Work proceeds overhead as worshipers and tourists visit the structure.


WRE Photo.


With nearly 3 million visitors each year, the Catholic church has come together slowly but surely since it passed its midpoint in construction in 2010 – the cranes that have stood alongside its spires for much of existence blend in almost seamlessly now, patiently piecing together the basilica.


Patience As A Virtue Tough it’s easy to gawk at the slow turn-around of the project, it’s not completely unheard of for a church of such prowess to move along that slowly. “My client is in no hurry,” Gaudi famously said.


Te basilica stands in good company; the Cologne Cathedral in Germany took nearly 600 years to complete, with a centuries-long construction gap in the middle. Te Florence Cathedral in Italy took nearly 140 years to complete, from the late 13th to the early 15th century. St. John the Divine, located in New York City, is the largest Cathedral in the world and has been under construction for more than 120 years – still far from completion.


The Façade Foremost in Gaudí’s mind were the inspiration and symbolism of the church, more so than the speed or tradition. Scrapping


32 JULY–AUGUST 2017 WIRE ROPE EXCHANGE


the conformity of Gothic design, Gaudí chose to emulate nature, integrating the light and rich colors – creating a building that would modernize Gothic custom with the aesthetic and organic nature of the then fledgling Art Nouveau movement. One of the most striking completed features of the church


is the Nativity façade, which portrays perfectly sculpted biblical figures, animals and ornamental designs that come to life, rising from what appears to be wet sand texturing the top of the façade. Dedicated to the birth of Christ, the façade is one of three in the church, along with the Passion and Glory facades – the Nativity scene being the only one constructed during Gaudí’s lifetime. Inside the church, stained glass windows illuminate


the church, casting rich colors throughout the church’s interior. Gaudí believed that color was the expression of life, incorporating it thoroughly in his designs. Tree-like columns in the nave that reach up toward the


heavens resemble a forest, with branches and treetops splayed out along the ceiling, evoking a natural peace which Gaudí hoped would encourage prayer. One of the most unique aspects of the church is its revolutionary use of hyperbolic vaults, angled columns and


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