In November 2021, the world's most famous "rotten tail" Sagrada Familia (referred to as the Sagrada Familia) is finally topped to the top, one of the most famous churches in the world, after 139 years of "Rotten Tail", finally let people who pay attention to this beautiful building wait for a good news.
As soon as this information was released, netizens around the world said that they had "lived for a long time", and after experiencing almost all the events that could be experienced, such as the death of the architect, the change of dynasties, many revolutions, the two world wars, the economic crisis, the global epidemic, etc., the building was built under people's hope and support.
If Gaudí, the designer of the Sagrada Familia, saw this scene, he would have been moved to tears, and this building, which had taken his life's work and weathered, had finally made a perfect appearance to the world.
Sagrada Familia is located in Barcelona, Spain. As one of the most famous cities in the world, people know Barcelona differently: some people are because of the natural beauty of the Mediterranean Sea, some people are because of the ingenious archery torch of the 1992 Olympic Games, some people are because of the star-studded FC Barcelona, and some people are because of the city's urban planning that is neatly arranged like a mobile app icon... But either way, when one looks at the Sagrada Familia in the heart of the city, one has to admit that this great building is the true heart of the city. Designer Antonio. Gaudí used this church, together with more than a dozen of his exquisite architectural works, to set the tone for the design of the entire city for Barcelona, and to this day many people still call the city "Gaudí's City". Just as Kafka's relationship with Prague, Chopin with Warsaw, and Hugo with Paris, the city of Barcelona is destined to be inseparable from the name Gaudí.
In Gaudí's mind, "The Sagrada Familia is not the last church, but the first church of the New Age." In his designs, the Sagrada Familia combined Gothic architecture with Art Nouveau, an aesthetic design concept that permeated Gaudí's designs. Just as the Italian poet Dante has been called "the last poet of the Middle Ages and at the same time the first poet of the New Age", Gaudí, who also pioneered new styles, has also been called "Dante in the history of architecture".
On the walls of the Sagrada Familia, not a single corner is monotonous, and every corner and every line is worth stopping and exploring. You will find that the cathedral, whether on the outside or inside, can hardly see a straight line, but curves, hyperbolas, parabolas, spirals, cones and other elements, which is also the artistic idea that Gaudí has always practiced - "Straight lines belong to man, and curves belong to God." This kind of thinking stems from nature, and also from the poet He has always admired, Goethe-Goethe, who once said that there is no straight line in nature. In addition to its intricately embossed façade, the Sagrada Familia is most striking by its 18 towering minarets, so many of which are rare in architecture around the world, and each of which has its own meaning in Gaudí's planning. The tallest minaret in the center is 170 meters high and represents Jesus Christ, and is surrounded by four 130-meter-high towers representing Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, who are the authors of the four Gospels in the Bible.
This time on top of the star lights, the 140-meter-high minaret represents the Virgin Mary, which is located north of the Sagrada Familia. The 3 facades of the church, each with 4 towers, a total of 12, represent the twelve disciples of Jesus. Although many of the towers are still unfinished, in Gaudí's design, after the cathedral is completed, the glare radiating from the 12 towers representing the disciples will converge on the tallest tower in the middle, illuminating the night sky throughout Barcelona. Such a beautiful view can only be seen after the cathedral is fully built. Interestingly, Gaudí believed that man's creation could not exceed the height of nature, so the tallest minaret in the entire Sagrada Familia was designed to be 170 meters, 1 meter lower than the Montjuïc Hill in Barcelona.
When people are outside the Sagrada Familia, they almost always do the same action and look up at its majesty and beauty. And entering the interior of the church, people will still have the same movements, the same expressions - looking up, and then surprised, admired, as if the small human beings have returned to the jungle, back to the green years, bathed in the beams of sunlight sprinkled from the stained glass windows. If the exterior of the church resembles a towering tree, the interior of the church resembles a forest. The top of the pillar spreads out like a branch, and the branches are staggered, constantly bifurcating above, supporting each point of force. Between the branches, fan-like decorations connect them to each other. Looking further up, it is a sky of complex domes. The walls are carved with many creatures of nature - flowers, trees, and animals, which look full of life. In Gaudí's eyes, under the sky, vibrant forests are thriving, life is thriving in them, and people live in nature.
In 1984, the Sagrada Familia was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO along with several other gaudí works in Barcelona, and the Sagrada Familia is probably the only building to date that has been designated a World Heritage Site before it was built.
When Gaudí took over the construction of the Sagrada Familia in 1883, he resolutely changed the original Gothic building to a combination of Gothic and Art Nouveau, and since then, the world may have lost a magnificent Gothic building, replaced by a milestone that pays homage to nature and a myth of a "rotten legacy".
In the decades that followed, Gaudí did his best to build the church he thought was perfect. In 1926, Gaudí died unexpectedly in a car accident, and the citizens of Barcelona buried the "son of the city" in the underground of the Sagrada Familia, where people hoped that Gaudí would live forever and watch the completion of this church that had condensed his life's work. When the stars at the top of the Santa Maria del Fiore are lit, many people around the world see an unparalleled architectural marvel, while for many Barcelona citizens, it may be Gaudí's smile under the stars.