Gaudí's Crazy Ideas: Sagrada Familia Columns EarthCache

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Gaudí's Crazy Ideas: Sagrada Familia Columns

The Sagrada Familia is one of the top-sights of Barcelona. To log this earthcache, you have to visit the church inside. The normal admission fee is 13,50€, for 4,50€ more you get access to the elevator to enjoy the view of Barcelona from the towers, which is in our opinion worth it. For the guided tour or the audioguide you have to add 4,50€. We’re aware that this is a quite high price for an earth cache, but as a tourist visiting Barcelona, you will go there anyway. If you’re a resident, maybe you haven’t been to the Sagrada Familia for years. This cache is the excuse to visit there again :-) . The queue for the entrance is long at any time of the day, but it moves quite quickly. Your best chances for a short queue are early in the morning. Alternatively you can skip the line booking your ticket on-line here. Opening times: October to March, 9.00 to 18.00 h April to September, 9.00 to 20.00 h 25 and 26 December – 1 and 6 January, 9.00 to 14.00 h

But let's go ahead with some informations about the construction of the church and materials that has been used.

THE STONES OF THE CHURCH

The expiatory church of La Sagrada Família may be considered the paradigm of the use of stone in architecture today. With this geological material many of the monuments of the history of humanity have been built, some of them works of art.

The 22 kinds of stone that have been used for the construction of the church for the last one hundred and 29 years are rocks that are part of the earth, products of the different processes and stages of geological eras.

STONES USED UNTIL TODAY
When building work on the church began in 1882 six different kinds of stone were used basically: stone from Montjuïc, for the exterior of the building, the rock that best characterises the Gaudinian period; stone from Garraf, for the masonry of the foundation and the filling of the exterior ornaments; stone from Lleida, for the sculptures on the Nativity façade; stone from Vilafranca, for the interior ornaments; stone from Figueres, for the socles and handrails of the staircases in the crypt, and the ull de serp, or snake eye, granite from the Maresme, for the steps of the staircases in the crypt. The stocks of the quarries are limited and cannot always guarantee a sufficient quantity for a work of the scale of La Sagrada Família. That limited exploitation has meant that one kind of stone has had to be changed several times when the stocks in the geological extraction zone are exhausted.

PROPERTIES OF THE STONE
Stones have quite different characteristics. In the construction and architecture sector there are three vital properties that have to be appraised:

1. Resistance, which is fundamental for absorbing the structural strain.
2. Durability, which ensures that the monument will endure over the centuries.
3. Colour, which provides a particular aesthetic.

MONTJUÏC STONE
This was the first stone used on the construction of the church and the most emblematic. It is known to have been used in Roman times. For town planning reasons the quarries on the mountain were closed in the second half of the 20th century. Since then the church has used Montjuïc stone from demolitions, donations and stocks of material.This stone is extremely hard. It is a detrital siliciclastic sedimentary rock. Mineralogically it is formed of angular pieces of quartz, feldspar, fragments of rocks (mainly metamorphic and granite) and minority minerals such as muscovite or tourmaline. As far as the texture is concerned the large pieces are joined with microcrystalline silicic cement. In general, this rock may be classified as a silicic stone or a silicic litharenite, since it contains a high proportion of large lithics.

Example of Montjuïc stone at the greek theatre

After this preview we'd want to concentrate your attention over the columns inside the church:

DOUBLE TWISTED COLUMNS

Gaudí was searching for a new column, one that would excel the earlier ones but would fit into the history of the column. And, in that history, he saw three great basic models:

• The Greek Doric column has vertical grooves.

• The Corinthian order column, which is cylindrical, is generated by the extrusion of the circle from the base following a slightly curved profile.

• The barley sugar column, typical of the Baroque, with the torus shape, marks an ascending helicoidal movement following the helix that surrounds the cylinder of the nucleus.

Gaudí considered the double twisted column the synthesis of the architectural column since it combines arts of the three historical models. It springs from a star-shaped base but reaches the circle; it has a number of grooves engraved on it, and more appear as it rises; and it has the helicoida movement of the barley sugar columns but twice.

