Word: gaudi
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...down! Far out!"), the rococo diction ("fribblers" and "cutpurses" abound) and the Augustan bite (asides that wither "the mingy veneering of today's 'lite' architecture"). Beneath the virile lucidity of the prose, however, is a subtle and sensitive mind that can lead the reader, patiently, into complexity: "In Gaudi one sees flourishing the egotism achieved by those who think they have stepped beyond the bounds of the mere ego and identified themselves with nature, becoming God's humble servant but copying their employer...
...Winter Games, in any case, have always been the Cinderella Games, the odd Games out; a poor sister, it sometimes seems, to the sun-splashed dazzle of the Summer Games. Barcelona this year has Gaudi, Miro, Isozaki; Albertville has mostly an industrial town that sounds as if it were named after the Crown Prince of Monaco (a member of the Monegasque bobsled team). The Winter Games are chill, Nordic, taciturn -- redolent of Ingmar Bergman and dark Decembers. Instead of sprints and dives, they offer double Axels (not what you find on the bottom of your Peugeot) and luges (which...
...side of completion, however, was Gaudi himself, who told his biographer, "All particularly grandiose churches have taken centuries to complete." Devoutly religious, the aged architect begged for alms when contributions dwindled. Gaudi deliberately sketched only an outline of the final facade. Citing St. Peter's in Rome and cathedrals in Cologne and Reims, he said, "Another generation will collaborate, as is always the case with cathedrals that have facades not only by several authors but also in various styles...
Architectural education is also a factor. "Gaudi invented a new system of architecture," says Catalan professor Joan Bassegoda. "Instead of the geometry of rectangles and circles, he took his structures from nature, studying what forms allow trees and humans to grow and stay upright." Hyperbolas, parabolas, helices and helicoids, the curving, open-ended forms Gaudi used, were calculated so precisely that computers have shown his measurements to be perfect. Today computer-driven diamond saws are cutting Gaudi-designed inclined columns to support the nave, replacing Gothic architecture's flying buttresses. "We're still learning from Gaudi's genius," says Bassegoda...
...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...