Barcelona's most characteristic monument is not a straightforward thing to fathom. In spite of this, Gaudí designed it not as an unsolvable enigma, but as an open book, literally and metaphorically open on all sides. Gaudí wanted "his" work to been seen everywhere, and that much he certainly made happen. But he also wanted people to discuss all the building's different elements, right down to its stones. The Sagrada Familia's "author" left his work ready to be begun; only now, after 125 years of work, are we beginning to piece together the profundity of its symbols, the sheer daring of the idea, the force of a deeply thought-through project that was intended to initiate an altogether new architecture.
La Sagrada Familia demands to be understood and, what is more, whoever manages this feat of understanding will have comprehended one of the most unique buildings in the world. This book does function partly as a guidebook, but above it will help in the deciphering of the symbolic universe expressed in the "Cathedral of Europe".