Structural hierarchy of the columns
The columns of the interior of the church are hierarchical according to the necessary load-bearing capacity from the mechanical or structural point of view.

1. The four central columns of the crossing have to withstand the load of the future central tower of Jesus Christ, which will rise to a height of 170 m, but also part of the weight of the four towers of the evangelists that surround that tower. They are the most important columns.

2. The eight columns situated around the previous ones are the main ones that will bear the weight of the evangelists. These are second in importance.

3. The columns of the apse will carry the weight of the tower of Our Lady to the foundations, as well as the weight of the vaults of the ambulatory and the 45 m triforium.

4. The columns of the central nave take the weight of the vaults of the central nave and part of the side nave

5. And lastly the columns that separate the side naves from the main nave bear the weight of the choir and of the side nave. They bear the lightest loads.

These five types are reduced to four, since Gaudí uses the same column for the apse and for the nave. Although the apse may be expected to bear a greater load than the nave, the columns are much closer together.
Didactically, Gaudí distinguished these four types of columns with all the elements he had to hand. And so we can note the differences with the star-shaped base at the start, with the free height and with the material used, the colour.

Plan of the Sagrada Familia's interior and columns. Each color points to one of the 4 types of columns

Construction of columns

Main columns are integrally finished with stone, and are built by first placing the armature and then the subdivided natural stone tambours at the same time in different pieces. Once two or three levels of tambours have been put in place, they are filled with concrete, and so we can say that the finish also serves as shuttering.

THE MATERIAL

Initially Gaudí thought of making the four columns with wrought iron because, as reflected in his conversations with Cèsar Martinell in 1915, columns made with conventional building stone, which are solid, require too large a diameter and would take up a good deal of the space of the floor of the church. Later Gaudí made calculations to establish the suitable material for each column; he used the Industrial University materials laboratory in Carrer d’Urgell to obtain the resistance of many different kinds of stone empirically.

And now let's speak about the kind of rocks has been used to 

 

Porphyry

Porphyry consists of large-grained crystals, such as feldspar or quartz, dispersed in a fine-grained feldspathic matrix or groundmass. The larger crystals are called phenocrysts. In its non-geologic, traditional use, the term "porphyry" refers to the purple-red form of this stone, valued for its appearance. The The term "porphyry" is from Greek and means "purple". Purple was the color of royalty, and the "Imperial Porphyry" was a deep purple igneous rock with large crystals of plagioclase. This rock was prized for various monuments and building projects in Imperial Rome and later. Subsequently the name was given to igneous rocks with large crystals. Its chief characteristic is a large difference between the size of the tiny matrix crystals and other much larger phenocrysts. Porphyries may be aphanites or phanerites, that is, the groundmass may have invisibly small crystals, like basalt, or the individual crystals of the groundmass may be easily distinguished with the eye, as in granite. Most types of igneous rocks may display some degree of porphyritic texture. Porphyry deposits are formed when a column of rising magma is cooled in two stages. In the first stage, the magma is cooled slowly deep in the crust, creating the large crystal grains, with a diameter of 2 mm or more. In the final stage, the magma is cooled rapidly at relatively shallow depth or as it erupts from a volcano, creating small grains that are usually invisible to the unaided eye.

Basalt

Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. Unweathered basalt is black or grey. According to the official definition, basalt contains, by volume, less than 20% quartz and less than 10% feldspathoid and where at least 65% of the feldspar is in the form of plagioclase. On Earth, most basalt magmas have formed by decompression melting of the mantle. Source rocks for the partial melts probably include both peridotite and pyroxenite. The crustal portions of oceanic tectonic plates are composed predominantly of basalt, produced from upwelling mantle below ocean ridges.The word "Basalt" is derived from Late Latin basaltes,misspelling of L. basanites"very hard stone," which was imported from Ancient Greek basani'ty*s (basanites), from ba'sano*s (basanos, "touchstone") and originated in Egyptian bauhun "slate."

