My Itchy Fingers

A Bird’s Eye View – Barcelona, Spain Trip #3

September 30, 2011 at 1:05 am | Posted in itchy backside | 2 Comments
Tags: Architecture, Arts, Design, Religion, Spain, Travel

After spending much time admiring the interior of Sagrada Família, Itchyfingers joined the other people at the queue to take the lift up the tower.

We went to the queue here but were led to the one at the Nativity façade.
So there were two lifts

Took a photo of our ticket in case the staff retained it or marked on it…
which he did tear…Visitors used to be able to go up the towers freely via
the staircase but this is no longer allowed, supposedly for safety reason

Actually Itchyfingers made a mistake. We should have joined the queue immediately after we entered the church, or at least do so after taking a quick look at the interior. Why? Firstly, lesser people in the queue would mean shorter waiting time. Secondly, it may also mean that we could spend more time up at the tower since we would not need to rush out to make way for others. Should have read the guidebooks for some tips…hahah…But I guess we were just too captivated by the interior and the great photographic opportunities…I mean, there aren’t that many places that you can claim to be able to have beautiful photos just with any casual snapshots! “乱乱拍都很美!” :p  Hahaha….

Our queue formed all the way behind this beautiful rosary door…This was
finished in 1899

Closeup…

The carvings on the door…So beautiful…

More…

Admiring these artworks made the waiting less boring…

Actually the queue moved quite fast. About 10 or 15 minutes later, we were
already moving to the front…That’s the lift we would be taking…oooo…
so modern…was expecting something older…hahah 

The lift could take up to six people plus the operator. We were told that we would be going up to 55 metre here at the Nativity façade. Found out later that the lift at the Passion façade could bring you up to 65 metre…

The bridge between the two towers. Here we had our first bird’s eye view
around the church…

Can you see the shadow cast by Sagrada Família? Cute huh… :p

Could see this large cucumber-shaped building! Hahah…Some people said
it looked like maize, some said looked like bullet…hahah…

Both were man-made, but it was beauty versus the beast in this case…

At the top of the Tree of Life was a red Tau cross with an ‘X’ representing
Christ’s name and a dove representing the Holy Spirit

But it still looked like Christmas Tree to me…hahah

As I said, we couldn’t stay too long as there were other people behind us and more coming up from the lift. So we could only stay at one point for a short while. There were two windows where we could go out to the balconies to take photos.

Whose foot was this dangling in the air…So dangerous! Hahah…

Heee…these people looked so tiny….

The stairs we walked down were so narrow…If you were any fatter and
you would have some problem turning around… 

Some areas were also quite dark…

Graffiti on the wall of the tower! These people should really slap themselves
for being so disrespectful of a religious building and a work of art! How
did they get the time to do the scribbling and get away with it when there were
people behind them all the time??

The ugly scaffolding

Looked like a big tunnel…

We walked around the stairs…

Could see the church’s interior its trunk-like pillars

The spires

Soon, we found ourselves reaching this flight of staircase, which looked like it would bring us all the way down….

Does this remind you of the nautilus shell? Actually a bit scary to walk cos
it was so dark and narrow here. Only the right hand side had a railing fixed to
the wall while the left hand side sloped downwards. Gotta walk slowly to 
prevent falling or missing a step! But with people behind, you just couldn’t 
afford to take your very own sweet time…hahah. People with tendencies of 
vertigo spells should try to avoid this…

It’s kinda strange if safety was the reason for not letting people climb up the stairs but walking down was allowed. But I guess it was just a way to collect some fees for the church construction cost, which was a justifiable reason.

Finally out! When I walked down, I kept looking down the spiral to see 
how much more to go…hahah…Should have counted the number of steps!
This iron gate felt so heavy! :p Was glad to be out in the light! 😀

Itchyfingers were preparing to leave when we realised that we nearly missed the museum in the crypt! Not sure if the signs were not prominent enough or we were just too distracted. Luckily we saw people walking in, or else we would really have missed it! But I think if you were one of those with audio guides, you would probably be led to look for the museum.

