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AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF THE GEOMETRICAL ELEMENTS IN GAUDI’S

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AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF THE GEOMETRICAL ELEMENTS IN

Po-Hung Liu and Chin-Wei Chen

National Chin-Yi University of Technology, Taiwan

Antoni Gaudí is regarded as a representative of fantastic architecture and most of his works are located
in Barcelona. One main feature in Gaudi’s buildings is his use of mathematical elements, such as
catenary, helicoid, hyperboloid, and hyperbolic paraboloids in his designs. It is believed that Gaudi’s
works were inspired by nature, religion, and geometry, all of which are related to mathematics. In
addition to demonstrating how Gaudi integrated mathematical elements into his design, this study tries
to delve into the potential belief behind Gaudi’s architectural philosophy and mathematical thinking.
For achieving the purpose, the connection of mathematics with nature and religion will be addressed.

Keywords: Antoni Gaudi, Mathematics and architecture, Ruled surfaces.

Introduction: An Undefined Figure

The Spanish Catalonyn architect Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926) is usually regarded as a representative of
fantastic architecture and may be one of the most controversial architects during the 20th century.
Historians tend to categorize architectural and art works as Romanisque, Gothic, or Barouqe and so on. It
is improper, however, to place Gaudi’s buildings in a proper frame. Most architectural critics see Gaudi as
an architect of modernism. Modernism began in the late 19th and early 20th century, an important cultural
movement having extensive influence on various arts, such as painting, architecture, music, and literature.
The most significant feature of modern art is its experimental approach. Modernists refused to duplicate
conventional decorative styles. Instead, they showed more willingness to try new materials and use
geometric patterns in their designs.
Modern architecture was influenced by the modernist movements at the turn of the 20th century. It
was a response to the rapid development of societies and advancement of technologies, distinguishing
itself from classical architecture that espouses Vitruvian tradition. We would immediately realize the view
that Gaudi is an architect of modernism could be arguable if comparing Gaudi’s works with other
architects of modernism, such as Lluís Domènech (1850-1923) and Josep Puig (1867-1956). As Nonell
(2004) indicated, “Gaudi’s work does not fit into traditional schemes that would place it within narrow
limits of a particular style, nor was he the outstanding disciple of any master” (p.8).
In some sense, analyzing Gaudi’s works theoretically is not practical at all because he is always a
practitioner, rather than a theorist. He never left any treatises or booklets systematically explicating his
architectural philosophy, making a clear-cut interpretation of his architectural or artistic thoughts
suspicious. Nonetheless, delving into his invisible beliefs on the basis of his visible architectural
components may benefit our understanding of the great figure’s potential beliefs. This study aims to
reveal Gaudi’s conceptions regarding architectural art through demonstrating the mathematical elements

51
52 An Exploratory Study of the Geometrical Elements in Gaudi’s...

used in his several buildings. Hopefully, in this manner we can have a deeper insight into why Gaudi once
claimed that, “I am a geometrician.”

Catenary Arch: Gaudi’s Signature

The history of using arches in western architecture can be traced back to pre-historic times. Contrary to
the function of a column for supporting the roof, rounded arches were used for holding small structures by
the ancient Egyptians, Babylonians, and Greeks. The Romans used a mixture of material that included
lime and volcanic sand to construct durable structures and arches made of these substances that could
endure a lot of weight. Consequently, the Roman arch was learned and further developed by Romanesque
and Byzantine architects to accomplish massive buildings. Various forms of arches, such as pointed
arches, horseshoe arches, and scalloped arches, were then created by Muslim architects to represent the
divine symbol of mosques. Note that the key to Gothic architecture is the pointed arch. A pointed arch
(Figure 1) could carry much more weight than a rounded arch (Figure 2). That is the reason why, from the
11th century onwards, buildings were getting higher and higher (Budden, 1927).

Figure 1. Pointed arch Figure 2. Rounded arch

Gaudi used arches widely in his designs; however, they are quite different from traditional fashion.
Contrary to the pointed arch usually seen in Gothic buildings, Gaudi liked to use the catenary arch
(Figures 3, 4, and 5). When we suspend a rope or chain from its end points, we then have a catenary.

