Designed by Gaudi, begun in 1883 and still being constructed, the Sagrada Familia radiates a compelling presence in the city, even before you visit it. Maybe it is the fact that it is unfinished, maybe it's the unusual architecture and decoration - which includes broken bottles and ceramics - but there is something so creative about the building that it'll work on your imagination.

From a distance the facade looks like someone has taken a lump of clay, kneaded and moulded it into a mass of spikes, icicles, holes and ridges. Closer up and you begin to pick out elements, even closer and you become overwhelmed by the intricate details. Inside the lines of the stone are clean, elegant, tactile.

The structure and composition of the building is very organic - photographs show how some of the columns were inspired by trees - and it is almost as if the building has developed on its own burgeoning from the earth, expending and blossoming as it grows. I particularly sensed this inside the structure and when climbing around inside the thin towers, the building has such a strong sense of identity, its own identity, separate from the person who designed it and the people building it. Maybe that is in part what makes this a remarkable structure, the way that is both representative of Gaudi's vision but is also somehow independent. This is not just a building it's an ongoing work of art.

Carrer de Mallorca 401
Metro: Line 2 or 5 Station: SagradaFamilia
www.sagradafamilia.org

I agreeI disagree

1.  
2. Send to friends