Gaudi’s Barcelona

Gaudi and Barcelona go hand-in-hand. The man’s unique art and architecture are a proud feature of Barcelona’s cityscape, from furniture to sculptures to building facades.

But it is the still unfinished church of La Sagrada Familia which is the epic masterpiece of his career. A devout Roman Catholic, Antoni Gaudi spent the entirety of his later years working on it, to the point of sleeping in the crypt at night, until his death in 1926 at the age of 73.

The majority of these pictures are from the Sagrada Familia, whose construction continues and is planned for completion on the 100th anniversary of Gaudi’s death in 2026. While the overall design is Gaudi’s, some of the facade sculptures below are also the work of sculptor Josep Subirachs.

The graffiti doors are also from Barcelona but completely unrelated of course!

spain0039
spain0041
spain0044

spain0046
spain0049
spain0054

spain0055
spain0059
spain0074

spain0079
spain0080
spain0087

spain0091
spain0093
spain0100

spain0104
spain0112
spain0116

spain0120
spain0134
spain0136

spain0137
spain0139
spain0140

spain0143
spain0151

June 4th, 2009 in Spain

Comments (6)

KerryJune 4th, 2009 at 6:59 am

Great to have the blog back! What is the signifigance of the numbers in spain0054, it has something to do with the Gaudi Code doesn’t it? :) And what are those big cool towers in 80?

Gabriel OpenshawJune 4th, 2009 at 8:55 am

The numbers are a Magic Square by sculptor Josep Subirachs, whose work adorns the facade of La Sagrada Familia.

I forget how many permutations there are (not just straight lines), but add the numbers in any direction or even many smaller squares within or jagged connections a la Boggle and you get the number 33, the age at which Jesus was crucified.

The towers are actually the other side of the church! It’s a pretty wild design with over 18 towers in all (representing each of the 12 apostles, 4 evangelists, Mary and Jesus).

KerryJune 5th, 2009 at 6:50 am

Cool!

Wow, no wonder it’s taking so long to finish it! :)

Cakau vallsNovember 10th, 2009 at 9:11 pm

dayum! you are good! im so sad we missed eachother being in the same city! happy trails to you, Gabriel!!!

Gabriel OpenshawNovember 10th, 2009 at 9:14 pm

Thanks Cakau. Barcelona’s amazing!

Laura TrujilloJuly 26th, 2010 at 10:07 am

Gabriel, a long time ago I told you about el camino de santiago…. YOU NEED TO GO! I thought about you today and looked up your blog.. … I can’t believe how many more places you’ve traveled. What a delight, your work has gotten even more amazing. I enjoyed so much catching up on your life the last few years…. Keep it up

Laura Trujillo

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