Art Nouveau

When you look at the details though, the striking Gothic vertical lines give way to the Art Nouveau, especially with the floral designs and some geometric patterns. In some ways it's a complete mess and that can be a slight turn off. But I'm sure for many it's also genius. As I've said nobody can deny it's boldness. I suppose when we see the traditional Gothic church today it's so familiar that we forget how it must have seemed to the medieval peasant on a once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage. They wouldn't have seen something ancient or familiar. They would have seen something modern and almost alien. Well the Sagrada Familia definitely achieves that. But also perhaps one element becomes more more obvious in its novelty, it says look at me and not look at God. There is as much arrogance here as there is piety and again perhaps that is also closer to the original Gothic.