The Expiatory Temple of the Holy Family
Seeing the Sagrada Familia, a cathedral started well over a century ago, still under construction really reminds you how much we take architecture and building for granted these days. Skyscrapers go up in the matter of only a few years at most, but the great cathedrals of the Middle Ages took hundreds of years to complete. If such a project were started today it would be met with impatience and the need to build something quickly. What cathedrals symbolize is a heritage left for the city, whereas skyscrapers fulfill an immediate need. Both show civic pride represented in the form of mine is bigger than yours, but the cathedrals of Europe are works that are passed from generation to generation, creating a much greater appreciation of their existence and building.
Barcelona is the perfect city for such a project in modern times. Barcelona is not afraid of the little things that while bring no immediate profit to the cityornamental streetlamps and sidewalks, public art, and colorful buildings. They are thus concerned with portraying an image of civic pride, fitting in with the Catalonian pride of the region. This is exactly the kind of pride that continuing the construction of the Sagrada Familia which, after nearly 120 years of construction, will most likely continue for at least another fifty. The final product will be an amalgamation of various styles, starting with Gaudi, and will be the perfect summation of the city from 1882 to 2050.
Yesterday, in my 20th Century Architecture class, I learned a little more about this church. And it left a bad taste in my mouth. Apparently, the church was funded by a group of people that thought society had a little expiating of sin to do. Now, society doesn't have the normal Se7en sins like a person. The sins of society include, but are not limited to, revolution, republican government as opposed to monarchy, Darwinism and evolution theory, and the separation of church and state. Parts of that sound familiar? A lot like Bush Christianity, the type of "moral value" shit that seemingly won the last election.
I have never let ideology come between me and a piece of great architecture. Seeing traditional Gothic Cathedrals and churches in Barcelona, I was completely awe-struck, even knowing they were possibly central to the Spanish Inquisition, something far worse than a few people wanting to expiate society's sins. I just can't get over the fact that Darwinism is a sin. Maybe it's because that issue is so relevant today, and I am (to put it lightly) unhappy with the form of Christianity that Bush and his colleagues are pushing. My feelings on the Sagrada Familia are entirely complex, and I really want to grow up, get over my personal emotions, and just like the building without reservations.
Maybe in a few years.
Barcelona is the perfect city for such a project in modern times. Barcelona is not afraid of the little things that while bring no immediate profit to the cityornamental streetlamps and sidewalks, public art, and colorful buildings. They are thus concerned with portraying an image of civic pride, fitting in with the Catalonian pride of the region. This is exactly the kind of pride that continuing the construction of the Sagrada Familia which, after nearly 120 years of construction, will most likely continue for at least another fifty. The final product will be an amalgamation of various styles, starting with Gaudi, and will be the perfect summation of the city from 1882 to 2050.
Yesterday, in my 20th Century Architecture class, I learned a little more about this church. And it left a bad taste in my mouth. Apparently, the church was funded by a group of people that thought society had a little expiating of sin to do. Now, society doesn't have the normal Se7en sins like a person. The sins of society include, but are not limited to, revolution, republican government as opposed to monarchy, Darwinism and evolution theory, and the separation of church and state. Parts of that sound familiar? A lot like Bush Christianity, the type of "moral value" shit that seemingly won the last election.
I have never let ideology come between me and a piece of great architecture. Seeing traditional Gothic Cathedrals and churches in Barcelona, I was completely awe-struck, even knowing they were possibly central to the Spanish Inquisition, something far worse than a few people wanting to expiate society's sins. I just can't get over the fact that Darwinism is a sin. Maybe it's because that issue is so relevant today, and I am (to put it lightly) unhappy with the form of Christianity that Bush and his colleagues are pushing. My feelings on the Sagrada Familia are entirely complex, and I really want to grow up, get over my personal emotions, and just like the building without reservations.
Maybe in a few years.
posted by Aaron at 11:33 AM
1 Comments:
my boy is wicked smaht.
:)
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