcelona. if yo do this at night, it's better
empath75 3 hours ago [-]
I am not remotely religious, but I cried when I saw the inside. It is awe-inspiring in every sense of the word. It wasn't so much the objective quality I think, more that I was _surprised_ by how beautiful it was. The outside is, like others have said, somewhat kitschy, a little dated, more like an theme-park stoner version of a church. It just didn't connect with me, but the purity of the beauty inside just completely shook me to my core. Pictures do not capture it at all.
3 hours ago [-]
dheera 7 hours ago [-]
Beginner Spanish question: Shouldn't it be Família Sagrada?
probably_wrong 6 hours ago [-]
First, small detail: "família" is not Spanish but rather Catalan. In Spanish it's "familia".
As for Sagrada Familia / Familia Sagrada: putting the adjective before the noun is sometimes done in Spanish to reinforce the importance of the adjective. "La blanca nieve" places focus on the color of the snow while "la nieve blanca" focuses on the snow itself.
ktosobcy 6 hours ago [-]
Quite often in case of religios names you have adjective->noun (e.g. Santa Cruz, San Juan); don't know why though.
guesswho_ 6 hours ago [-]
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varjag 22 hours ago [-]
More important, in the nearly hundred and fifty years it has taken for the church to assume its final form, Gaudí’s once revolutionary aesthetic no longer looks futuristic. Early critics of the Sagrada Família accused Gaudí of being too over the top, but his commitment to visual abundance has become a universal aspect of pop culture—think of the ornate C.G.I. cityscapes in “Black Panther” or the “Star Wars” films.
I was never into architecture and am not a religious person but visiting the Sagrada Familia was profound. I came out a slightly different man than one who walked into it just half an hour before. No CGI hack comes close.
Kilenaitor 20 hours ago [-]
I'm Christian, so slightly different context going in, but I also found it profound. I've been to other churches and cathedrals (including the Vatican!) and they feel sterile by comparison. Stepping inside to the sight of a towering forest of stone and dazzling light is truly breathtaking. It made me genuinely emotional.
It's nothing like I've ever seen before so I'm surprised by the comments at the end of the article that make it seem like its originality has waned over the years. You can feel the conviction and passion that have been poured into it for over a century.
I can't wait to visit it again. I really love it.
ralfd 14 hours ago [-]
For me it was the lighting of the colored reflections which change troughout the day and through the seasons.
Our guide showed us on his phone pictures how the colors change in different months.
I never thought about how I would build a church to exemplify Gods creation, but after that I wondered about cathedrals out of glass or crystal. I must have raved like a mad man about the Sagrada to my friends who had chosen to stay in the hostel!
It made me appreciate cathedrals more. Like now they are are old and ancient, but imagine living in a medieval village and making a once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage to a big city and being dumb struck about the tallest building you have ever seen and architecture which is familiar but you could have never dreamed up.
albertdessaint 17 hours ago [-]
Wonderful, I didn’t take the time to go inside, I should have! Did you go to the sainte chapelle in Paris? Very beautiful with lot of light.
wrsh07 6 hours ago [-]
As someone who has loved sagrada familia since I went in, I think the experience of Sainte Chapelle is my second favorite (go first thing when it opens to have it to yourself) and is more underrated than sagrada familia^
Related/unrelated, part of my joy in the sagrada familia is that being a tourist feels essentially the same as being a pilgrim. If you get a chance to visit parc guell, you aren't exactly experiencing it as a park, but as a tour through the different ideas in the park. (Compare this with an unguided stroll through Central Park, where you and all of the other visitors are likely experiencing it as a park (the way it was intended)
^ I think! In my experience it's occasionally overlooked in a short trip to Paris, whereas if you're going to just see one Gaudi, make it the cathedral
moomin 12 hours ago [-]
If you’re not familiar with Gaudi’s life I think you’ll find it equally inspiring. He was extremely successful and heavily communist (He was always Christian for all that some think you need to be atheist to be communist), and ended his life living a functionally monastic life dedicated to this project, literally living in the crypt.
ninalanyon 5 hours ago [-]
I went there over thirty years ago when it was still easy to just walk in without booking or being part of a tour.
One thing that impressed me about it was its effect on others. There were lots of Japanese tourists there at the time. I climbed the stairs up one of the towers with a Japanese man festooned with cameras as usual, I had my SLR with me too. When we got to the top we sat in silence looking out onto the church with it's unfinished roof, neither of us took a single picture. I think both of us were first overwhelmed and then we realized that no picture would capture what we saw and felt. I did take a few pictures of the spiral stairs on the way down, just to have a souvenir of the place.
When I got to the bottom I shovelled all my Spanish coins and notes in the donation box. Perhaps they bought a few kilos of cement with it, I like to think that I helped in an infinitesimally small way to build it.
lloeki 11 hours ago [-]
I have had similar feelings about Sagrada Familia (which I saw from the outside but could not visit inside) as I have for the Strasbourg Cathedral.
Similar approach, different era end hence execution and style. During my stay in Barcelona I could not help but draw comparisons.
> The construction of the cathedral, which had started in the year 1015 and had been relaunched in 1190, was finished in 1439
"finished" is arguable because it still misses one spire ;) but that's now part of its character.
> Standing in the centre of the Place de la Cathédrale, at 142 metres (466 feet), Strasbourg Cathedral was the world's tallest building from 1647 to 1874 (227 years) [..] Today it is the sixth-tallest church in the world and the tallest extant structure built entirely in the Middle Ages.
From clair-obscur lighting inside to outside horror vacui vs a clean and geometric interior, it is a cathedral of contrast, whose architecture is not just a thing in itself but also extends to the area it is sat in, e.g the streets around and the plaza channel the "devil's wind", a nearly constant airflow running around the exterior that symbolically cannot enter the cathedral, which gives an immediate impression of calm as you enter.
It also houses since 1352 an astronomical clock reminiscent of the Antikhytera mechanism, and notable for having a Copernician (heliocentric) orrery since 1547; the confluence of science and clergy is yet another contrast.
Surrounding - and generally in the whole city - buildings are tall-ish but much less than Barcelona, making the Strasbourg Cathedral absolutely towering, whether you stand in front of it or from dozens of miles away.
sbinnee 22 hours ago [-]
Same here. It was an amazing experience. I was lucky on my visit day and time that it was sunny and the sun was setting down which made spectacles of light show inside. I just stood in the middle for half an hour amazed.
brandall10 21 hours ago [-]
I've been twice, and unfortunately it was cloudy on my second trip.
The difference light quality makes to the experience is remarkable, and I implore anyone that visits to ensure you go at the right times on a clear sunny day.
You may think you've seen well lit stained glass before, but it's like freaking lazer beams of thick light penetrating the environment to the point where it doesn't seem natural.
dhosek 20 hours ago [-]
I’m doing a nerdy Catholic project that calls for attending Mass at churches all over Chicago (https://www.dahosek.com/category/catholic-nerd-pilgrimage/) and one recent church had an east-facing wall that was entirely stained glass that was quite a dramatic effect during a morning Mass. The right combination of architecture, geography and weather can do some amazing things.
changoplatanero 22 hours ago [-]
Gaudi wanted it to be a monument to Christ but it ended up as a monument to Gaudi.
stubish 19 hours ago [-]
When the commission is to create the most impressive structure possible, anything less would be a failure. That is just how the Catholic church rolls. See most European art and culture for the last 1500 years for details.
WJW 22 hours ago [-]
This makes me wonder if, 7 centuries ago, people thought the same about the designer of the Notre Dame.
Fiction, but you if wonder about things like this, you might be interested in The Pillars Of The Earth series about the building of a cathedral in 12th century England.
rramon 12 hours ago [-]
The Cologne cathedral took over 600 years to finish because the original plans got lost along the way. it was paused after 300 years! For the following centuries, many generations only saw the same unfinished state with the crane on top.
I humorlessly looked it up, and it was a 200 year project with several people making major contributions, not a single mastermind.
bobthepanda 1 hours ago [-]
Most cathedrals and monuments are like that because until recently in human history, they took a long time to build and so the original architect would die, the financing might collapse, etc. Heck, this happened to Gaudi; the remarkable thing here is that the people after Gaudi wanted to continue his vision as much as they could.