Granite

Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Granites can be pink to gray in color, depending on their chemistry and mineralogy. By definition, granite contains at least 20% quartz by volume. Granite is nearly always massive (lacking internal structures), hard and tough, and therefore it has gained widespread use as a construction stone. The word granite comes from the Latin granum, a grain, in reference to the coarse-grained structure of such a crystalline rock. Granitoid is a general, descriptive field term for light-colored, coarse-grained igneous rocks. Petrographic examination is required for identification of specific types of granitoids.

Granite is currently known only on Earth, where it forms a major part of continental crust. Granite has been intruded into the crust of the Earth during all geologic periods, although much of it is of Precambrian age. Granitic rock is widely distributed throughout the continental crust and is the most abundant basement rock that underlies the relatively thin sedimentary veneer of the continents.

Sandstone

Sandstone (sometimes known as arenite) is composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains. Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any color, but the most common colors are tan, brown, yellow, red, gray, pink, and white. Since sandstone beds often form highly visible cliffs and other topographic features, certain colors of sandstone have been strongly identified with certain regions. Rock formations that are primarily composed of sandstone usually allow percolation of water and other fluids and are porous enough to store large quantities, making them valuable aquifers and petroleum reservoirs. Fine-grained aquifers, such as sandstones, are more apt to filter out pollutants from the surface than are rocks with cracks and crevices, such as limestone or other rocks fractured by seismic activity. Sandstone is mined by quarrying. It is sometimes found where there used to be small sea areas. It is usually formed in deserts or dry places. Sandstone was a popular building material from ancient times. It is relatively soft, making it easy to carve. It has been widely used around the world in constructing temples, cathedrals, homes and other buildings. It has also been used for artistic purposes to create ornamental fountains and statues. Some sandstones are resistant to weathering, yet are easy to work. The formation of sandstone involves two principal stages. First, a layer or layers of sand accumulates as the result of sedimentation, either from water (as in a stream, lake, or sea) or from air (as in a desert). Typically, sedimentation occurs by the sand settling out from suspension; i.e., ceasing to be rolled or bounced along the bottom of a body of water or ground. Finally, once it has accumulated, the sand becomes sandstone when it is compacted by pressure of overlying deposits and cemented by the precipitation of minerals within the pore spaces between sand grains. The most common cementing materials are silica and calcium carbonate, which are often derived either from dissolution or from alteration of the sand after it was buried. Colors will usually be tan or yellow (from a blend of the clear quartz with the dark amber feldspar content of the sand). The environment where it is deposited is crucial in determining the characteristics of the resulting sandstone, which, in finer detail, include its grain size, sorting, and composition and, in more general detail, include the rock geometry and sedimentary structures. Principal environments of deposition may be split between terrestrial and marine.

Classification of rocks

According to the taxonomy of the science of geology, rocks are classified in three broad groups: igneous or magmatic, sedimentary and metamorphic.

• Igneous rock derived from the Latin word igneus meaning of fire, from ignis meaning fire. Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava. Igneous rock may form with or without crystallization, either below the surface as intrusive (plutonic) rocks or on the surface as extrusive (volcanic) rocks. This magma can be derived from partial melts of pre-existing rocks in either a planet's mantle or crust. Typically, the melting is caused by one or more of three processes: an increase in temperature, a decrease in pressure, or a change in composition.

• Sedimentary rock is a type of rock that is formed by sedimentation of material at the Earth's surface and within bodies of water. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause mineral and/or organic particles (detritus) to settle and accumulate or minerals to precipitate from a solution. Particles that form a sedimentary rock by accumulating are called sediment. Before being deposited, sediment was formed by weathering and erosion in a source area, and then transported to the place of deposition by water, wind, mass movement or glaciers which are called agents of denudation.

