{"id":4765,"date":"2025-07-11T14:47:44","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T12:47:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.sagradafamilia.org\/?p=4765"},"modified":"2026-01-14T17:11:48","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T16:11:48","slug":"columns-sagrada-familia-geometry-mechanics-materials-stone-forest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.sagradafamilia.org\/en\/columns-sagrada-familia-geometry-mechanics-materials-stone-forest\/","title":{"rendered":"Sagrada Fam\u00edlia columns: the geometry, mechanics and materials of a stone forest"},"content":{"rendered":"

The columns inside the Sagrada Fam\u00edlia, one of Antoni Gaud\u00ed\u2019s most noteworthy contributions to the world of architecture, are unique in shape (double twist) and tree-like structure, which allows them to absorb and distribute the Temple loads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A new column in the history of architecture<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As with other elements of the Basilica the double twist column is born out of Gaud\u00ed\u2019s characteristic desire to update architecture and his search for perfection. Using his empirical method, based on testing and correction, the architect strived to create a different sort of column that would update the classical styles of Doric, Ionic and Corinthian columns. To do so, he gave the columns a helicoidal upward movement<\/strong>, taking inspiration from the eucalyptus tree he watched grow outside his studio next to the Temple, as C\u00e8sar Martinell explains in his book Gaud\u00ed i la Sagrada Fam\u00edlia comentada per ell mateix <\/em>. These ascending helices (typical of Baroque Solomonic columns) draw the viewer\u2019s eye upwards, reinforcing the feeling of verticality and connecting the earth to Heaven.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Original model with definitive nave solution. Photo taken between 1922 and 1926<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Comparison of the models of the columns Antoni Gaud\u00ed proposed. The furthest one is the definitive solution<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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For years, Gaud\u00ed used plaster models to study columns that would express this movement and also be strong enough, until he found the definitive solution. The architect invented a column with a polygonal or star-shaped base that gradually turns into a circle as it moves upwards<\/strong>, twisting both left and right from the base. This intersection of two helicoidal twists means that there are more sharp edges the further up the column you go, while the size of the vertexes decreases until, at the top, the polygon is nearly a circle. In each section, in order to double the number of points, it takes half the height and half the rotation each time. The animation below shows how it is made:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Gaud\u00ed also achieved a naturalist continuity through geometric procedures, as we see in nature between the trunk of a tree and its branches. This can be seen, for example, in the columns above the choir, which have an intermediate section to prepare for the transition between the lower trunk and the upper branches. The photo and video below explain how these columns are formed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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