The Washington Monument in DC, for example, famously is different colors because they had to change the source of marble during construction when funding halted for a time.
TheOtherHobbes 10 hours ago [-]
So - in the end - was Sagrada Familia. Much of the design is Gaudi-inspired rather than Gaudi-in-person.
If would likely be even frillier, more colourful, and more organic if Gaudi had seen it all the way through.
It's still one of the modern wonders of the world.
mc32 21 hours ago [-]
Not sure “celebrities” were such a thing as they are today. 7 centuries was before the reformation and things were pretty austere. Surely nobles celebrated things and there were favored artisans but celebrated as crassly as we do today in such abundance. I don’t think the media existed to allow that to take place.
zrobotics 20 hours ago [-]
Eh, they certainly weren't celebrities in the same way, that would only be possible with modern broadcast media. But people like the pope, kings, and dukes would be pretty close. I would expect the average medieval peasant would know who the pope (or popes, depending on the date) were, and at the least who their king was, as well as the relevant nobles for their village. And I wouldn't be surprised if they knew who the neighboring kings and nobles were. A peasant from the Iberian peninsula might not know who the king of Poland was, but they would likely know who the French king was and likely who was emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
And medieval people definitely built monuments to themselves. A great example is Battle Abbey [0]. The official reason it was built was as penance for William the conqueror killing so many English, but there is definitely a strong case to be made that building such a grand abbey was in 0art to signify the new Norman rule and to remind people of who was in charge. They weren't venerating the architect, but it was very clear to everyone who paid for the abbey and William remained very much linked to the structure. That would have been one of the most impressive buildings for a very large area, even it's ruins remain impressive nearly a millennium later. It's a religious building, but it was even at the time very much linked to a secular ruler (inasmuch as the rulers of the time were secular).
It really depends on what you mean with "know" here.
The legend say that when the king tried to flee the revolution he was only recognized due to a coin with its face engraved in it. A teacher taught me this one with a variant where the king itself gave the coin to pay in a tavern. Now even it is just a legend, that also gives an interesting reflection on what it means to be famous at this time.
A typical Iberian peasant probably wouldn't have heard of Poland. The King or Emperor would be "the King" or "the Emperor" and might as well live on the Moon.
Not many people realise that the more distant locations in Shakespeare's plays were close to science fiction. If you were a British peasant visiting "Verona" or "Venice" was like visiting the ISS. You might get swept up to fight in France, and there was a tiny chance of joining the navy. But most people spent most of their lives within a tiny area, with little idea of what was happening elsewhere.
So cathedrals were stunning. If you somehow visited a cathedral city you'd be struck dumb by the size - unimaginable to someone who grew up on a small holding.
ponector 21 hours ago [-]
Not a monument but tourist attraction like Disneyland.
stronglikedan 17 hours ago [-]
Just about every monument is a tourist attraction, including this monument.
tumnus 20 hours ago [-]
It can be both. And, I know some animators who consider Disneyland to be something of a monument itself.
16 hours ago [-]
mensetmanusman 18 hours ago [-]
And when you ask Gaudí, he points to Christ
daviddoran 21 hours ago [-]
Same — it’s absolutely other-worldly. Like being in an alien spaceship. Truly breathtaking. One of my favourite places in the world.
bcatanzaro 18 hours ago [-]
I had a similar experience. The "Sanctus Sanctus Sanctus" written in stone was not an aspiration or a motto for me when I visited, it was a statement of fact.
gadders 12 hours ago [-]
"I like to see a man standing at the foot of a skyscraper. It makes him no bigger than an ant... The God-damn fools! It's man who made it—the whole incredible mass of stone and steel. It doesn't dwarf him, it makes him greater than the structure. It reveals his true dimensions to the world. What we love about these buildings, Dominique, is the creative faculty, the heroic in man"
It really is an amazing building can sit beside all the gothic cathedrals in terms of beauty.
iambateman 22 hours ago [-]
Same. After I went…
> On a perfect September afternoon, I walked alone to find the church.
> One moment, only trees. The next, La Sagrada Familia.
> To stand there, before the century of brilliance and determination that combined to create this mass of stone and glass, on the edge between nature and society, and see, and sense that I too am seen, was one of the great privileges of my life.
goshx 19 hours ago [-]
and trees inside as well, as the columns are meant to mimic a forest.
bradgessler 20 hours ago [-]
The lighting alone is insane. Hard to describe it.
wkat4242 20 hours ago [-]
You have to be lucky to get a sunny day though. Of course it's Barcelona so that's pretty likely. But on a sunny day the colours are much deeper. The best lighting you get near the end of the day when the sun is low and shines the colours right across the whole church. It's an amazing kaleidoscope.
varjag 9 hours ago [-]
When I visited, there was a service and a column of light was hitting that huge hovering crucifix at an angle. It was absolutely intense.
codethief 5 hours ago [-]
> The best lighting you get near the end of the day when the sun is low and shines the colours right across the whole church. It's an amazing kaleidoscope.
Came here to say exactly this!
cindyllm 20 hours ago [-]
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georgelyon 17 hours ago [-]
Gaudi is among the best engineers and artists who ever lived, and I won’t belabor his greatness. It is cool though that Rhino (https://www.rhino3d.com/) got a shout out in this article, it is a similar blend of engineering and artistic excellence that I’ve only dabbled in briefly, but repeatedly pops up in the toolkits of the most interesting engineer-artists. One of my personal favorites is John Edmark who among other cool things made these shutter-synced 3D sculptures that are absolutely amazing: https://www.johnedmark.com/phifib/#itemId=572301305559869e24...
MoreQARespect 10 hours ago [-]
What's interesting about his engineering is that he used to obsessively make models of the cathedral to "spike" his ideas. They show this in the museum.
One of the most waterfall projects of all time actually had a fair bit of agile behind it.
maxbond 15 hours ago [-]
Very cool. I think if you squint this is sort of like a 4D moire. You have a repeating 3D structure which you're looking at through a "grid" in time, causing aliasing.
charlieflowers 20 hours ago [-]
I just got back from a family vacation there. I was tired that day, it was hot and crowded, and I started thinking, "I wonder if this will be worth it."
I found myself astounded, struck speechless, and moved to tears. I was in awe.
Gaudi is someone we software engineers should revere. He made things precisely and powerfully functional while also making them beautiful.
Do not miss seeing Sagrada Familia if you ever get the chance.
mogoman 12 hours ago [-]
Fully agree. Walking towards the address I came around a corner and my jaw dropped. Still get goosebumps thinking of that moment. Sadly inside was a construction site with no lighting (this was around 2003), would love to go back and see it again.
danso 22 hours ago [-]
Visited this a few months ago, somehow having never heard of it as an American (in the way that I learned about Notre Dame and St. Peter’s and Westminster Abbey) and it surpassed the hype far more than any European famous attraction I’ve ever been to.
I first glimpsed it while doing a touristy bike tour my first day in Barcelona and it’s hard to convey how surreal it is, like a video game’s final level glitching into its tutorial stage.
boppo1 20 hours ago [-]
Lots of experience with video games glitching, but not sure how your analogy applies here. Can you elaborate some more?
Tempat1 19 hours ago [-]
Not the person you’re replying to, but I’m sure they mean something like, imagine the tutorial level in a normal town, but the boss’s final lair from the Catholic moon has glitched into the middle of the tutorial town.
mensetmanusman 18 hours ago [-]
Yes, like on the old Final Fantasy Super Nintendo games.
That said, if on limited time, definitely see the Sagrada Familia. It was one of my favourite tourist sites in Spain, even beyond just Barcelona.
WinstonSmith84 13 hours ago [-]
Gaudi makes Barcelona interesting to see but Barcelona itself is overhyped with little to see beyond Gaudi's works.
In the whole of Spain, the south has a significant history with a lot of historical buildings and very old city centers. Sevilla especially, but Granada or Cordoba are gems too - and I'm skipping lots of smaller cities or villages like Ronda, Setenil or Toledo more in the north, each more interesting than Barcelona. Unless of course the goal is to party, then none of the previous villages are very appealing :-)
pjerem 13 hours ago [-]
Barcelona is interesting for its modernity and city design.
It's maybe the most heavily planned and designed European capital.
