Цитаты из книги «Antoni Gaudí»

Gaudí thought that if one started with two rules on different planes and built the various courses of the vault following the string running from rule to rule, one would obtain a perfect hyperbolic paraboloid.

In Catalonia, a system of construction that has long been and still is frequently used is one that consists in laying slim bricks so that only the largest face is visible (the bricks in each course being laid end to end). This process, using plaster, lime mortar or cement for the joints and forming surfaces one or two layers thick, is employed for floors, partitions or walls and also for vaults, which are warped surfaces in space and are known in Catalan as voltes de maó de pla. To construct these, bricklayers generally use flexible wooden battents, although sometimes they simply make do with two rules and a string, and the results can be seen in lofty staircases and ceilings.

Natural arches are appreciably parabolic or catenary

Without any architectural preconceptions, but at the same time with great humility, he considered that there is nothing more logical than that which is created by Nature, with millions of years of trying out forms until they were perfected.

At this stage we must consider another point in relation to Gaudí’s character.

The scent and formal beauty of a flower are no more than the mechanisms for attracting insects and thus ensuring the reproduction of the species. Nature creates beautifully decorated structures without the slightest intention of creating works of art.