The Sagrada Familia: Gaudí’s Heaven on Earth by Gijs van Hensbergen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A short and wonderfully-written history of the Sagrada Familia. You will definitely need to get some kind of coffee table book with pictures of all Gaudi's main works, as well as with photographs the Sagrada (or look them up online) otherwise the read won't be as illuminating.
Being quite heavy on the political and historical context of the building of the cathedral and it is less detailed on the religious and biographical context, which is fine. But readers might want to see the author's biography of Gaudi, as well.
I cannot recommend enough the wonderful film, Sagrada: the Mystery of Creation. It is really moving, thanks in great part to the photography. The film also spends quite a lot of time with the Japanese sculptor Etsuro Sotoo - 外尾悦郎. Sotoo is a fascinating person--from Japan, he left his country decades ago after feeling called by the stones he saw in wait at the Sagrada building site... after learning Spanish, he then converted to Roman Catholicism and insists that it is through the lens of Gaudi's faith that one must approach the miracle of La Sagrada Familia.
I was so happy that van Hensbergen ended his book with the story of Sotoo--who is, I believe, the only official sculptor working on La Sagrada Familia. A remarkable man from Japan.
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Suntory ad that launched the Gaudi boom in Japan here
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