Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Spain

Steven Dutch, Professor Emeritus, Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay

	I always thought Antonio Gaudi's "Sagrada Familia" was weird and grotesque. I still think it's weird and grotesque, but having seen it close up, I understand it better. His aim was to do what medieval cathedrals did, overload the senses. And part of the grotesqueness is that the work isn't done yet. That said, I don't really see much evidence of sprirituality here. It's like a number of other modern attempts to match the workmanship of ancient religious forms without having the spirittual sense. Also, they never had a building permit! Not in 136 years. That oversight resulted in a massive fine (36 million Euros).


















	This is what the cathedral is projected to look like.

	Below: sections waiting to be hoisted into place.

Created 25 October 2018, Last Update 04 June 2020