Figure 3. Casa Mila Figure 4. Casa Batillo Figure 5. Casa Museum Gaudi
 Po-Hung Liu and Chin-Wei Chen 53

Note that a catenary is different from a parabola. Galileo once claimed in his Two New Sciences
(Galileo, 1638) that the curve of a chain hanging under gravity would be a parabola, but it was disproved
by Jungius in 1669 (MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive). In 1671, Robert Hooke raised the
question in a Royal Society Meeting of what is the ideal shape for an arch and how much thrust does it
impose on its buttresses. He then claimed he had found the solution by saying that, “As hangs the flexible
line, so but inverted will stand the rigid arch (cited in Huerta, 2006, p.325).”A few years later, Gregory
(1697) also endorsed that the ideal arch is an inverted catenary.
Responding to Jacob Bernoulli’s challenge, Leibniz, Huygens, and Johann Bernoulli obtained the
equation for catenary in 1691. The shape of a catenary is defined by the hyperbolic cosine
x a (e x / a  e  x / a )
y a cosh( ) 㸪which is constituted by the natural exponential functions. Why is
a 2
catenary the ideal shape for an arch? In an arch, the line of thrust is the line of compressive stress. It is
ideal that the line of thrust is close to the center; otherwise a tensile stress will occur on the opposite side
of the eccentricity of the line of thrust. It happens that the line of thrust of a catenary arch is centered in
the arch. Therefore, the arch only bears pure compression and no significant torsional moments occur
inside the material. Besides, no shear forces are present at the contact, so a buttress is not required
(Lorenzi & Francaviglia, 2010).

Figure 6. Mechanics of hanging chain and arch

Furthermore, the catenary arch is also quite different from traditional arches in its mathematical
nature. All kinds of arches in Romanesque, Byzantine, Islamic, and Gothic architecture are circle-based
derived through compass-and-straightedge construction, as shown in Figure 7. Contrary, a catenary arch
is based on the straight line, the simplest structure.

Figure 7. The compass-and-straightedge construction of a pointed and rounded arch

Helicoid: A Way for Ascending

The helicoid, discovered by Jean Baptisti Meusnier in 1776, is a surface generated by a straight line that
revolves according to a spiral around a vertical axis (Figure 8). The name is derived from the fact that
every point on the helicoid must be contained by a helix lying on the helicoid. It can be represented by the
following parametric equation:
x N cos(OT )
y N sin(OT )
z T
, where  f d N , T d f
Ȝ is a constant determining the direction of revolution. If Ȝ>0, the helicoid is right-handed and it is left-
handed when Ȝ<0. Gaudi designed several right-handed helicoid stairways in Sagrada Familia leading to
the tower (Figure 9).

Figure 8. A right-handed helicoid Figure 9. A helicoid stairway in Sagrada Familia

Hyperboloid: Spreading Light from the Heaven

x2 y2 z2 x2 y2 z2
Hyperboloid is a quadric surface represented as   1 or   1 (Figure 10). It
a 2 b2 c 2 a 2 b2 c 2
is usually used in tall construction because its structural strength may support an object high off the
ground. For instance, Kobe port tower in Japan and Guangzhou TV Astronomical and Sightseeing Tower
in China are examples. Owing to its inward feature, hyperboloid structure has a better stability towards
outside forces. But it also creates large amounts of unusable space; therefore it is not so efficient.
Contrary to traditional architectural thinking, Gaudi implemented hyperboloid in a totally different
way. In Gaudi’s eyes, the hyperboloid is perfect for light passing through for its funnel-like shape with
two wide-open ends. Gaudi placed hyperboloid structures either on the walls or roofs as windows
serving for illumination (Figure 11). When the light comes from the exterior, it is first compressed and
then diffused to the interior. The role of hyperboloid can be described by the official website of Sagrada
Familia that, “They can be solid as in the junctions between the columns and the vaulting, or hollow to
allow light, symbol of God for Gaudi, to enter the temple (http://www.sagradafamilia.org/en/geometry/).”
 Po-Hung Liu and Chin-Wei Chen 55

Figure 10. Hyperboloid window Figure 11. Hyperboloid model

Hyperbolic Paraboloid: A Self-Supported Surface

Hyperbolic paraboloid (Figure 12) is a saddle-like surface of which two vertical perpendicular cross
sections are parabolas, while the horizontal cross sections are hyperbolas. Although hyperbolic
paraboloid surface is curved in two directions, it is composed by straight lines, which can be represented
y2 x2
by the equation: z  . Hyperbolic paraboloid structure has its advantages in many aspects. First,
b2 a2
viewers will be attracted to its simple, elegant, and modern appearance. We may use the waves of roof
lines to highlight intended components, such as windows and entrances, and roofs can be designed
exceptionally stiff for its double curvature. Second, contrary to traditional post and lintel construction
whose forces act in two directions, hyperbolic paraboloid roofs act in three dimensions, making it is easier
to analyze and plan. Further, because hyperbolic paraboloid roofs gain their strength through shape rather
than weight, great cantilevers and spans are possible. All of the aforementioned reasons make the
hyperbolic paraboloid structure more eye-chatching, stable, and economic.

