Openings of Ascension: Style and Design in the Sagrada Familia by Antoni Gaudi The congregation of the Sagrada Familia, maybe more than any of Gaudi’s previous works, communicates his conviction that a ‘spiritualist imagery occupies the type of design.’ (Schmutzler 1962, 212). The congregation was a lifetime commission and stayed uncompleted upon his demise in 1926 – an impression of the desire and size of the task. It has been depicted as the most significant minister working since the late eighteenth century (Schmultzer 1962, 227) with its most piercing highlights being the rich beautification and towers with their Expressionist shape and structure. On the methodology the eye is gotten by the shaft molded towers rising to varying statures. They were intended to speak to the twelve Apostles, the Evangelists, Mary, with the tallest speaking to Jesus. One is promptly mindful of the significance of verticality in Gaudi’s plan – both in the outside and inside. The towers are yet to be finished, with work right now in progress on building the pinnacle of Jesus. Be that as it may, the completed towers are strikingly decreased, standing pleased against the horizon. Gaudi was an incredible devotee to the significance of otherworldly importance in design and this is reflected in the setting of an image of every witness on the most noteworthy purpose of each pinnacle – on the gathering place between the sky and the degree of the structure. The towers are beautified with “Hosanna”, “Excelsis”, and “Sanctus”, and the entryways of the Passion façade duplicate words from the Bible in various dialects. However the setting of the images in such a noticeable position is principal here as it proposes that a language of images, without words, is a definitive type of correspondence among man and God. In the model of the Sagrada Familia (see underneath) we see the pinnacle of Jesus bearing the image of the cross – itself pointed and limited: Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagrada_familia This picture of the structure decreasing to a solitary point, with all its supporting towers, shows Gaudi’s confidence in the human exertion to have confidence in the single, supreme nearness of God. This sense is passed on after entering the congregation when one turns out to be completely mindful of the amazing size of the structure and the assorted variety of structures which are joined into the plan. Gaudi needed to disassociate himself from the Gothic highlights of existing church buildings, for example, Chartres, where flying braces and outer supports are a normal element. The inside curves are in this manner not basic in western compositional custom and use non-roundabout shapes, called ‘allegorical’ or ‘catenary.’ (Huerta 2006: 324). The curves of the inside and the towers of the outside both look for similar lines of climb. Moreover, there is a twofold feeling of the interminable in both the inside and outside structure: initially, the way that the plans – for both inside and outside – have still not yet been executed delineates how Gaudi’s thoughts rose above the time allotment in which he needed to work – and may even surpass the 100th commemoration of his demise. Besides, it is obvious that Gaudi needed the completed Sagrada Familia to be a structure of inconclusive lastingness – this can be found in his utilization of weight bearing sections as opposed to flying supports. He would not utilize the gothic braces, expressing that they were much the same as the ‘props of a challenged person.’ http://www.gaudiclub.com/ingles/i_vida/i_sagr2.asp. Moreover, the way that his supports were inside the structure was basic to him, as they abstained from being exposed to the components, which would have quickened their weakening and compromised the structure’s changelessness. There is maybe even an emblematic significance to this consideration of the supports: it may recommend that profound quality in an individual – just as a structure – is interior and individuals should search inside themselves for the best approach to speak with God and not to other people, or the material world. The Sangara Familia shows up from the outside as a slim, inconceivable structure, with the towers having a natural surface, similar to that of a honeycomb or wattle. This may be Gaudi proposing that the common world is pervaded with profound significance – with highlights, for example, the honeycomb – including a characteristic spot inside God’s structure. As it has been said of Gaudi’s work, ‘cunning is made to take after nature and nature to look like guile; logical inconsistencies are orchestrated; planes, lines and convergences are compelled; the unpretentious and the murky are thrown in bronze and unchangeable; music is infused into the strong, shading into the air, and even soul into science. (Cassou et al 1962, 23). This inclination of Gaudi’s to embellish and configuration utilizing regular symbolism is proceeded in the inside with a lavishness of beautification and the consideration of winding staircases in the apse and chime towers. In the windows of the apse there are numerous highlights which are roused from nature, and are improved by light and shade contrasts. http://www.sagradafamilia.org/eng/index.htm. The unpretentious play on light in the inside is grown all the more expressively on the indulgent and various outside exteriors, where the Nativity towers have bright finished surfaces made of Gaudi’s system of utilizing mosaic tiles and broken Venetian glass. Figures of a liberated Christ are compared against this rich design. Without a doubt, Gaudi has been depicted as a draftsman, yet as a stone worker as well, having the ‘capacity to saturate structures with sculptural characteristics, to think about engineering as a huge shape that can be experienced tangibly.’ (Collins 1962, 10). However his systems contrast extensively starting with one piece of the congregation then onto the next. In the internal façade of the transept we see geometrically unadulterated, rectangular, rectilinear, or cubic structures (Schmutzler1962:,227), drastically extraordinary to the kaleidoscopic outer towers. It seems as though he needed his structure to be prophetic, to see past the season of which it was destined to the more powerful times ahead. This is reflected in his various style and his goal for the structure to be lit up around evening time to ‘broadcast the Almighty God.’ (Collins et al 1962, 161). He in this way gave the towers openings where searchlights were to be introduced, concentrating on a gigantic cross on the focal vault and in the city beneath, mirroring his desire that the structure’s quality could be felt and seen by each one of those in its region, and for quite a while to come. Book reference Cassou, J., Langui, E., Pevsner, N., 1962, Gateway to the Twentieth Century: Art and Culture in a Changing World. New York: McGraw-Hill Crasemann Collins, C, ( transltr), Christiane Crasemann; Conrads, U., and Sperlich, H.G., 1962, The Architecture of Fantasy: Utopian Building and Planning in Modern Times. New York: Frederick A. Praeger Huerta, S., 2006, ‘Basic Design in the Work of Gaudi.’ Architectural Science Review. Volume: 49. Issue: 4. P. 324+. College of Sydney, Faculty of Architecture Schmutzler, R., 1962, Art Nouveau. New York: Harry N. Abrams URL’S Antoni Gaudi Website. Accessible from: http://www.gaudiclub.com/ingles/i_vida/i_sagr2.asp [Accessed 06/03/07] Online Encyclopedia. Accessible from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagrada_familia [Accessed 06/03/07] Sagrada Familia data pages. Accessible from: http://www.sagradafamilia.org/eng/index.htm. [Accessed 06/03/07]>