Maybe it's hard to see that coming from the US where all the cities have been planned in the last centuries and you are used to see blocks everywhere, but in Europe it's the exception, and the way it have been done in Barcelona is, I think, unique in the world.
If you don't know the concept of superblocks, there you go : https://www.citiesforum.org/news/superblock-superilla-barcel... but to summarize, Barcelona have been divided in superblocks containing blocks. Inside those superblocks, there are less cars and inside the blocks, there are barely any car at all. What that means is that each superblock is like a little city and each block is like a peaceful village. Hundreds of peaceful places inside of a busy european capital.
mpeg 11 hours ago [-]
Superblocks are often mentioned in the context of Barcelona, and while a good idea in theory, in practice a lot of locals are against it.
It would be fantastic if the whole city was implemented using superblocks, but the reality of it is that the areas where superblocks have been planned go up in price, pushing out low earning locals and bringing in foreigners who can afford it.
This might have been ok for a while in areas like Poblenou which were extremely underdeveloped 20 years ago (mostly industrial buildings) but even the new incarnation of superblocks (green axes) which are mostly about pedestrianization of streets and squares always results in rent increases.
There's no good solution, I would like to see a modern city built with pedestrians in mind from the get-go though.
zemvpferreira 4 hours ago [-]
The idea that we should purposefully keep places worse to live in so the rents stay cheaper is… what it is I guess. I can empathize but I can’t accept it. Improve everything.
Daishiman 6 hours ago [-]
It goes up in price because it's highly desirable.
iainmerrick 13 hours ago [-]
There are other things to see beyond Gaudi -- and he's not quite such a unique outlier as you might be led to believe! Gaudi is justifiably the most celebrated and well-known, but he was part of an architectural movement, not just a solo genius.
For example, the Palau de la Música Catalana is amazing, and has lots of the fluid forms and nature iconography you might have assumed was unique to Gaudi, but it's by a different architect (Domènech i Montaner, says wikipedia).
Don't forget casa Batlló - visits are by appointment only (I think) but even just seeing the building’s exterior is pretty awesome.
wkat4242 20 hours ago [-]
No you can just book a ticket like with all the others. Always buy a ticket online. Otherwise you'll be stuck in a queue. The Sagrada stopped doing on the spot visits because the queue was getting too long and Battló did as well. Only at la pedrera (or casa Milà as it's really called) can you still buy a ticket on site. But I wouldn't. You're just wasting your time waiting while all the prebooks go ahead of you.
Battló is the best one for me by far. I love the organic shapes and the light well and the soft wood etc. Wow
ghaff 18 hours ago [-]
This business about having to book tickets online in Europe is pretty much new to me. I never used to have to do this with rare exceptions.
ido 15 hours ago [-]
There are a lot more tourists then there used to be in the past. When I moved to Vienna in 2005 I used to take weekend trips to nearby cities (anything up to a couple hours by train, like Budapest or Brno). I would just go on a train and when I’d arrive I’d find some hostel and get a room on the spot.
Today you really have to reserve, sometimes months in advance if it’s during the high season.
distances 9 hours ago [-]
20 years ago I could just walk up to the Eiffel tower ticket office, buy a ticket, and go up after a couple of minutes. On a beautiful summer weekend.
Today I wouldn't even dream of that. You really have to plan ahead for all the major sights that include an entrance.
fpoling 16 hours ago [-]
We almost missed Louvre on a recent visit to Paris. You need to book online and depending on the season weeks in advance.
ghaff 11 hours ago [-]
I didn't even try the Louvre last time I was in Paris--which was OK. But, although I had timed tickets to the Musee D'Orsay, it was really sort of too crowded to be enjoyable. You couldn't get near the cafe behind the clock.
goshx 19 hours ago [-]
They also do some cool projections on the façade in December.
stavros 22 hours ago [-]
Casa Batllo is pretty nice as well.
eszed 18 hours ago [-]
Strongly recommend Casa Batllo - it's magnificent. It pulls off this trick of being slightly surreal, but yet completely cozy. There's not a single inch of it that isn't unique and interesting to look at, and yet far from being visually overwhelming, it's immensely restful. I'd move into it tomorrow.
All that said, if they still have the LED-installation at the exit - and if you're like me, and a little sensitive to visual stimuli - avoid that at all costs. It is 360° (or more? I think it's the floor and ceiling, too) of flashing lights and sound, which reduced me to a catatonic state, squatting in the corner with my eyes tight shut and my hands pressed over my ears. It was almost, but not quite (which says something for how good the house itself is), enough to ruin the experience.
mpeg 11 hours ago [-]
La Seu, the cathedral of Palma, also had a big Gaudi influence as he led the restoration in the early 20th century.
I'm biased, but for me it's one of the most beautiful gothic cathedrals in the world, the lights inside are spectacular.
BurningFrog 19 hours ago [-]
The amazing thing with this church and Barcelona is not the genius of Gaudi.
It's that the city of Barcelona happily let him build his gloriously insane buildings all across town, and on top of that get free reign over the ginormous cathedral project!
Having lived in San Francisco, it seems absolutely unreal...
mejutoco 12 hours ago [-]
I am going to be that guy and say that Sagrada Familia is not a cathedral. In case anybody is interested. But Barcelona has a neo-gothic cathedral you can visit too in the city center.
MengerSponge 7 hours ago [-]
This guy's 100% right: It's a basilica. A church has to be the seat of a bishop to be a cathedral.
Americans also often refer to Sacré-Coeur in Paris as a cathedral, but it too is just a lovely basilica.
koobz 22 hours ago [-]
Visited Barcelona a decade ago to see this. It's awesome. I often think calling it "kitsch" is some sort of unfortunate linguistic quirk because Antonio Gaudi's name evokes "gaudy."
The thing is a celebration of creation, inventiveness, and natural beauty. Maybe even playfulness - though being a catholic building there's some requisite "death" mixed in: I guess the full spectrum of life is lurking in there.
tgv 13 hours ago [-]
> Antonio Gaudi's name evokes "gaudy."
The English word "gaudy" (probably) comes from the Latin gaudere or gaudium (to rejoice, joy), which is also the (supposed) origin of the name Gaudí. Much more appropriate than its current meaning in English.
hansjorg 21 hours ago [-]
I kind of envy those who can so easily dismiss something like SF. Just try to imagine what they must have experienced to become so blasé.
lubujackson 22 hours ago [-]
An element of Gaudi's work I didn't appreciate until I was in Barcelona is the usage of biological structures in his architecture. You can see somewhat in the image looking at the ceiling, but the columns really do evoke the sense of being in a forest of pure white, towering trees with the ceiling as its canopy.
yupitsme123 17 hours ago [-]
This ties in with the Art Nouveau movement which he was a part of. If you look at paintings and other architecture from the time period, there are lots of references to nature and "organic" shapes.
Earw0rm 15 hours ago [-]
The Passion Facade, marking Christ's crucifixion and death, resembles a skull; the Nativity facade is an, ah, biological representation of birth.
stavros 22 hours ago [-]
Eh, I thought I made a pretty good joke when someone said "the sagrada familia is pretty gaudy" and I said "it's pronounced 'Gaudí'".
One of the things that blew my mind is how the calculations for large buildings like this were done. They design it upside down with string! the suspension of the string will produce the correct shape for compression in the domes and arches when inverted.
Actually, it doesn’t show the correct forces for downside-up buildings, but it makes nice mockups models, so people believe it. At the time it was excellent, today it would be dangerous.
mindwok 21 hours ago [-]
The Sagrada Família gives me a kind of weird optimism and hope for technology and what it could be. I went to Europe for the first time this year, and I remember repeatedly thinking as I saw buildings like the Leaning Tower of Pisa or the Duomo in Florence, how sad it is that humanity doesn't build beautiful things anymore (fair enough when they take like 200 years).
Then you see this, a church over 100 years in the making, finally being realised in the last ~10 years because innovations in stone cutting have made these intricate designs more feasible and progress has rapidly improved. It's awesome.
dfxm12 6 hours ago [-]
humanity doesn't build beautiful things anymore
There was a time when architecture was the height of showing off, showing off skill, artistry, etc. I think we build beautiful things today, but they aren't necessarily buildings. Ok, 8½ might not be as impressive as the Sagrada Familia, but it is beautiful all the same.
leflambeur 19 hours ago [-]
Many churches were in construction for over a century. Very typical and, although obviously people were elated when one was finished, getting there fast was not a source of anxiety.
