Saturday, March 21, 2009

Sure enough…

Life goes on. And did I mention that the Gaudi DVD I watched the night before was one of two? I watched the second one last night and it contains half a dozen assorted short films featuring his work. The best, so far, is a BBC special from a few years back and the colors and editing are magnificent. Plus it fills the screen from side to side.

And I learned more about Gaudi and his epic work, the Cathedral of La Familia Sagrada. Gaudi died in 1926, run over by a tram as he was heading to work that day. The work continued for just a little while but money soon ran out and the workmen departed. Then war came to Spain and later, to the whole world. His models and plans were destroyed. Now, work has resumed, but apparently it's sporadic. I imagine money and the lack of it is the cause for the delays. And there is some thought of not completing it at all, but turning it to other uses. One design, and the one I liked, was to turn the structure into a railroad station. Trains and passengers would occupy the open space between the imposing spires. The trains would enter and exit through the magnificent entries that Gaudi designed for the faithful to use. Someone noted that railroad stations were the 'Cathedrals' of the Twentieth Century…so why not?

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