The
Church of Colònia Güell,
Antoni GaudíAntoni Plàcid Guillem Gaudí i Cornet – in English sometimes referred to by the Spanish translation of his name, Antonio Gaudí...
's
unfinishedAn unfinished building is a building where construction work was abandoned or on-hold at some stage or only exists as a design...
work, was built as a place of worship for the people in a manufactured suburb in
Santa Coloma de CervellóSanta Coloma de Cervelló is a Catalan town which is situated in the Baix Llobregat. The town has 7081 people.There are 3 urbanized zones in this town; the town centre, Colònia Güell area and residential districts....
, near
BarcelonaBarcelona is the capital, most populous city of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia and the second largest city in Spain, with a population of 1,615,908 in 2008. It is the 11th-most populous municipality in the European Union and sixth-most populous urban area in the European Union after Paris,...
,
CataloniaCatalonia is an Autonomous Community in northeast Spain. The capital city is Barcelona.Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an official population of 7,364,078. It borders France and Andorra to the north, Aragon to the west, the Valencian Community to the south, and the...
. Colònia Güell was the brainchild of Count Eusebi de Güell. However with Güell losing profits from his business, the money ran out and only the crypt was completed.
The technique Gaudí used to design the church was to hang little bags of birdshot from chains.
Discussion
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The
Church of Colònia Güell,
Antoni GaudíAntoni Plàcid Guillem Gaudí i Cornet – in English sometimes referred to by the Spanish translation of his name, Antonio Gaudí...
's
unfinishedAn unfinished building is a building where construction work was abandoned or on-hold at some stage or only exists as a design...
work, was built as a place of worship for the people in a manufactured suburb in
Santa Coloma de CervellóSanta Coloma de Cervelló is a Catalan town which is situated in the Baix Llobregat. The town has 7081 people.There are 3 urbanized zones in this town; the town centre, Colònia Güell area and residential districts....
, near
BarcelonaBarcelona is the capital, most populous city of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia and the second largest city in Spain, with a population of 1,615,908 in 2008. It is the 11th-most populous municipality in the European Union and sixth-most populous urban area in the European Union after Paris,...
,
CataloniaCatalonia is an Autonomous Community in northeast Spain. The capital city is Barcelona.Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an official population of 7,364,078. It borders France and Andorra to the north, Aragon to the west, the Valencian Community to the south, and the...
. Colònia Güell was the brainchild of Count Eusebi de Güell. However with Güell losing profits from his business, the money ran out and only the crypt was completed.
Gaudí's design
The technique Gaudí used to design the church was to hang little bags of birdshot from chains. Gravity would pull these bags downwards, giving even weight distribution and stretching the chains to form a model structure, thus showing him the shapes and angles his pillars would need to be. By using a mirror placed under the model, Gaudí could then see the model as it should look. A replica of his model for the crypt is in the Museum under the
Sagrada FamíliaThe Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família , often simply called the Sagrada Família, is a massive, privately-funded Roman Catholic church that has been under construction in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain since 1882 and is not expected to be complete until at least 2026...
in Barcelona. The model looks dated; however, this would allow Gaudí to perform designs only computers could do today. It put him a good 75 years ahead of the designs of the time.
Recent history
In 2000, local architects set about repairing the crypt. This took away aspects of the unfinished nature of the buildings. However it did present a more tourist-friendly structure, and now visitors can stand on the roof, what would have been the church floor.
External links