The museum showed the history and progress of the building of Sagrada Família,
with many models exhibited

A lot of thoughts and details went into the model making stage as it would
be too costly to experiment on the actual building itself 

The hanging model was a highly innovative method designed by Gaudí between
1889 and 1908. “With the model inverted, a very lightweight masonry brick
structure was developed. The hanging model is based on the theory of the
‘reversion of the catenary.’ A chain suspended from two points will hang
spontaneously in the shape of a so-called ‘catenary’. Only tension forces can
exist in the chain. The form of the catenary upside down gives a perfect shape
for an arch of stone masonry, and in such an arch only reversed forces of tension,
being compression, will occur.”

An original sketch from Gaudí, with his signature on the bottom right.
There were a few other sketches but the light was a bit too dim to see
them clearly, let alone taking a good picture 

An old photo of the church’s work-in-progress

Photographic blow up of a pencil drawing on tracing paper by another
architect, Lluis Bonet i Gari

Workshop for model making

Study of an apostle with the effigy of Gaudí by Josep Maria Subirachs, the
Catalan sculptor and painter who did the works on the Passion Facade 

Oh, I found out that this is called, “Facade of the Passion Pleasure:
The flagellation of Jesus at the pillar”

The soldiers

Sketch of the Passion Facade

Gaudí, by Josep Maria Subirachs

Photo showing the tomb of Gaudí in the Carme Chapel in the crypt of 
Sagrada Família

Photo of Gaudí’s tomb. Found out that the price of admission includes 
entrance to the crypt

Antoni Gaudí (25 June 1852 – 10 June 1926)

Itchyfingers strongly recommend paying Sagrada Família a visit if you are in Barcelona. You would be amazed by the genius of Gaudí and the beauty of the church!

Also see related posts:
> Inside the Construction Site – Barcelona, Spain Trip #2
> The World’s Most Beautiful Construction Site – Barcelona, Spain Trip #1 

The World’s Most Beautiful Construction Site – Barcelona, Spain Trip #1

September 20, 2011 at 12:32 pm | Posted in itchy backside | Leave a comment
Tags: Architecture, Arts, Design, Religion, Spain, Travel

Itchyfingers have seen this church on posters, calendars or books many times. But nothing beats seeing the real thing for ourselves. When Itchyfingers stepped out of the adjacent train station (with the same name as the church) on our first day in Barcelona, we were kinda surprised that the church was just in front of us, sitting next to a busy road. Couldn’t help but let out a “wow”. It was huge. Much bigger than I had expected.

Hola! Welcome to Sagrada Família, the world famous Roman Catholic church in Barcelona, Spain. Designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí (1852 – 1926), it is perhaps most well-known as a yet-to-be-finished, work-in-progress structure; with construction commencing more than a century ago, it is expected to take a few more decades before it can be fully completed. Why did it take so long to complete? Well, Gaudí was said to have remarked, “My client is not in a hurry.” When Gaudí died in 1926, Sagrada Família was only between 15 and 25 per cent complete. I think Gaudí must be quite a perfectionist to want to have things done to his satisfaction rather than rushing it out to meet deadlines.

The reason we were wowed, besides the impressive and sheer size of the building, was that we were also taken back by the number of tower cranes and scaffolds hanging over and around its spires. I don’t think I saw these on any of those glossy prints…The photographers could have avoided the ugly sight when they took the photos during the long interruption periods in construction, or they could have been digitally removed.

Sagrada Família – the world’s most beautiful construction site….

The massive construction site is an UNESCO World Heritage Site

1882 was the year when the crypt of the church, funded by donations, begun

Built between 1908 and 1909, this was a provisional building destined to 
be a school for the sons of the bricklayers working in the church. One of the
features of this small building is the undulation of both its walls and roof. 
This allows thin wall to become stiffer and achieves the effect of dispersing
rain water down the sides

One of the two shops. We missed this as it was already closed by the time
we were done taking photos inside the church. Visited the smaller one on
our first visit though

Even the lamp-post across the road is so ornate

Then we saw something moving…You mean we could get up the church?