• Metamorphic rock is the transformation of an existing rock type, called protolith, in a process called metamorphism, which means "change in form". The protolith is subjected to heat and pressure (temperatures greater than 150 to 200°C and pressures of 1500 bars) causing profound physical and/or chemical change. The protolith may be sedimentary rock, igneous rock or another older metamorphic rock. They may be formed simply by being deep beneath the Earth's surface, subjected to high temperatures and the great pressure of the rock layers above it. They can form from tectonic processes such as continental collisions, which cause horizontal pressure, friction and distortion. They are also formed when rock is heated up by the intrusion of hot molten rock called magma from the Earth's interior.

TO LOG

Before logging this cache as visited, please send me the replies to the following questions using the link in my profile. Logs without answers (I will contact you if there are any errors) and without photos will be deleted without notice.

Once inside the church you need to search the information panel no. 5 of the audioguide itinerary, see picture below.

As I said previously there are 4 types of star-shaped columns. Let’s have a closer look at the highest and the lowest ones. 

1. Which type of stone is used for the lowest and the highest column? What’s the diameter of this two columns and how many sides does the star-shape have?
2. Count the number of stone tambours (from the base to the capital) used to build these two columns.
3. Classificate the two used stones by igneus, sedimentary and metamorphic
4. Watch the columns: which is the predominant colour of each type? Speak about the grain texture.
5. Touch the columns: are they smooth or coarse?
6. Add to your log a picture of yourself hugging a column (mandatory task), that would be funny ;-)

Sagrada Familia Interior: The Forest of Columns

References:

• Wikipedia
• www.sagradafamilia.cat
  

English here

Las locas ideas de Gaudí: Las Columnas de la Sagrada Familia

La Sagrada Familia es uno de los lugares de interés turístico de Barcelona. Para conseguir este earthcache, teneis que visitar el interior de la iglesia. El precio de la entrada normal es de 13,50€, por 4,50€ más, tendrris acceso al ascensor y disfrutareis de las vistas de Barcelona desde las torres, que en nuestra opinión vale la pena. Para el audioguía debereis añadir otros 4,50€. Somos conscientes de que es un precio bastante alto para un EarthCache, pero cualquier turista de visita en Barcelona, ​​irá de todos modos. Si eres un residente, tal vez no has estado en la Sagrada Familia desde hace años. Esta EarthCache es la excusa para visitarla de nuevo :-). La cola de la entrada es larga, en cualquier momento del día, pero se mueve con bastante rapidez. Lo mejor para hacer poca cola es ir temprano por la mañana. Alternativamente, usted puede saltarse la línea de reservar su billete on-line aquí Horario de apertura: Octubre a marzo, de 9.00 a 18.00 h Abril a septiembre, 9.00 a 20.00 h 25 y 26 de diciembre - 1 y 6 de enero, de 9.00 a 14.00 h

1. Resistencia, que es fundamental para la absorción de la tensión estructural.
2. Durabilidad, lo que asegura que el monumento perdurará durante siglos.
3. Color, que proporciona una estética particular.

Ejemplo de Piedra de Montjuïc en el Teatre Grec

• La columna dórica griega que tiene ranuras verticales.

• La columna de orden corintio, que es cilíndrica, y generada por la extrusión del círculo de la base siguiendo un perfil ligeramente curvo.

• La columna de azúcar de cebada, típica del barroco, con la forma de toro, y con marcas de un movimiento ascendente helicoidal siguiendo la espiral que rodea el cilindro del núcleo.

1. Las cuatro columnas centrales de la travesía tienen que soportar la carga de la futura torre central de Jesucristo, que se elevará a una altura de 170 m, pero también forman parte del peso de las cuatro torres de los evangelistas que rodean la torre.Son las columnas más importantes.

2. Las ocho columnas situadas alrededor de las anteriores son las principales que soportan el peso de los evangelistas. Estas son las segundas en importancia.

3. Las columnas del ábside llevarán el peso de la torre de Nuestra Señora, así como el peso de las bóvedas de la girola y el triforio de 45 m.

