Beauty will save the world – Gaudi's basilica inspires conversions

cna ^ | April 30, 2015 | Elise Harris and Alan Holdren

[NYer]

VIRTURAL TOUR

[NorthMountain]

[miss marmelstein]

Yes, great beauty is certainly related to the Divine.

[Cicero]

Truth, Beauty, and Goodness.

[JoeProBono]

I visited the basilica in 1970 while stationed at US Air Base outside of Madrid.

[ansel12]

[21twelve]

I wouldn’t go that far. I have seen some buildings that are very beautiful that are from Satan, and have used them as object lessons for my kids. Satan masquerades as an angel of light.

[Alex Murphy]

I visited the basilica in 1970 while stationed at US Air Base outside of Madrid.

I'd enjoy hearing your impressions of it.

[The_Reader_David]

Personally, despite absolutely loving Gaudi’s whimsical buildings (there’s a delightful one with a roof that looks like a dragon curled up sleeping), and regarding Sagrada Familia as a tour-de-force of engineering (Gaudi used analogue computation done by hanging weighted sheets and looking at them in mirrors on the floor to find the optimal shape for his towers — you can’t build towers taller than that by stacking stones one on another without them being weaker), I think the building is uuugggly! (Especially on the outside — the columns like towering trees in the nave are quite nice.)

[JoeProBono]

It is truly a wonder of the world the memory of which is indelible.

[Dr. Ursus]

We visited Barcelona in 2009. We saw all his works. Truly,he was a genius.

[NorthMountain]

I think the building is uuugggly!

De gustibus non disputandem. I think it's beautiful, and fascinating. To me it's "gothic meets Buck Rogers".

[NorthMountain]

That looks like it was designed by the State Committee for Religious Buildings. Other mormon structures give me the same impression.

[ansel12]

[dangus]

Your rejoinder suggests you’re reading this article as Catholic triumphantalism, rather than something in which Protestants can share. The telling thing about that Mormon temple is that non-Mormons aren’t allowed to see inside it.

Stirring a desire for that which is higher is always beneficial for leading people to God, especially if it praises God, unless it presents an anti-Christ, such as government or commerce.

[Conan the Librarian]

A great great Album!

I got to see Alan Parsons Project twice at Disney World last spring. They did a great concert.

[ansel12]

Your mind reading is incorrect, totally off base.

I'm just putting the idea of converting people by impressing them with fancy buildings, in perspective.

[dfwgator]

The last good Parsons album, with Eric Woolfson.

[NorthMountain]

I remember it being the last Alan Parsons album. As in, they released some ‘compilations’ later, but nothing new. It’s also redemptive; I didn’t much care for “Stereotomy”.