The Church has all the time in the world.
Oreb 16 hours ago [-]
Many churches were in construction for over a century, yes. Today? I’m not familiar with any examples other than Sagrada Familia, and even that one is almost finished. These multi-generation building projects seem to be a thing of the past.
Imagine trying to get funding today for a building project that is scheduled to be completed long after everyone alive today would be dead. I can’t imagine that being possible. It’s a pity: I wonder what wonders we could have built using modern technology over such a long timescale.
Hram Svetog Save (Church of Saint Sava) in Belgrade/Serbia started construction in 1935 and the exterior was finished in 2017. I haven’t been there in several years, but my understanding is that the interior is still being worked on and will continue for some years to come…
So not quite “over a century” but getting close. :)
zrobotics 20 hours ago [-]
I'd say we've stopped making these types of grand monuments, but that's been relatively recent. Think of things like the Chrysler building or the Empire State building, they have tons of unnecessary ornamentation and are still very impressive structures. But art deco architecture is kinda the last period I can think of where that was the case, although I'm definitely not an architecture expert. If there are more modern examples, please link them since I would love to be proved mistaken here.
Al-Khwarizmi 13 hours ago [-]
Early this year I visited the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, it was built between 1994 and 2007 and it's definitely a grand monument, and amazing.
But in the West I'd say yes, we have pretty much stopped. One more sign of our decadence. You have to go elsewhere to see this kind of projects.
CaptainOfCoit 11 hours ago [-]
> One more sign of our decadence.
Isn't it a sign of the opposite? Grand buildings for the sake of being grand sounds more decadent than spending the time, effort and money on something else.
Al-Khwarizmi 10 hours ago [-]
I think I might have used the wrong (or at least, a somewhat inaccurate) word. I was thinking in Spanish, where "decadencia" just means "decline", and just translated literally. But in English "decadence" carries extra connotations of luxury, pleasure, etc. that I just forgot. What I meant is that it's one more sign of the decline of the West, but I didn't intend to link that decline to hedonism (which is a very Anglo-Saxon/protestant thing to do, hence probably the different connotations of the word in English with respect to Romance languages, but this view is not something I really adhere to).
Anyway, I would argue that "being grand" is not useless, and this kind of monuments do have a value. From a shallow point of view, they bring lots of tourism. But apart from that, they have artistic, cultural, symbolic and, in some cases, religious value. They attract people and make the cities they are in more desirable. So I do think not building them anymore is a sign of
patrickk 13 hours ago [-]
> they have tons of unnecessary ornamentation
That's in the eye of the beholder.
Pertinent HN article + discussion, which I love to revisit every once and a while, even though I do not work in anything related to architecture.
The fact that so many people from all over the world are drawn to older architecture with "tons of unnecessary ornamentation" makes you think where we went wrong in recent decades.
zrobotics 10 hours ago [-]
I guess I may have phrased that slightly incorrectly. The ornamentation is unnecessary from a functional viewpoint, but that isn't a bad thing. It is one of the reasons those buildings are so good looking, and that is not a bad thing. All the ornamentation is one of the reasons both of those buildings are still tourist attractions and draw thousands of visitors a year. I just meant that the ornamentation is unnecessary from a functional viewpoint, they just did all that stonework to make them look nice. Which is an architectural trend I wish would catch on again.
patrickk 8 hours ago [-]
Fair enough.
I think the "form over function" dogma has taken over to such an extent that it's creating miserable, concrete and glass hellscapes that are foisted upon the public by detatched "starchitects". A great point that was mentioned somewhere (maybe in that artlicle I linked) is that unlike other forms of art, architecture is forced into your view, whether you like it or not. If you hate modern art, you can simply avoid that msueum.
With newer stone CNC machines now advancing, hopefully we can recreate the beautiful, intricate craftsmanship of the past, and indeed even develop wacky, creative new forms too and move away from these horrible, bland designs that have taken over everywhere, and made every cityscape look generic and indistinct.
rjh29 14 hours ago [-]
Maybe something like Marina Bay Sands in Singapore (2010), fairly iconic outline.
goshx 19 hours ago [-]
We have plenty of modern monuments, but they are different. Adding to your NYC examples, I see Little Island and the Vessel as monuments of their own leagues.
sjclemmy 3 hours ago [-]
I have visited 2x -
Once recently and it was very impressive.
But I also climbed the towers in a thunder storm in 1990. Which was a terrifying experience.
The stairs had about 50cm of stone balustrade on the inside which was not enough to feel safe. I was on my hands and knees by the very top.
It was either real or vertigo but I swear I could feel the tower sway as the lightening and thunder crashed all around. A most treasured experience
MisterTea 23 hours ago [-]
I visited last month and it is incredibly stunning to see in person. The amazing amount of detail on the facade carvings along with the organic design is something I have not seen on any building. There is what appears to be a Christmas tree topping the front facade.
My only regret is not going inside as it was waaaay too hot to stand in line for hours to get inside. Though I walked around it taking pictures.
mejutoco 12 hours ago [-]
If you book a slot on the website they are given in 15 minutes intervals. Last time I was there everything worked very smoothly.
tgv 13 hours ago [-]
Best time to visit Spain is roughly april/may and september/october, although that may not be true for the Atlantic coast.
jnsie 22 hours ago [-]
You missed out. The stained glass windows are absolutely stunning. I normally don't get too excited about stained glass, but they are truly beautiful as is much of the interior.
ccppurcell 8 hours ago [-]
As a mathematician I'd like to draw your attention to the magic square on the Passion facade of the Sagrada Familia, with magic constant 33, the final age of Jesus. It has repeated numbers so it is considered trivial or not a magic square at all by some definitions (after all you could always set every cell equal to 1 to satisfy the other conditions). There are non trivial magic squares with constant 33. Nevertheless, this example is noteworthy.
roughly 21 hours ago [-]
I'd echo everyone else on how awe-inspiring this building is. One thing that's particularly interesting is that, while the outside is extremely cluttered and ornate, the inside is almost spare by comparison, and achieves a level of immersive awe that I've never experienced before.
In that sense, the building is almost too successful - a church is meant to glorify God, but there's no disentangling the Sagrada from Gaudi. You cannot stand in the building and not feel a sense of awe for the mind that created this, and the building is far, far too famous to ever be a servicing church. It was such an interesting contradiction of an achievement - it's such an incredible artistic accomplishment and so successful in its intent to inspire and as an act of devotion that you just cannot look past the finger to see the moon. The artist eclipses the subject.
(As an aside, Orwell makes mention of the Sagrada Familia in Homage to Catalonia, and it's an incredible paragraph: "For the first time since I had been in Barcelona I went to have a look at the cathedral – a modern cathedral, and one of the most hideous buildings in the world... Unlike most of the churches in Barcelona it was not damaged during the revolution – it was spared because of its ‘artistic value’, people said. I think the Anarchists showed bad taste in not blowing it up when they had the chance.")
lo_zamoyski 20 hours ago [-]
FYI it isn’t a cathedral. A cathedral is not a type of building, but the seat of the bishop (“cathedra” meaning “seat”). It is a common misconception that a cathedral is a grand church, since many cathedrals are, in fact, grand. Check out the Co-Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Juneau, Alaska to see a modest example.