A check on the admission information. It costs 12.50€ (about S$21.50) per 
adult and an additional 2.50€ (S$4.30) for the lift charge. Or you can pay
16.50€ for entrance with an audio guide. Do try to go early in the morning
as queues can be quite long 

I love the logo too!

We didn’t gain admission into the church interior on our first visit as it was already late afternoon. With only about two hours before closing time at 6 pm, it would be a waste of money and too rush for us to appreciate the church. The next morning we went early only to find out that the lift was not operating due to the light drizzling. It was really a very light drizzle so we were quite disappointed. Itchyfingers finally visited Sagrada Familia on our third day in Barcelona…

Actually at first look, I thought the church looked a bit messy from the Nativity
Façade here. Constructed between 1894 and 1930, it was the first façade to
be completed

But look carefully at the details and you would appreciate the beauty of these
sculptures, which are dedicated to the birth of Jesus

Itchyfingers are neither Christians nor Catholics, but we are still appreciative 
of such beautiful sculptures 

The sculptures were characteristic of Gaudí’s naturalistic style, and were
ornately arranged and decorated with scenes and images from nature.
Can you see the fish and birds here?

A little lamb and dog with people in prayer

The Tree of Life. Looked like Christmas Tree huh? :p Originally, Gaudí
intended for this façade, and every statue and figure to be painted with a
wide array of colours. But I think I much prefer them this way…Otherwise
the colours may be a bit jarring…

Each window was decorated with such intricacy too

The sculptures also reflected the way of life, like this artisan working 

Or the harsher side of life. Not sure if this scene came from biblical stories…

Music as leisure and entertainment

But I dun quite like the use of copper on the sculptures as they looked so
out-of-place. But I guess it was chosen so that it would not break off easily
with the passing of time 

But this has to be my favourite!

At the base of each of the two large columns separating the three porticos
was a big tortoise. “One tortoise represents the land and the other the sea;
each are symbols of time as something set in stone and unchangeable.”

The two reptiles found at either side of the façade are symbolic of change

According to Wiki, “Gaudí chose this façade to embody the structure and decoration of the whole church. He was well aware that he would not finish the church and that he would need to set an artistic and architectural example for others to follow. He also chose for this façade to be the first on which to begin construction and for it to be, in his opinion, the most attractive and accessible to the public. He believed that if he had begun construction with the Passion Façade, one that would be hard and bare (as if made of bones), before the Nativity Façade, people would have withdrawn at the sight of it.”

You would understand why Gaudí said that when you walked over to the West side of the church…

To the west was the Passion Façade, which was a stark contrast to the Nativity
Façade

It was plain and simple, with harsh, angular straight lines carved
onto the stones. I would say it looked more modern…

“Dedicated to the Passion of Christ, the suffering of Jesus during his crucifixion,
the façade was intended to portray the sins of man.”

No wonder there were so many of these grumpy faces…

More…I think these should be scenes from the bible too…

Even the shapes of the animals were less organic

“Construction began in 1954, following the drawings and instructions left by
Gaudí for future architects and sculptors. The towers were completed in 1976,
and in 1987 a team of sculptors, headed by Josep Maria Subirachs, began
work sculpting the various scenes and details of the façade.”

Gaudí intended for this façade to “strike fear into the onlooker.” The use of
“dark angular shadows contrasted by harsh rigid light was to further show
the severity and brutality of Christ’s sacrifice.” The warrior figure on the
left could also be seen on his other works

The warriors

Faceless figure next to the warrior at the middle of the façade

Can’t remember where was this, but it could be on one of the walls. Notice
the sketchy etched-out warrior figures…Actually looked quite contemporary…

Forgot where was this also, but it looked like some secret codes to me…hahah 

Person hiding behind the pillar…

I like this door…looked like those old letterpress plate…

The details…This cryptogram (the orange box) showed a grid of numbers.
There are 310 combinations to arrive at a total of 33 – Christ’s age when he died

It was here where Itchyfingers finally entered the grand church on our third visit. So how does it look like inside? Do follow Itchyfingers on our next post to find out more!