Working with the Magic of Natural Light

Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926) was a highly unusual artist.  Among other things, he never met a right angle that he liked (most everything he constructed was done in curves, waves, or other elements that bore no relationship to a sharp corner or square).  Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain is largely regarded as his best work -- also known as the largest unfinished Catholic church in the world.  In 1926, Mr. Gaudi was struck by a tram and killed while trying to cross the street en route to his church for prayer and confession. He was assumed to be a beggar (and not worth the effort of immediate treatment), leading to deterioration as a result of his injuries and his death a day later.  

With only a quarter of the basilica done at the time of his death, the work to finish Gaudi's creation  continued and to this day, the  designs for the basilica that Gaudi left behind at the time of his death are still not fully implemented.  The man used small bags of birdshot hanging from strings to model columns, arches, and other key elements of his designs.  He then took photographs of these models, painted over them, and these became the his vision and the basis for construction.  Even more interesting, Gaudi did not start with designs on paper but designed his models as he went... giving a whole new reputation and credibility to "winging it".   

When complete, Sagrada Familia will have a total of eighteen spires.  The shortest will be of the twelve apostles of Christ, and the tallest will be of Jesus Christ.  As of 2023, 13 of the 18 have been completed.  The spire of Jesus Christ is still under construction.  While the exterior of the Sagrada Familia is in itself mind boggling and awe inspiring, the interior is what caused me enough pause that I wandered around in the church in a daze for hours... awestruck and speechless.

What immediately struck me about Sagrada Familia was the awesome, delicate, and complex use of natural light to illuminate  the interior of the church. As the sun moves across the sky (OK to be technically correct... as the earth moves relative to the sun), light streams through a myriad of different colored stained glass windows in a dynamic, ethereal landscape that looks and feels magical. Words can't do it justice, so I'll just leave it to the pictures to tell the story:

  Intrigued?  Here is a slideshow of more...