Sagrada Família is, however, a basilica which is a title of honor bestowed on churches by the pope.
roughly 20 hours ago [-]
I did not know that! Thank you - updated, except for the quote from Orwell, who gets to show his ass even further thanks to your correction.
mezod 10 hours ago [-]
are you sure Orwell wasn't referring to the actual Cathedral of Barcelona? (not Sagrada Familia)
arethuza 13 hours ago [-]
That had me puzzled because there is at least one church that was a cathedral in the "seat of a bishop" sense but hasn't been for hundreds of years but is still referred to as a cathedral:
Ironically it is strongly associated with presbyterianism.
padjo 13 hours ago [-]
Once you know about this building it becomes fun to use it as a reference point for any extremely ambitious, entirely impractical, but laudable project. E.g. so Jim is starting that refactor of the authentication layer? It’s going to be his Sagrada Familia.
giveita 11 hours ago [-]
All software is Sagrada
pretzellogician 23 hours ago [-]
I visited it last year for the first time. Indescribably stunning, I can't recommend it enough.
weatherlight 5 hours ago [-]
I live a 20 minute walk away. I never tire of looking at it. When friends come to visit I usually skip the touristy stuff but I will always accompany them to go see the Sagrada Família.
oatsandsugar 4 hours ago [-]
It is so beautiful, but it is definitely on the list of "touristy stuff" in Barcelona.
norome 13 hours ago [-]
My two cents as an armchair architect: The Original Gaudi façade is a masterpiece, astonishing to behold in both technical excellence and artistic originality. The sculptural spires are also excellent where they follow the law of weirdness and surprise. The rest is a valiant tribute, but ultimately lacking in the subtlety and freedom of Gaudì himself. It was based on his design as closely as possible, but we can only imagine him re-thinking and warping the design at each stage to create those original details and surprising moments that characterize the works he personally supervised. I found the interior boring, and the newer modernist façade was just an echo of the style in vogue at the time. I would skip going inside next time.
lnrd 11 hours ago [-]
The only reason I can find for anyone to be bored by the inside is if they visited on a cloudy day. The way the light enters through the stained glass and colors the environment (and how the light changes during the day) is astonishing, never experienced something similar tbh.
empath75 3 hours ago [-]
The inside is by the far more interesting part to me. It's a sculpture in light. I have never seen anything else like it.
mezod 10 hours ago [-]
I walk by it every week and I still stop every single time. I was born and live in the neighbourhood and I've seen it progress. It's really inspiring to see man can conceive such beauty and wonder. I agree with other comments mentioning we software developers can/should especially appreciate it for the humongous endeavour, work in progress and feat of engineering it means. I also like to think Gaudi and Barcelona have impacted the way I see and appreciate design, and how I lamely try to embed it into my work!
cogogo 22 hours ago [-]
Never had a worse personal anxiety experience than visiting it 15 yrs ago with my nephews who were 4 and 5yrs old. At the time you could go up elevators on the side of the new facade but you had to walk down spiral staircases on the old side. Those staircases have a huge open circle all the way down to the bottom. I was so worried for those kids. First time I had experienced anything close to parental fear. My brother and my sister in-law on the other hand never seemed phased.
That said. Dying to go back. So much progress has been made since then.
cogogo 10 hours ago [-]
My father just emailed me this article. Scanned from the physical magazine into an unreadable PDF. Classic.
14 hours ago [-]
rceDia 9 hours ago [-]
Was in Barcelona and my co traveler said we will visit and tour Sagrada Familia..had no idea what it was. You cannot tell by looking at it from the outside what magnificent coordination of color and architecture awaits. Was fortunate to visit on sunny day. The stained glass windows created an ethereal kaleidoscope of colors in the cavernous interior.
zabil 12 hours ago [-]
It’s hard not to be overwhelmed by the Sagrada Família — it feels less like a building and more like a living organism stretching toward the sky. Makes Barcelona along all that it already offers a beautiful city to visit.
I also feel the tragedy behind its beauty. From what I've read, Gaudí dedicated later part of his life completely to it and he died poor and unrecognised, hit by a tram and mistaken for a beggar.
fpoling 14 hours ago [-]
The article mentioned that with the cross installed Sagrada will become the tallest building in Barcelona. But this is only from the ground. Barcelona is surrounded by high hills that are quite higher than Sagrada and there are a lot of buildings there.
The hills offer spectacular view over Barcelona and The Sagrada Família. Park Güell is situated on one of those, but if you plan to visit it you can can also come to Bunkers del Carmel on another hill with a relatively short work, the views from it are better and no tickets are necessary.
mkehrt 16 hours ago [-]
FYI, I was just in Barcelona (I'd fortunately been before) the Sagrada Familia was sold out for the next several weeks. Parc Guell was sold out for the next several days, as well. Casa Batlo had a few tickets.
h1fra 8 hours ago [-]
I visited it 20years ago and wasn't really impressed. Then I went there last year, and I was blown away. The outside is nice, but the inside is truly a masterpiece, especially when the sun is low in the sky
hunglee2 23 hours ago [-]
I can't help but feel Warhammer 40K vibes when looking at this thing. It's a monstrosity, directly from the Warp
stavros 21 hours ago [-]
I know, it's great, isn't it!
hunglee2 15 hours ago [-]
yes!
jfengel 20 hours ago [-]
I was transferring through Barcelona and I didn't intend to spend any time there, so I had done absolutely no research on it.
But the connection was late so we were put on a bus tour of the city, starting with the mountains outside it. The bus let us out at an overlook with a view of the city, which looked more or less like any other far off city.
And then... what the holy hell was that Thing dominating the skyline? It didn't even look real. I had to refocus my eyes just to be able to actually see it.
I never did get to go inside, but we drove past, and the driver explained the history of Sagrada Familia. As bizarre as it was from a distance it's even weirder up close. It looks like something by HR Giger. I dare not imagine what's inside.
I will have to go some day.
tedggh 8 hours ago [-]
Familia doesn’t need an accent because the stress is in the second to last syllable and the word ends in a vowel. I speak Spanish fluently and this made doubt so I had to look it up lol.
rullera 8 hours ago [-]
You are translating it. The original name it's in català. Família. The accent is correct
riffraff 16 hours ago [-]
I'm glad this article explained how much the building speed increased.
I was in Barcelona a couple times in the 00s and the work seemed slow and frozen in time.
Visited again in the late 00s and the building seemed to have grown by a lot.
Saw a picture of where it is now and it seemed it went even faster.
I remember at some point the target date for completion was in the '40s, I would be happy to visit the complete building earlier, it's one of my favorite buildings.
fpoling 15 hours ago [-]
The original project for Sagrada included huge staircase from the sea side. The city hall in discussion if they should build that. The problem is that they need to remove a lot of buildings on that side and people living there are not happy about such prospects. Still it seems the moment is growing towards allowing it. Then I suspect it will be a long story as well.
3abiton 23 hours ago [-]
99% invisible made an amazing episode on this nearly 10 years ago. The story of gaudi, how he died, how the plans of the church were destroyed, and how they're reconstructing the architecture. All that aside, the cathedral is mind blowing.
echelon_musk 9 hours ago [-]
To anyone wanting to go, you must book in advance and you can only book online!
I stupidly thought I could just decide to go one day when I was last in Barcelona.
Helmut10001 15 hours ago [-]
Does anyone know what the deal is with the left eye of Spanish architect Jordi Faulí in the NYT picture? It seems odd to use this picture without explaining what is going on. I could not find any records of Jordi having an eye injury.
moomin 13 hours ago [-]
Technically speaking, it’s never going to completely realise the vision, which also included an enormous set of stairs on land that is now both heavily occupied and completely flat.
qweiopqweiop 14 hours ago [-]
I used to work nearby, and it eventually got to the point that I didn't even look up when walking past by. It's funny how incredible things become quotidian, in all aspects of our lives.
gigatexal 22 hours ago [-]
It’s such an awesome cathedral. It’s def worth going just for this. Go. Spend a few hours just taking it all in. It’s amazing.
loloquwowndueo 22 hours ago [-]
It’s not a cathedral, it’s a basilica. Barcelona’s cathedral is Santa Eulalia.
gigatexal 9 hours ago [-]
I’m a stupid American. Thank you for the correction. I just think all such buildings are “cathedrals”.
loloquwowndueo 7 hours ago [-]
Nah, just one thing I happened to know and you didn’t - nothing wrong with that.
I wonder if the bishop will move to the Sagrada when it's finished though?
lo_zamoyski 20 hours ago [-]
That’s right, though a cathedral can also be a basilica (like the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, New Jersey).
javier2 23 hours ago [-]
Im not that interested in architecture, but this was stunning. Such immense vision from original the architect.
lqet 14 hours ago [-]
arte had a very good documentary about Gaudí some time ago, which also analyzed the engineering aspects of his earlier buildings in details. Very interesting, but I was unfortunately only able to find a German version on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eH4YUeZSsTA
__loam 23 hours ago [-]
This is one of the most magnificent buildings I've seen in my life and everyone should go see it even if you're not religious. It's incredible the vision the architect had over 100 years ago.
greyb 22 hours ago [-]
>This is one of the most magnificent buildings I've seen in my life and everyone should go see it even if you're not religious.
