Life outside the straight lines: God’s architect
The Sagrada Familia: a cathedral with Catalan Gothic and many other influences.
ALAMY, MARCIN ROGOZINSKI; WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
The sense that Gaudí saw his work as a religious vocation is strong, but – a man who put few words on paper – the evidence can only be circumstantial
ANTONI GAUDÍ liked to refer to his role in the creation of the Sagrada Família, his unlike-any-other basilica-you’ve-ever-seen, as that of “the doorman”. False modesty? Not really. Unlike today’s cabal of globally renowned “star-chitects”, this Catalan genius had no interest in or appetite for fame and fortune. Perversely, that desire to take a back seat is one of the reasons why he continues to exert such a fascination and why his still unfinished (after almost 150 years) masterpiece – the Expiatory Basilica and Temple of the Holy Family, to give the place its full name – draws five million visitors each year.
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