Figure 12. Hyperbolic paraboloid Figure 13. L'Oceanogràfic

The Spanish-Mexicn architect Félix Candela (1910-1997) is well-known for his thin-shell structure
building with the hyperbolic paraboloid surface, such as L'Oceanogràfic, City of Arts and Sciences in
Valencia, Spain (Figure 13). In 1958, he completed a landmark work of his life, the Los Manantiales
Restaurant shell, in Xochimilco, Mexico City. Prior to 1969, he had never known Gaudi’s work and
considered himself the first Spanish architect explicitly using the concept of hyperbolic paraboloid in
architecture. Nonetheless, when he visited the church of Colonia Guell (Figure 14, 1908-1916), he was
56 An Exploratory Study of the Geometrical Elements in Gaudi’s...

surprised by Gaudi’s pioneering idea (Nonell, 1994). In the church, the nave is a single space without
support of flying buttresses due to the combination of leaning pillars, catenary arches, and hyperbolic
paraboloid vaults surrounding the crypt. Hyperbolic paraboloid has a negative Gaussian curvature,
meaning that the directions of principal curvature have different signs at every point. A downward
curvature is surely accompanied by a curvature in the upward direction, transferring the weight of the
vault to the edges. Gaudi was fully aware of this feature and implemented it not only in the church of
Colonia Guell, but also in Sagrad Famila (Huerta, 2006). In Sagrada Família, the hyperbolic paraboloid is
used for transiting two non-parallel planes or surfaces.

Figure 14. Interior and exterior of the church of Colonia Guell

Unseen Beliefs behind the Seen

Gaudi’s extensive use of geometrical elements in his designs is definitely exceptional, as compared to his
contemporaries. It would be helpful for interpreting his philosophy of architecture if his beliefs about
mathematics and architecture could be revealed. However, we should note that, because Gaudi left no
theoretical discourses about his architecture, any analysis regarding Gaudi’s beliefs in this paper would be
speculative.
Gaudi is called “God’s Architect” for his pious religious faith. Gaudi deeply believed that
architecture should reflect the image of nature because architecture is created by humans just like nature
is created by God. That is why he said, “I capture the purest and most pleasurable images from the nature,
the nature that is always my teacher,” and “architecture creates the organism and that is why it must have
a law accordance with the law of nature (Gaudi, p.44).” Then what are the purest images of nature? What
is the law of nature? Both the purest images and laws of nature concern the truth. In Book VII of Republic,
Plato claimed that, “my noble friend, geometry will draw the soul towards truth, and create the mind of
philosophy.” It appears that, Gaudi saw geometry as the purest image of nature as well as the law of
nature because, “In producing surfaces, geometry does not complicate the construction but rather
simplifies it (Gaudi, p.74).” Therefore, Gaudi said, “I am a geometrician; that is to say, I synthesize”
(Giralt-Miracle, 2003, p.247).”
What is Gaudi’s strategy to synthesize nature and architecture through geometry? Differing from
conventional fashion adopting the circle-based compass-and-straightedge construction as architectural
methodology, Gaudi used a funicular approach. The idea of using geometry as the construction plan for a
building is not new, but Gaudi’s architectural methodology is remarkable. Catenary, helicoid, hyperboloid,
and hyperbolic paraboloids are all categorized as ruled surfaces. A surface S is ruled if through every
point of S there is a straight line that lies on S. A ruled surface can always be described as the set of points
swept by a moving straight line, which is easier to construct and more stable in structural design. These
ruled surfaces have been named Gaudi Surfaces (Velimirovic & Cvetkovic, 2014) or Gaudinian geometry
(Burry et al., 2007). Burry et al. (2007) listed 12 principles of Gaudi’s usages of Gaudinian geometry and
indicated that, “Gaudi liked to use geometry in a metaphorical way…Some metaphors were even so subtle
 Po-Hung Liu and Chin-Wei Chen 57

that they remained hidden from the majority of observers (p.85).” As Gaudi saw them, “the hyperboloid is
light; the helicoid is movement, the hyperbolic paraboloid, the father of geometry (Burry et al, 2007,
p.69).”
As God’s Architect, it is without doubt that religious metaphor is necessarily hidden in his design.
Since all generatrices of hyperbolic paraboloid rest on two straight lines, the two sets of straight lines are
like the Father and Son, forming the Holy Spirit (Sijpkes, Barnett, Angeles, & Pasini, 2009). In this
manner, Gaudi did promote geometry to the level of theology (Nonell, 1994), as what it had been in
ancient Greece.

References

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two new sciences).
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