On the flipside, I remember thinking it was a kitsch architectural icon and my family was bullying me into going to visit by dictating my plans while solo traveling.
When I went inside, I had a brief moment where I was struck by awe, and wondered if I should consider converting to Catholicism.
__loam 21 hours ago [-]
It's astoundingly beautiful.
lo_zamoyski 18 hours ago [-]
> wondered if I should consider converting to Catholicism
You’re not alone. This is one very conscious motivation for the beauty of Catholic art (not the only motive, but a very real one). Beauty is intelligible and leads the mind upward, toward its ultimate source. Beauty is understood as a transcendental, along with the good, the true, and unity, which is to say, being understood from different perspectives.
In other words, beauty has been an instrument for leading people toward conversion for a long time. There’s even the term “apostolate of beauty” [0].
It gives me hope that sometimes, mankind can take a long term project. Even with warts and all.
brandall10 21 hours ago [-]
To be fair, many cathedrals in the past took well over 100 years to build (ie. Notre Dame @ 182 years), and it wasn't an unusual idea at the time construction started that it could take this long.
Of course one would think modern methods would have sped things up considerably, but it wasn't until the advent of technologies this century that things really progressed.
stubish 19 hours ago [-]
I think many cathedrals like Notre Dame were completed several times. It was 182 years from construction until the last addition was finished. Whereas Sagrada Familia is only now just completing its original design. When I first saw the structure, there was no central tower and no plans to actually build it. But you could see it in the plans in the museum there.
aidenn0 19 hours ago [-]
I think you meant the 20th century?
brandall10 18 hours ago [-]
No, this century. The majority of the building was built over the past 25 years. The last 15 years in particular have been a speed run to finish it.
trevor-e 23 hours ago [-]
As others have said the Sagrada Familia is incredible and I had high expectations given all the controversy around it. I've visited many historic churches during my travels and it's my favorite one. Really neat to see it reach this stage.
chakintosh 11 hours ago [-]
The Sagrada Familia is about to finish construction before the Camp Nou
dwd 22 hours ago [-]
Visited it in 1984, and it has come a long way since then. I don't think it had a roof at the time.
Have to go back to see the inside which looks amazing.
trabant00 16 hours ago [-]
> “It seems that perfection is attained not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing more to remove.”
If we go by the above then Sagrada Familia is far from perfect. I guess it depends on taste but I found it extremely kitschy. The lighted signs inside make me think more of a bar than a church. And I found the actual Barcelona Cathedral beautiful. There's also a pretty heavy discussion if the present thing is what Gaudi intended.
unregistereddev 53 minutes ago [-]
I'm in a similar minority - I simply don't understand Gaudi's visions. Touring another building he designed left me in a similar state of confusion. His work strikes me as kitschy and impractical. The trick lighting is genuinely cool, but it strikes me in the same way as a Disney show. It's a skillfully designed light show that is designed to temporarily overwhelm your senses. Like a Disney show, I don't feel moved by the beauty - it's more a sense that you just saw something cool that had a lot of attention to detail. Unlike the Disney show (which isn't supposed to serve a purpose beyond entertainment), I leave a Gaudi building confused because the tour guide kept touting how practical everything is and I just don't see it that way.
hsuduebc2 7 hours ago [-]
I certainly recommend visit Sagrada Família in a sunny day! The work of the light inside is majestic.
cft 8 hours ago [-]
I lived in Spain for several years. The general theme here is endless construction. There was a construction in the food market nearby that lasted for 4 years, and it has been still going on when I left. In the US, this would have been done in 2 months. The Spanish love slow construction.
gorfian_robot 16 hours ago [-]
no one ever mentions the Passion Facade by Subirachs. it is breath taking.
it is somewhat sad that we don't start right now any immense scale project requiring decades of construction. With today and tomorrow tech we could possibly build say hundred kilometer long several kilometer high space launch rail gun or something like this.
No matter what you think of it, you can't say it's not an immense-scale project requiring decades of construction.
scrubs 16 hours ago [-]
Been there twice. Immaculate. Spendid. Unique. Character. Barcelona is an outstanding place to visit.
d--b 14 hours ago [-]
Ok, I’ll be the one criticizing. I am a big fan of Gaudi in general, but it shouldn’t stop us from honest criticism. While visiting the inside on a sunny day will leave you in absolute awe that you’ll remember all your life, the outside is not great.
Maybe it’s the execution or the change in technique or materials over the years, or maybe it’s because it lacks patina but it honestly looks like a patchwork of stones cobbled together with no global uniformity. It’s a giant mess.
The (current) main entrance with the 4 tall towers look awesome, but the sides, oh boy, they really look quite bad. I thought someone else had designed them.
anyways maybe my expectations were too high, or maybe it’s because I am one of the few foreigners who prefer Madrid over Barcelona. I don’t know... Definitely worth the trip if you havn’t seen it though.
huflungdung 21 hours ago [-]
[dead]
touristtrap 22 hours ago [-]
[flagged]
touristtrap 23 hours ago [-]
[flagged]
thw_9a83c 23 hours ago [-]
> ugly and already outdated
I'm not sure about "ugly," but it's certainly no more outdated than most places in Europe, and tourists will continue to flood in regardless. No one will miss to visit the Sagrada Família for sure.
touristtrap 23 hours ago [-]
[flagged]
arduanika 23 hours ago [-]
I'm sad that you got flagged for expressing your aesthetic opinion, but I think it's a beautiful achievement.
wkat4242 20 hours ago [-]
It's more the tourists go home thing I think.
I agree the tourism is a bit much at times but I don't blame the tourists. We're all tourists somewhere at one point.
I'm very happy Barcelona is revoking all the AirBnB licenses though.
arduanika 7 hours ago [-]
Again, the flagged post was expressing a valid opinion. I don't own the right to visit anybody else's city. Europe is not our museum. People live there, and get to decide what kind of city they want.
I'd be personally sad to never visit Barcelona again, as I did one time decades ago, and see the completed cathedral. But this poster is not obligated to like it, or to welcome me.
Go inside. It’s worth it. The light is beautiful, and the architecture rewards unhurried attention. Take your time to wander, don't rush.
One hundred and fifty years in the making, and still unfinished. The two completed façades serve as the "secondary" entrances; the main entrance is yet to be built. Completing the project will require demolishing four city blocks, a plan that is controversial and complicated because people live there. Many of those residents bought at lower prices with a clause acknowledging this; when the Sagrada Família is finished, they will have to leave.
I think it might be because places of worship have a function that is nowhere else to be found: a place for introspection.
Where a city is usually all entertainment and shops, a place for true rest and just enjoying the places is far rarer. Although some cities are wising up and creating more of those places in city planning.
What church/cathedral is superior in your opinion?
For others, it’s the spiritual resonance of a place. The Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela has stirred something deeper within, but maybe that was just me. I experienced the same with Lourdes and Le Puy-en-Velay in France because they carried something that felt "sacred" and transformative, not only from the buildings but the actual place.
Then there are those who value historical or religious authority. Cathedrals like St. Peter’s in Rome or the Papal Palace in Avignon have that kind of symbolic weight, and I assume some would favor them over the more "profane" work of Gaudi.
I would like to add two (former) churches to your list: the Hagia Sophia (it's really humbling to think that it was already standing for 900+ years when the Turks conquered Constantinople 500+ years ago) and the Pantheon in Rome, which despite being several centuries older, had the largest dome in the world for more than 1000 years.
The explanation behind this is usually the Spanish civil war, and then it's how the construction is funded by donations. The latter brings in a cynical twist, because the argument to keep the money flowing in ends the moment the cathedral is deemed finished. So you have a perverse incentive to stall the construction because once it's done then the whole economy around it will end as well.
Taking so long to finish it is not the badge of honor that's depicted. The project is just as complex as when it was when Gaudi died.
There’s no “done, so we don’t need money any more”
As for Sagrada Familia / Familia Sagrada: putting the adjective before the noun is sometimes done in Spanish to reinforce the importance of the adjective. "La blanca nieve" places focus on the color of the snow while "la nieve blanca" focuses on the snow itself.
