.

“The straight line belongs to humans,
the curved one to God.”

“Those who look for the laws of Nature
as a support for their new works
collaborate with the creator.”

“Humans don’t create,
they discover.”

“My client is not in a hurry.”

Antoni Gaudí 1852 – 1926

One century ago this week a man, presumed to be a homeless beggar, was knocked down by a tram as he crossed a road in Barcelona Spain.

In fact at the time this man was hailed as a hero across Spain but his unkempt appearance meant that he wasn’t recognised and was treated as thought becoming for one of his demeanour receiving poor medical attention which lead to his death three days later on 10 June 1926, one hundred years ago today.

I’m currently reading a new biography of this Catalonian architect, written by Peter Stanford and published to mark the centenary.

Gaudí’s best-known work is the basilica of the Holy Family (Sagrada Familia) and is still under construction 144 years after the first stone was laid.

Gaudí appreciated that God was his client and knew that God was not in a hurry.

Antoni Gaudí was a holy man and currently is named by the Church as Venerable, a significant step in the Canonisation process.

In his book Stanford presents an honest picture of Venerable Antoni, a man who was deeply engaged with God and whose life communicated faith as a journey robust with ups and downs, phases and stages.

Stanford writes of Gaudí:

Religious faith – and especially religious practice – waxes and wanes over most lifetimes, prey to particular influences, episodes and challenges, personal and professional, that are met at different stages, Gaudí was no exception. There were high and low points in his own search for God. In 1894, for example, he took his Lenten fast, in preparation for the season of Easter, so seriously that he almost starved himself to death, but then, when recovered, went on to create some of his most memorable commercial and playful projects such as Casa Batlló. At others, especially in the late 1870s when he was a significant figure in the café society of Barcelona, he is even reportedly publicly to have decried the influence of the Church.

A few pages later Stanford quotes New Zealand born Mark Burry, a lead architect on the project for several decades:

I have difficulty with the best of digital tools available. God knows how he did it.

Gaudí certainly was an instrument of the divine.

A few years ago I spent time with Chiara Curti, one of the architectural team on the Sagrada Familia project. To mark this anniversary I share a video she made a few years ago.