{"id":9728,"date":"2026-06-16T10:01:06","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T10:01:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/angesfinanciers.org\/?p=9728"},"modified":"2026-06-19T15:20:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T15:20:33","slug":"how-gaudis-crypt-paved-the-way-for-parametricism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/angesfinanciers.org\/index.php\/2026\/06\/16\/how-gaudis-crypt-paved-the-way-for-parametricism\/","title":{"rendered":"How Gaud\u00ed’s Crypt paved the way for parametricism"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Inside<\/div>\n

Next up in our Gaud\u00ed Centenary<\/a> series, we tell the story of the Church of Col\u00f2nia G\u00fcell, for which Antoni Gaud\u00ed’<\/a>s renowned hanging models were first developed, marking the beginnings of parametric design<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

With mirrors on the floor and clusters of weighted strings suspended from the ceiling, entering Gaud\u00ed’s workshop in 1898 would likely have felt like stepping into the mind of a mad scientist.<\/p>\n

Yet for Gaud\u00ed, these complex webs were not eccentric experiments. They were the ingenious form-finding models adding much-needed clarity to his ambitious vision for the Church of Col\u00f2nia G\u00fcell.<\/p>\n

\"Colonia
The Church of Col\u00f2nia G\u00fcell was never fully completed. Photo by BearFotos via Shutterstock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Also known as Gaud\u00ed’s Crypt, the church project on the outskirts of Barcelona is recognised today as one of the architect’s most important works, despite never actually being completed.<\/p>\n

It is significant because it was the first project for which Gaud\u00ed developed his hanging-chain funicular models \u2013 an early, physical form of parametric design \u2013 and served as a testbed for the Sagrada Familia.<\/p>\n

In the words of Gaud\u00ed himself, if it had been completed, it would have been “a monumental model”<\/a> of the world-famous basilica.<\/p>\n

Gaud\u00ed’s models were experiments in funicular geometry<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gaud\u00ed was commissioned for the Church of Col\u00f2nia G\u00fcell in 1898 by his long-term patron, the Spanish industrialist Eusebi G\u00fcell. It was planned as a place of worship for workers at Guell’s textile factory in Santa Coloma de Cervell\u00f3, near Barcelona.<\/p>\n

The then 46-year-old Gaud\u00ed was granted total freedom on the design, sparking his decision to test his pioneering structural innovations for the first time.<\/p>\n

Specifically, he used it as an opportunity to experiment with funicular geometry<\/a>, such as catenary curves<\/a>, as well as hyperbolic paraboloids and hyperboloids.<\/p>\n

Hyperbolic paraboloids are saddle-shaped surfaces, while hyperboloids are curved vaults that can be made from straight lines. Using them allowed Gaud\u00ed to create large, open spaces without the need for buttresses or supporting walls \u2013 as seen in the crypt.<\/p>\n

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A post shared by Angel Mu\u00f1iz (@areasvellas)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Gaud\u00ed designed the church using a hanging model<\/em><\/p>\n

To test and calculate these forms, Gaud\u00ed developed a gravity-assisted hanging model formed of ropes and chains, which were attached to lead-filled sacks to form U-shaped curves.<\/p>\n

Mirrors beneath the chains then allowed him to view the model upside down, visualising those same curves, hanging in tension, as buildable arches, vaults, and columns under compression.<\/p>\n

Similar to parametric design software used by architects today, the hanging model also worked so that if one parameter was altered \u2013 such as the length of the string \u2013 the entire model would rebalance into an optimised catenary geometry.<\/p>\n

As such, the models are often cited as an analogue precursor to parametric design and, therefore, parametricism<\/a> \u2013 a 21st-century style of architecture that results from using digital design tools \u2013 long before the digitisation of architecture.<\/p>\n

\"Colonia
The crypt was the only element to be completed<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

New Zealand academic Mark Burry, who is among the fifth generation of workers on the Sagrada Familia<\/a>, said this revolutionary vision was likely sparked by Gaud\u00ed’s geometry lessons at architecture school.<\/p>\n

“He zeroed in on geometry, which he would have learned about at school, because a sixth of an architect’s education in those days was descriptive geometry,” Burry told Dezeen.<\/p>\n

“He’s probably the only person who ever saw the hyperboloid in the book that he studied from,” he continued. “He’s the only person who saw it and recognised the potential for it.”<\/p>\n

“He found a way to get kind of voluptuous, sensually warped surfaces that had a very simple logic.”<\/p>\n

Gaud\u00ed’s design symbolised journey to salvation\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

After 10 years of designing, the construction of the church began. However, in 1915, after G\u00fcell died, his family decided to cease building works.<\/p>\n

Though it was never realised in full, Gaud\u00ed’s final design for the Colonia Guell church was intended to be a symbolic journey through darkness and into the light of salvation.<\/p>\n

It would have had both a higher and lower nave, or main hall, enclosed by side towers and a 40-metre-tall cupola. The lower nave, now known as the crypt, was the only part to be completed.<\/p>\n

The crypt marked the start of the journey in darkness, built from clinker bricks, basalt stones and iron slag with dim, earthy tones and a rugged, textured appearance.<\/p>\n

The upper nave was expected to have been completed with gold, blue, and white tones, representing the light, alongside towers topped with white doves.<\/p>\n

\"Stained
It has stained-glass windows surrounded by stone<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Today, visitors to the crypt can see Gaud\u00ed’s structural innovations in its slanted and twisted columns, inspired by tree trunks and branches, and vaulted roofs and walls, which give rise to a large open space with an uninterrupted view of the altar.<\/p>\n

Its four central columns made from basalt would have supported the full load of the church above, but today they just support the crypt’s roof, which is formed of two hundred brick ribs.<\/p>\n

Outside, the crypt is framed by a series of stained-glass windows shaped like butterflies and surrounded by intricate stonework and mosaics in different colours and textures, with Greek symbols repeated between.<\/p>\n

Gaud\u00ed’s Crypt could have been his “best building”<\/strong><\/p>\n

The only way to see what the finished church could have looked like now is in detailed reconstructions of Gaud\u00ed’s hanging model, such as the one at the Col\u00f2nia G\u00fcell Interpretive Centre.<\/p>\n

Though, for many, the crypt itself is a masterpiece in its own right, often referred to as the architect’s most original work<\/a>. In 1990, this led it to be protected with Cultural-Historical Interest status, before being listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2005.<\/p>\n