4. Las columnas de la nave central cargaran con el peso de las bóvedas de la nave central y parte de la nave latera

5. Por último, las columnas que separan las naves laterales de la nave principal cargarám  el peso del coro y de la nave lateral. Són las que cargan el menor peso.

Plano del interior del templo y sus columnas. Cada color señala cada uno de los 4 tipos de columna

Construcción de las columnas
Las Columnas principales son integralmente hechas con piedra, y se construyen poniendo primero la armadura y luego los tambores. Se usa piedra natural, y se construyen a base de diferentes piezas. Una vez elevados dos o tres niveles de tambores, estos se rellenan de hormigón, y por lo tanto podemos decir que el acabado también sirve como encofrado.

EL MATERIAL
Gaudí pensó en un principio de hacer las cuatro columnas de hierro forjado, ya que, como se refleja en sus conversaciones con Cèsar Martinell en 1915, las columnas hechas con piedra de construcción convencionales, bastante sólidas, requieren de un gran diámetro y ocuparían una buena parte del espacio del suelo de la iglesia. Más tarde, Gaudí hizo cálculos para establecer el material adecuado para cada columna, de manera que visita el laboratorio de materiales de la Universidad Industrial ubicada en la calle Urgell para obtener la resistencia de muchos tipos diferentes.

Hablemos ahora de el tipo de rocas utilizados

Basalto

El basalto es una roca volcánica extrusiva común. Por lo general es de color gris o negro  de grano fino debido al rápido enfriamiento de lava en la superficie de un volcan. De acuerdo con la definición oficial, el basalto contiene, por volumen, menos del 20% de cuarzo y menos del 10% feldespato y donde al menos el 65% del feldespato es en forma de plagioclasa. En la Tierra, la mayoría de los magmas de basalto han sido formados por la fusión de la descompresión del manto. Las porciones de la corteza oceánica de las placas tectónicas están compuestas principalmente de basalto, producido a partir de afloramiento del manto por debajo de la superficie del mar.

Granito

Arenisca

Arenisca (a veces conocida como arenita) está compuesta principalmente de arena del tamaño de granos minerales o rocas. La mayor parte se compone de piedra arenisca de cuarzo y/o feldespato porque estos son los minerales más comunes en la corteza terrestre. Como la arena, la piedra arenisca puede ser de cualquier color, pero los colores más comunes son de color canela, marrón, amarillo, rojo, gris, rosa y blanco. Ya que las bases de piedra arenisca a menudo se forman acantilados muy visibles, que dan ciertos colores y han sido fuertemente identificadas con determinadas regiones. Sus formaciones rocosas se componen principalmente de arenisca y suelen permitir la filtración del agua y otros líquidos por ser suficientemente porosas para almacenar grandes cantidades. Las de grano fino, los acuíferos, como areniscas, son más propensas a filtrar los contaminantes de la superficie que son rocas con grietas y hendiduras, como la piedra caliza u otras rocas fracturadas por la actividad sísmica. La arenisca se extrae mediante la explotación de canteras. A veces se encuentra donde solía haber pequeñas zonas del mar. Por lo general se forman en los desiertos o lugares secos. Arenisca era un material de construcción popular desde tiempos antiguos. Es relativamente suave, por lo que es fácil de tallar. Ha sido ampliamente utilizado en todo el mundo en la construcción de templos, catedrales, casas y otros edificios. También se ha utilizado con fines artísticos para crear fuentes ornamentales y estatuas. Algunas areniscas son resistentes a la intemperie, sin embargo, son fáciles de trabajar. La formación de arenisca implica dos etapas principales. En primer lugar, una capa o capas de arena que se acumula como resultado de la sedimentación, ya sea de agua (como en un arroyo, lago o mar) o desde el aire (como en un desierto). Por lo general, la sedimentación se produce por la arena de sedimentación de la suspensión, es decir, dejar de ser enrollada en la parte inferior de un cuerpo de agua o el suelo. Finalmente, una vez que se ha acumulado, la arena se convierte en la piedra arenisca cuando es compactada por presión de los depósitos y cementada por la precipitación de minerales dentro de los poros entre los granos de arena. Los materiales más comunes son el sílice y carbonato de calcio, que son a menudo derivados de la disolución o de la alteración de la arena después de que ser enterrados. Los colores suele ser amarillo (a partir de una mezcla de cuarzo claro con el oscuro contenido de feldespato de color ámbar de la arena). El entorno en el que se deposita es crucial para determinar las características de la piedra arenisca resultante, que, en los detalles más finos, son su tamaño de grano, clasificación y composición y, en más detalle en general, incluyen la geometría de roca y estructuras sedimentarias.

