Word: familias
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...open-air platform in Barcelona, their performances will be rivaled by the view -- by cable cars moving past Columbus on his column pointing to the New World; by the crown of thorns of the 13th century cathedral La Seu; by the unfinished confection of Gaudi's Sagrada Familia, its eight towers reaching to the sky even as the divers speed downward, trying not to make a splash...
...Colonia Guell -- the chapel of an industrial community for weavers at Santa Coloma de Cervello, half an hour's drive from Barcelona -- or the Parc Guell, with its ravishing Hansel-and-Gretel pavilions and its undulating benches covered in their mosaic of broken tiles; or, of course, the Sagrada Familia...
...Sagrada Familia (which is not a cathedral but an "expiatory temple" dedicated to the cult of the Holy Family) is Gaudi's best-known building, the logo of Barcelona as the Statue of Liberty is of New York City. Unfortunately, because most of its designs were lost in the Spanish Civil War, nobody knows how Gaudi would have finished it, and the newly completed sections look dead compared with the parts Gaudi supervised. The facade sculptures by Josep Subirachs are particularly inert and vulgar. They seem to epitomize the moment when the religious art of Catholic Europe died for want...
Tradition -- and tourism -- insists the Sagrada Familia is Gaudi's masterpiece. It is not. The Casa Mila and the crypt of the Colonia Guell, among others, are superior. But in any case, not all the best modernista building and decor are by Gaudi. Other and hardly lesser Catalan architects await discovery by the visitor. Two names in particular stand out: Lluis Domenech i Montaner (1850-1923) and Josep Puig i Cadafalch...
With Olympic-era Barcelona featuring such sleek modernist architects as Richard Meier and Arata Isozaki, the Sagrada Familia, now 40% complete, may be maligned by some as an old-fashioned ugly duckling. But its admirers have faith that it will yet grow into a swan. Eventually, its central spire will climax in a gold cross reaching at least 170 meters toward the sky, making it Europe's tallest church. At the current construction rate, that will not happen until the 21st century. But as Gaudi once said, pointing heavenward, "My client isn't in any hurry...