The necessary previous comprehension of the monument's constructive reality; the peculiar case of the Güell Colony Crypt

Abstract

The Crypt of the Güell Colony is a building of a unique importance in the history of architecture although it is only a part of the church which Antoni Gaudí designed for Eusebio Güell. It owes its fame to the perfect conjunction of the expressive will of the author and the demands of statics it represents. This conjunction was achieved by using the design method based on the properties of funicular lines. This is where the great paradox of the Crypt lies: it is arable in spite of being a part of a whole which, logically thinking, should have reached the balance only after being completed, which, consequentially, casts doubt on whether the building would have been stable had it been finished. This article presents the conclusions of a study which was carried out by the authors who allow this paradox to be understood. The study is a part of another complete physical-constructive analysis which compiles the necessary information for the restoration of the monument ordered by the Servei de Patrimoni Arquitectonic Local de la Diputación de Barcelona under the direction of the architec Antoni González. The methods for building modelling used in the study range from graphic statics, which does not explain the paradox, to the finite element method, which contributes a sufficient number of facts for such on explanation. The finally developed model is a powerful and reliable tool which allows us to forsee the effects of any modification of the present state of the monument, including those produced by its hypothetical completion.