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Gijs van Hensbergen on Antoni Gaudí & the Sagrada Família

Episode length: 46m

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In this week’s special Easter episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts Prof. Albert Cheng of the University of Arkansas and Center for Strong Public Schools’ Alisha Searcy speak with Dutch art historian Gijs van Hensbergen, author of Gaudí: A Biography and The Sagrada Familia: Gaudí's Heaven on Earth. They discuss the life, faith, and enduring legacy of Antoni Gaudí and his masterpiece, the Sagrada Família. Mr. van Hensbergen reflects on Gaudí’s upbringing in Catalonia, where deep Catholic devotion, modern artistic dynamism, and the natural landscape shaped his unique architectural philosophy. He explores how Barcelona’s Modernisme movement, alongside avant-garde artists like Salvador Dalí and Joan Miró, fostered Gaudí’s distinctive blend of Neo-Gothic, Art Nouveau, and organic design. He highlights Gaudí’s vision of the Sagrada Família as a “stone Bible,” uniting theology, geometry, and nature-inspired engineering. Mr. van Hensbergen also discusses the Nativity, Passion, and Glory façades, each representing key moments in the life of Jesus Christ, and the challenges of continuing construction after the destruction of Gaudí’s plans and models during the Spanish Civil War. In closing, Mr. van Hensberger reflects on Gaudí’s lasting influence and the spiritual and artistic significance of his work, by reading a passage from Gaudí: A Biography.