I was never into architecture and am not a religious person but visiting the Sagrada Familia was profound. I came out a slightly different man than one who walked into it just half an hour before. No CGI hack comes close.
It's nothing like I've ever seen before so I'm surprised by the comments at the end of the article that make it seem like its originality has waned over the years. You can feel the conviction and passion that have been poured into it for over a century.
I can't wait to visit it again. I really love it.
https://blog.sagradafamilia.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/c...
Our guide showed us on his phone pictures how the colors change in different months.
I never thought about how I would build a church to exemplify Gods creation, but after that I wondered about cathedrals out of glass or crystal. I must have raved like a mad man about the Sagrada to my friends who had chosen to stay in the hostel!
It made me appreciate cathedrals more. Like now they are are old and ancient, but imagine living in a medieval village and making a once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage to a big city and being dumb struck about the tallest building you have ever seen and architecture which is familiar but you could have never dreamed up.
Related/unrelated, part of my joy in the sagrada familia is that being a tourist feels essentially the same as being a pilgrim. If you get a chance to visit parc guell, you aren't exactly experiencing it as a park, but as a tour through the different ideas in the park. (Compare this with an unguided stroll through Central Park, where you and all of the other visitors are likely experiencing it as a park (the way it was intended)
^ I think! In my experience it's occasionally overlooked in a short trip to Paris, whereas if you're going to just see one Gaudi, make it the cathedral
One thing that impressed me about it was its effect on others. There were lots of Japanese tourists there at the time. I climbed the stairs up one of the towers with a Japanese man festooned with cameras as usual, I had my SLR with me too. When we got to the top we sat in silence looking out onto the church with it's unfinished roof, neither of us took a single picture. I think both of us were first overwhelmed and then we realized that no picture would capture what we saw and felt. I did take a few pictures of the spiral stairs on the way down, just to have a souvenir of the place.
When I got to the bottom I shovelled all my Spanish coins and notes in the donation box. Perhaps they bought a few kilos of cement with it, I like to think that I helped in an infinitesimally small way to build it.
Similar approach, different era end hence execution and style. During my stay in Barcelona I could not help but draw comparisons.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strasbourg_Cathedral
> The construction of the cathedral, which had started in the year 1015 and had been relaunched in 1190, was finished in 1439
"finished" is arguable because it still misses one spire ;) but that's now part of its character.
> Standing in the centre of the Place de la Cathédrale, at 142 metres (466 feet), Strasbourg Cathedral was the world's tallest building from 1647 to 1874 (227 years) [..] Today it is the sixth-tallest church in the world and the tallest extant structure built entirely in the Middle Ages.
From clair-obscur lighting inside to outside horror vacui vs a clean and geometric interior, it is a cathedral of contrast, whose architecture is not just a thing in itself but also extends to the area it is sat in, e.g the streets around and the plaza channel the "devil's wind", a nearly constant airflow running around the exterior that symbolically cannot enter the cathedral, which gives an immediate impression of calm as you enter.
It also houses since 1352 an astronomical clock reminiscent of the Antikhytera mechanism, and notable for having a Copernician (heliocentric) orrery since 1547; the confluence of science and clergy is yet another contrast.
Surrounding - and generally in the whole city - buildings are tall-ish but much less than Barcelona, making the Strasbourg Cathedral absolutely towering, whether you stand in front of it or from dozens of miles away.
The difference light quality makes to the experience is remarkable, and I implore anyone that visits to ensure you go at the right times on a clear sunny day.
You may think you've seen well lit stained glass before, but it's like freaking lazer beams of thick light penetrating the environment to the point where it doesn't seem natural.
Fiction, but you if wonder about things like this, you might be interested in The Pillars Of The Earth series about the building of a cathedral in 12th century England.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cologne_Cathedral
The Washington Monument in DC, for example, famously is different colors because they had to change the source of marble during construction when funding halted for a time.
If would likely be even frillier, more colourful, and more organic if Gaudi had seen it all the way through.
It's still one of the modern wonders of the world.
And medieval people definitely built monuments to themselves. A great example is Battle Abbey [0]. The official reason it was built was as penance for William the conqueror killing so many English, but there is definitely a strong case to be made that building such a grand abbey was in 0art to signify the new Norman rule and to remind people of who was in charge. They weren't venerating the architect, but it was very clear to everyone who paid for the abbey and William remained very much linked to the structure. That would have been one of the most impressive buildings for a very large area, even it's ruins remain impressive nearly a millennium later. It's a religious building, but it was even at the time very much linked to a secular ruler (inasmuch as the rulers of the time were secular).
[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_Abbey
The legend say that when the king tried to flee the revolution he was only recognized due to a coin with its face engraved in it. A teacher taught me this one with a variant where the king itself gave the coin to pay in a tavern. Now even it is just a legend, that also gives an interesting reflection on what it means to be famous at this time.
https://www.numismatique-en-maconnais.fr/2018/04/larrestatio...
Not many people realise that the more distant locations in Shakespeare's plays were close to science fiction. If you were a British peasant visiting "Verona" or "Venice" was like visiting the ISS. You might get swept up to fight in France, and there was a tiny chance of joining the navy. But most people spent most of their lives within a tiny area, with little idea of what was happening elsewhere.
So cathedrals were stunning. If you somehow visited a cathedral city you'd be struck dumb by the size - unimaginable to someone who grew up on a small holding.
It really is an amazing building can sit beside all the gothic cathedrals in terms of beauty.
> On a perfect September afternoon, I walked alone to find the church.
> One moment, only trees. The next, La Sagrada Familia.
> To stand there, before the century of brilliance and determination that combined to create this mass of stone and glass, on the edge between nature and society, and see, and sense that I too am seen, was one of the great privileges of my life.
Came here to say exactly this!
One of the most waterfall projects of all time actually had a fair bit of agile behind it.
I found myself astounded, struck speechless, and moved to tears. I was in awe.
Gaudi is someone we software engineers should revere. He made things precisely and powerfully functional while also making them beautiful.
Do not miss seeing Sagrada Familia if you ever get the chance.
I first glimpsed it while doing a touristy bike tour my first day in Barcelona and it’s hard to convey how surreal it is, like a video game’s final level glitching into its tutorial stage.
That said, if on limited time, definitely see the Sagrada Familia. It was one of my favourite tourist sites in Spain, even beyond just Barcelona.
In the whole of Spain, the south has a significant history with a lot of historical buildings and very old city centers. Sevilla especially, but Granada or Cordoba are gems too - and I'm skipping lots of smaller cities or villages like Ronda, Setenil or Toledo more in the north, each more interesting than Barcelona. Unless of course the goal is to party, then none of the previous villages are very appealing :-)
It's maybe the most heavily planned and designed European capital.
Maybe it's hard to see that coming from the US where all the cities have been planned in the last centuries and you are used to see blocks everywhere, but in Europe it's the exception, and the way it have been done in Barcelona is, I think, unique in the world.
If you don't know the concept of superblocks, there you go : https://www.citiesforum.org/news/superblock-superilla-barcel... but to summarize, Barcelona have been divided in superblocks containing blocks. Inside those superblocks, there are less cars and inside the blocks, there are barely any car at all. What that means is that each superblock is like a little city and each block is like a peaceful village. Hundreds of peaceful places inside of a busy european capital.
It would be fantastic if the whole city was implemented using superblocks, but the reality of it is that the areas where superblocks have been planned go up in price, pushing out low earning locals and bringing in foreigners who can afford it.
This might have been ok for a while in areas like Poblenou which were extremely underdeveloped 20 years ago (mostly industrial buildings) but even the new incarnation of superblocks (green axes) which are mostly about pedestrianization of streets and squares always results in rent increases.
There's no good solution, I would like to see a modern city built with pedestrians in mind from the get-go though.
For example, the Palau de la Música Catalana is amazing, and has lots of the fluid forms and nature iconography you might have assumed was unique to Gaudi, but it's by a different architect (Domènech i Montaner, says wikipedia).
Parc Guell https://parkguell.barcelona/ and La Padera https://www.lapedrera.com/en are must sees for Gaudi
Battló is the best one for me by far. I love the organic shapes and the light well and the soft wood etc. Wow
Today you really have to reserve, sometimes months in advance if it’s during the high season.
