UKC

Gobsmacking!!

If I ever wanted to go back into construction working on this site would be the dream job.

The Ent

In reply to Enty:
We saw it in Barcelona a couple of years ago and didn't really like it at all. (Don't care for Gaudi - don't see the attraction.)

The inside space is pretty awesome though - just the scale of it.

In reply to Enty: indeed - when we went there were two blokes on it fiddling around with some reinforcement - i thought a the time that it'll probably take a while to finish it . . .

i knew nothing about it before arriving so was surprised it was unfinished - it'd be quite something if they do get the big tower built though eh? the thing'd be f00kin huge

In reply to Enty: It'd be a good one for some artisticly activated solo too....



John Redhead are you out there?

In reply to Enty:
I liked the fact that the spiral stair case down from the top (there is a lift up) has a big hole in the middle of it. If you tried hard you could fall 100+ft. When I went down there were people hugging the wall in terror. At the other end (where there is no lift) you can play on the various balconies to your hearts content. You wouldn't get that in the UK, health and safety gone mad, access to building sites, guard rails on stairs etc.

It'll be good when finished. They were using different rock from each area of Spain, I seem to recall and the stained glass looked nice in the disarray of the interior.

In reply to Enty: I'm with George Orwell on this one: the anarchists should have burned it down when they had the chance.

In reply to rich: >so was surprised it was unfinished..

I believe it's the only cathedral in the world still under construction (but i may be wrong..).

I once walked past it in the middle of the night, and it was really spooky!

In reply to monita:


Errrr, no.

There are lots of cathedrals under construction all over the world. They don't wear out very fast but new ones get built all the time!

Beautiful and original building so far (though I think it may be prettier now than when complete - the main tower when built may make it bulky instead of delicate).

In reply to Nao: I concur. I thought barcelona was over rated too.

In reply to Enty:

Wouldn't fancy coughing for the LAD's mind...

But yeah incredible piece of work, will be ace if its finished.

In reply to Enty: Yes, absolutely breathtaking - a modern day Wonder of the World. Apparently, it is due to be completed by 2026...hmm

In reply to Marc C:

I went there in 1973 and at that time there was just one porch finished. It was already impressive. I was with a French friend who was an architecture student and she was interested in Gaudi. Apparently they have progressed a bit since... my daughter went a couple of years ago, and came back with much the same sort of photos of the ceramics and Gaudi's other wrought iron works... nice place to visit. We had come down hitching from Paris to the Avignon festival, then got a train to Barcelona as hitching was getting slower and slower. From Barcelona a ferry across to Genoa and then down to Florence and up to Venice (more architecturing to do) finishing hitching up to the Val d'Aoste and over to Chamonix... bit of climbing with my brother then a lift back North.

Holidays were simpler without kids!

In reply to Marc C: I love Gaudi, me. Organic architecture, form over function it seems but NO! Tony (as I used to call him when we met up for boozy Benidorm bar crawls back in the 70s) always designed innovative but oft-times hidden features into his projects so they functioned just like conventional buildings.
I'm thinking of building a Gaudi-esque feature in the garden. My mud walls won't last forever, so I'm thinking of fixing them in a thick cement render, sculpted into flowing shapes which suggest parts of the human anatomy.
Oh1 for a modern-day Gaudi here in Sheffield!

In reply to BrianT:


What was it like partying with someone who had been dead for 50 years?

In reply to niggle:

It was on The Art of Spain on Beeb 4 last night. Presenter was not too enamoured with the embelishments and tat added over the years. He did rave about La Pedrera and Guell though.

In reply to niggle: Bit like praying. Very one sided.