{"id":2931,"date":"2018-10-31T08:00:14","date_gmt":"2018-10-31T07:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.sagradafamilia.org\/?p=1744"},"modified":"2025-03-17T12:58:19","modified_gmt":"2025-03-17T11:58:19","slug":"how-was-construction-done-in-gaudi-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.sagradafamilia.org\/en\/how-was-construction-done-in-gaudi-time\/","title":{"rendered":"How was construction done in Gaud\u00ed\u2019s time?"},"content":{"rendered":"

How construction was done during Gaudi\u2019s time and how it was possible to begin building this Temple?<\/p>\n

The first thing we have to consider, in this sense, is that\u202f the auxiliary equipment they used at that time wasn\u2019t very different from what had been used to build the great medieval cathedrals,<\/strong> above all in countries like ours where, although there were artistically important works, they weren\u2019t very tall. Elsewhere in the world, like the United States, construction was one step ahead and, since the end of the 19th\u202fcentury, they already had tools like steam cranes to lift large loads, given the need to start constructing very tall buildings.<\/p>\n

It is commonly said that skyscrapers were made possible by the lift, meaning that until there was a vertical means of transport, from a functional standpoint, they didn\u2019t make any sense. So, in terms of construction, increasingly innovative means were needed to build them, above all in terms of lifting, such as cranes. Therefore, we can say that skyscrapers were also made possible by these tools, as without them they would have been very difficult to build.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s look, then, at how work was done in Gaud\u00ed\u2019s time and, above all, at the Temple of the Sagrada Fam\u00edlia before the development of modern equipment.<\/p>\n

1-CRANES: A PULLEY SYSTEM<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a drawing from 1892 in the Temple archives that shows several hoists being used while building the crypt of the Sagrada Fam\u00edlia. This type of crane was first used by the Romans and, in some cases, could lift up to 2.5 tonnes. They had a\u202fwooden structure and a system of pulleys with ropes. When the Sagrada Fam\u00edlia was being built, this type of hoist was also being used on the fa\u00e7ade at Casa Mil\u00e0 (La Pedrera), from 1906 to 1908. The cranes used on this emblematic building were designed by Gaud\u00ed himself. We still have one of those used, on loan from the family of the builder, Josep Bay\u00f3 i Font.<\/p>\n

In those years, however, this crane had undergone a change: the structure was now made of metal. In fact, in the early 20th century, metal began to be used for the structure of many cranes that were previously made of wood<\/strong>. The Sagrada Fam\u00edlia was a witness to this evolution and, therefore, to build the Nativity fa\u00e7ade when Gaud\u00ed headed up the works, they used a mixed crane, with a metal jib and pulleys with chains that lifted loads to just over a hundred metres.<\/p>\n

This pulley system would be used until the Nativity fa\u00e7ade was completed in 1934.<\/p>\n

2-SCAFFOLDING: MADE OF WOOD<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Autor: Juan Buxareu Juncadella<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In Roman times, for tall buildings they used a scaffolding system that rested on the building itself as it was being built. At the Sagrada Fam\u00edlia, in Gaud\u00ed\u2019s time, this type of scaffolding was also used. That is how they built the Nativity fa\u00e7ade. In this case, the scaffolding was made of wood<\/strong> (now they are metal) and screwed onto the main crossbeams<\/strong> and nailed onto other secondary elements.<\/p>\n

3-BRINGING IN THE MATERIAL WITH RAIL CARTS INSTEAD OF CRANES<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In construction at this time, the cranes being used didn\u2019t have very long jibs. So, the distance from where a load was picked up to where it had to be placed couldn\u2019t be very far. To resolve this issue, they often used equipment to make a load as light as possible on the ground. At the Sagrada Fam\u00edlia, they chose to use little carts on rails that ran from the stonemasons\u2019 workshop to the base of the Nativity fa\u00e7ade<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Today, this problem\u202fis solved with cranes that have long jibs.<\/strong> The largest at the Sagrada Fam\u00edlia right now can pick up material within a\u202fdiameter of 140 metres<\/strong>\u202fof its central axis. This is possible thanks to the very powerful machines available today and their extremely strong structures.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As a final conclusion, it is worth noting that despite the financial limitations on the Basilica works in Gaud\u00ed\u2019s time, it is clear that a lot of imagination went into the auxiliary equipment to make it possible to build something as complex as the Sagrada Fam\u00edlia.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Com es constru\u00efa a l\u2019\u00e8poca de Gaud\u00ed i com va ser possible comen\u00e7ar a aixecar aquest temple? El primer que hem de tenir en compte, en aquest sentit, \u00e9s que els mitjans auxiliars que s\u2019utilitzaven en aquell moment no eren gaire diferents dels que es feien servir en la construcci\u00f3 de les grans catedrals de […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2933,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[35,52],"class_list":["post-2931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gaudi","tag-construccio","tag-historia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.sagradafamilia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.sagradafamilia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.sagradafamilia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.sagradafamilia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.sagradafamilia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.sagradafamilia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2931\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.sagradafamilia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.sagradafamilia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.sagradafamilia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.sagradafamilia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}