Today I wouldn't even dream of that. You really have to plan ahead for all the major sights that include an entrance.
All that said, if they still have the LED-installation at the exit - and if you're like me, and a little sensitive to visual stimuli - avoid that at all costs. It is 360° (or more? I think it's the floor and ceiling, too) of flashing lights and sound, which reduced me to a catatonic state, squatting in the corner with my eyes tight shut and my hands pressed over my ears. It was almost, but not quite (which says something for how good the house itself is), enough to ruin the experience.
I'm biased, but for me it's one of the most beautiful gothic cathedrals in the world, the lights inside are spectacular.
It's that the city of Barcelona happily let him build his gloriously insane buildings all across town, and on top of that get free reign over the ginormous cathedral project!
Having lived in San Francisco, it seems absolutely unreal...
Americans also often refer to Sacré-Coeur in Paris as a cathedral, but it too is just a lovely basilica.
The thing is a celebration of creation, inventiveness, and natural beauty. Maybe even playfulness - though being a catholic building there's some requisite "death" mixed in: I guess the full spectrum of life is lurking in there.
The English word "gaudy" (probably) comes from the Latin gaudere or gaudium (to rejoice, joy), which is also the (supposed) origin of the name Gaudí. Much more appropriate than its current meaning in English.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRv_syz2DAc
Then you see this, a church over 100 years in the making, finally being realised in the last ~10 years because innovations in stone cutting have made these intricate designs more feasible and progress has rapidly improved. It's awesome.
There was a time when architecture was the height of showing off, showing off skill, artistry, etc. I think we build beautiful things today, but they aren't necessarily buildings. Ok, 8½ might not be as impressive as the Sagrada Familia, but it is beautiful all the same.
The Church has all the time in the world.
Imagine trying to get funding today for a building project that is scheduled to be completed long after everyone alive today would be dead. I can’t imagine that being possible. It’s a pity: I wonder what wonders we could have built using modern technology over such a long timescale.
So not quite “over a century” but getting close. :)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Zayed_Grand_Mosque
But in the West I'd say yes, we have pretty much stopped. One more sign of our decadence. You have to go elsewhere to see this kind of projects.
Isn't it a sign of the opposite? Grand buildings for the sake of being grand sounds more decadent than spending the time, effort and money on something else.
Anyway, I would argue that "being grand" is not useless, and this kind of monuments do have a value. From a shallow point of view, they bring lots of tourism. But apart from that, they have artistic, cultural, symbolic and, in some cases, religious value. They attract people and make the cities they are in more desirable. So I do think not building them anymore is a sign of
That's in the eye of the beholder.
Pertinent HN article + discussion, which I love to revisit every once and a while, even though I do not work in anything related to architecture.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23582942
The fact that so many people from all over the world are drawn to older architecture with "tons of unnecessary ornamentation" makes you think where we went wrong in recent decades.
I think the "form over function" dogma has taken over to such an extent that it's creating miserable, concrete and glass hellscapes that are foisted upon the public by detatched "starchitects". A great point that was mentioned somewhere (maybe in that artlicle I linked) is that unlike other forms of art, architecture is forced into your view, whether you like it or not. If you hate modern art, you can simply avoid that msueum.
With newer stone CNC machines now advancing, hopefully we can recreate the beautiful, intricate craftsmanship of the past, and indeed even develop wacky, creative new forms too and move away from these horrible, bland designs that have taken over everywhere, and made every cityscape look generic and indistinct.
My only regret is not going inside as it was waaaay too hot to stand in line for hours to get inside. Though I walked around it taking pictures.
In that sense, the building is almost too successful - a church is meant to glorify God, but there's no disentangling the Sagrada from Gaudi. You cannot stand in the building and not feel a sense of awe for the mind that created this, and the building is far, far too famous to ever be a servicing church. It was such an interesting contradiction of an achievement - it's such an incredible artistic accomplishment and so successful in its intent to inspire and as an act of devotion that you just cannot look past the finger to see the moon. The artist eclipses the subject.
(As an aside, Orwell makes mention of the Sagrada Familia in Homage to Catalonia, and it's an incredible paragraph: "For the first time since I had been in Barcelona I went to have a look at the cathedral – a modern cathedral, and one of the most hideous buildings in the world... Unlike most of the churches in Barcelona it was not damaged during the revolution – it was spared because of its ‘artistic value’, people said. I think the Anarchists showed bad taste in not blowing it up when they had the chance.")
Sagrada Família is, however, a basilica which is a title of honor bestowed on churches by the pope.
https://www.stgilescathedral.org.uk/
Ironically it is strongly associated with presbyterianism.
That said. Dying to go back. So much progress has been made since then.
I also feel the tragedy behind its beauty. From what I've read, Gaudí dedicated later part of his life completely to it and he died poor and unrecognised, hit by a tram and mistaken for a beggar.
The hills offer spectacular view over Barcelona and The Sagrada Família. Park Güell is situated on one of those, but if you plan to visit it you can can also come to Bunkers del Carmel on another hill with a relatively short work, the views from it are better and no tickets are necessary.
But the connection was late so we were put on a bus tour of the city, starting with the mountains outside it. The bus let us out at an overlook with a view of the city, which looked more or less like any other far off city.
And then... what the holy hell was that Thing dominating the skyline? It didn't even look real. I had to refocus my eyes just to be able to actually see it.
I never did get to go inside, but we drove past, and the driver explained the history of Sagrada Familia. As bizarre as it was from a distance it's even weirder up close. It looks like something by HR Giger. I dare not imagine what's inside.
I will have to go some day.
I was in Barcelona a couple times in the 00s and the work seemed slow and frozen in time.
Visited again in the late 00s and the building seemed to have grown by a lot.
Saw a picture of where it is now and it seemed it went even faster.
I remember at some point the target date for completion was in the '40s, I would be happy to visit the complete building earlier, it's one of my favorite buildings.
I stupidly thought I could just decide to go one day when I was last in Barcelona.
https://xkcd.com/1053/
On the flipside, I remember thinking it was a kitsch architectural icon and my family was bullying me into going to visit by dictating my plans while solo traveling.
When I went inside, I had a brief moment where I was struck by awe, and wondered if I should consider converting to Catholicism.
You’re not alone. This is one very conscious motivation for the beauty of Catholic art (not the only motive, but a very real one). Beauty is intelligible and leads the mind upward, toward its ultimate source. Beauty is understood as a transcendental, along with the good, the true, and unity, which is to say, being understood from different perspectives.
In other words, beauty has been an instrument for leading people toward conversion for a long time. There’s even the term “apostolate of beauty” [0].
[0] https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?rec...
Of course one would think modern methods would have sped things up considerably, but it wasn't until the advent of technologies this century that things really progressed.
Have to go back to see the inside which looks amazing.
If we go by the above then Sagrada Familia is far from perfect. I guess it depends on taste but I found it extremely kitschy. The lighted signs inside make me think more of a bar than a church. And I found the actual Barcelona Cathedral beautiful. There's also a pretty heavy discussion if the present thing is what Gaudi intended.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Line,_Saudi_Arabia
No matter what you think of it, you can't say it's not an immense-scale project requiring decades of construction.
Maybe it’s the execution or the change in technique or materials over the years, or maybe it’s because it lacks patina but it honestly looks like a patchwork of stones cobbled together with no global uniformity. It’s a giant mess.
The (current) main entrance with the 4 tall towers look awesome, but the sides, oh boy, they really look quite bad. I thought someone else had designed them.
anyways maybe my expectations were too high, or maybe it’s because I am one of the few foreigners who prefer Madrid over Barcelona. I don’t know... Definitely worth the trip if you havn’t seen it though.
I'm not sure about "ugly," but it's certainly no more outdated than most places in Europe, and tourists will continue to flood in regardless. No one will miss to visit the Sagrada Família for sure.
I agree the tourism is a bit much at times but I don't blame the tourists. We're all tourists somewhere at one point.
I'm very happy Barcelona is revoking all the AirBnB licenses though.
I'd be personally sad to never visit Barcelona again, as I did one time decades ago, and see the completed cathedral. But this poster is not obligated to like it, or to welcome me.