Week 8 assignment: essay – interrelationships reflection apa format | Applied Sciences homework help
- Do you think stained glass should be classified as an independent art distinct from painting?
Barcelona’s Antonio Gaudí created one of the most striking modern buildings in his Sagrada Família (Figures 6-15 to 6-17). Gaudí never lived to see the erection of the four towers that dominate the facade. The interior space is not yet covered with a roof, and this emphasizes the sky-orientation of the building. One’s eye is lifted upward by almost every part of the building. Under construction for over a hundred years, it may be at least another hundred years before the church is completed. Work proceeds slowly, guided more or less by Gaudí’s general designs. Gaudí de- veloped details and structures based on organic forms of nature through irregular sweeping lines, shapes, and volumes. Geometric designs are subordinated. Tex- tures vary greatly, often with strong contrasts between smooth and rough; and sometimes, especially in the towers, brilliantly colored pieces of glass and ceramics are embedded, sparkling in the sunlight. The effect is both sculptural—dense vol- umes activating the surrounding space—and organic, as if a forest of plants were stretching into the sky, searching for sunlight. The earth, despite its necessity, is superseded. This is a building for heaven. jac16871_ch06_121-162.indd 139 12/11/17 11:47 AM 140
CHAPTER 6
FIGURE 6-15 Antonio Gaudí, Sagrada Família (Church of the Holy Family, interior), Barcelona. 1883–present. Gaudí famously relied on organic forms to create an idiosyncratic style. ©Vanni/Art Resource, NY FIGURE 6-16 Sagrada Família, interior detail. Gaudí merged traditional cathedral details with flowing modern forms. ©Lee A. Jacobus jac16871_ch06_121-162.indd 140 12/11/17 11:47 AM 141
ARCHITECTURE
Axis Mundi Early civilizations often express a need for a world by centering themselves in rela- tion to the sky by means of an axis mundi. Mircea Eliade cites many instances, for example, among the nomadic Australians, whose economy is based on gathering food and hunting small game: According to the traditions of an Arunta tribe, the Achipla, in mythical times the divine being Numbakula cosmicized their future territory, created their Ancestor, and estab- lished their institutions. From the trunk of a gum tree Numbakula fashioned the sacred pole (kauwa-auwa) and, after anointing it with blood, climbed it and disappeared into the sky. This pole (the axis mundi) represents a cosmic axis, for it is around the sacred pole that territory becomes habitable, hence is transformed into a world. The sacred pole con- sequently plays an important role ritually. During their wanderings the Achipla always carry it with them and choose the direction they are to take by the direction toward which it bends. This allows them, while being continually on the move, to be always in “their world” and, at the same time, in communication with the sky into which Numbakula FIGURE 6-17 Sagrada Família, exterior detail. Organic forms are clearly visible on the exterior along with figures typically found on the exteriors of Gothic churches. ©Lee A. Jacobus PERCEPTION KEY Sagrada Família 1. Compare Sagrada Família with Chartres (Figure 6-2). How do their sky-orienta- tions differ? How are they similar? Compare Sagrada Família with any church well known to you. What are the differences?