De acuerdo a la taxonomía de la ciencia de la geología, las rocas se clasifican en tres grandes grupos: ígneas o magmáticas, sedimentarias y metamórficas.

• Igneas: Deriva de la palabra latina igneus que significa fuego. Las rocas ígneas se forman a través del enfriamiento y la solidificación de magma o lava.  Se pueden formar con o sin cristalización, ya sea debajo de la superficie como intrusivas (plutónicas) o como las rocas en la superficie extrusivas (volcánicas) . El magma que las crea puede derivar de otras rocas derretidas preexistentes, ya sea en el manto de un volcán o en la corteza. Típicamente, el derretimiento es causado por uno o más de tres procesos: un aumento de la temperatura, una disminución de la presión, o un cambio en la composición.

• Sedimentarias es un tipo de roca que se forma por la sedimentación de materiales en la superficie de la Tierra y dentro de cuerpos de agua. La sedimentación es el nombre colectivo de los procesos que causan que el mineral y/o las partículas orgánicas (detritus) se acumulen  para precipitar en una solución. Antes de ser depositados, los sedimentos se forman por la erosión  en un área de origen, y luego se transportan al lugar de deposición por agua, viento movimiento de masas, o glaciares que se llaman agentes de denudación.

• Metamórficas es la transformación de un tipo de roca existente, denominada protolito, en un proceso llamado metamorfismo, que significa "cambio en la forma". El protolito es sometido a calor y presión(temperaturas mayores de 150 a 200 ° C y la presión de 1500bares), causando profundos cambios físicos y / o químicos. El protolito puede ser de rocas sedimentarias, rocas ígneas ometamórficas otra otro tipo. Pueden formarse simplemente por estar muy por debajo de la superficie terrestre, sometidos a altas temperaturas y a gran presión de las capas de roca por encima de ella. Se pueden formar a partir de procesos tectónicos, como colisiones continentales, lo que causa la presión horizontal de fricción, y la distorsión. También se forman cuando la roca se calienta por la intrusión de roca fundida llamada magma del interior de la Tierra.

PARA LOGAR:
Antes de logar este caché como ENCONTRADO, por favor enviad las respuestas a las siguientes preguntas usando el enlace de mi perfil. Logs sin respuestas (me pondré en contacto contigo si hay algún error) y sin fotos se eliminarán sin previo aviso.
Una vez dentro de la iglesia buscad el panel de información número. 5 del itinerario de la audioguía, ver imagen adjunta.

Como ya se dijo, hay 4 tipos de columnas con forma de estrella.
Echemos un vistazo a las más altas y a las más bajas.

1. Que tipo de piedra se usa para la más baja y para la  más alta? Cuales son los diámetros de estas dos columnas y cuantos lados tiene la que tiene forma de estrella?

2. Cuenta el número de tambores de piedra (Desde la base hasta el capital) usados para construir estas dos columnas.

3. Clasifica las dos rocas usadas como Igneas, Sedimentarias, y metamórficas

4. Mira las columnas: Cual es el color predominante de cada tipo? Habla un poco sobre la textura granular.

5. Toc alas columnas: Son lisas o rugosas?

6. Añadir una foto a tu log de ti mismo abrazando una columna (tarea obligatoria). Seria divertido ;-)

Interior de la Sagrada Familia: El bosque de las Columnas

Referencias:

•  Wikipedia
• www.sagradafamilia.cat