Don Justo's Self-Built Cathedral . . .

[OneBlueSky]

http://www.citynoise.org/article/732



This is no "model" cathedral and he is neither a qualified architect, nor engineer, nor bricklayer -- he is a farmer. "The plans have only ever existed in my head" and have evolved over time in response to opportunity and inspiration. Nor does he have formal planning permission from the authorities of Mejorada del Campo -- the town in which it is located (20 km from Madrid under the flight-path to the Barajas airport).

Nor does he have the benediction or support of the Catholic Church. After eight years in a Trappist order -- and just prior to taking his vows -- he was obliged to leave, considerably weakened by tuberculosis and the monastic regime. His cathedral is dedicated to Nuestra Señora del Pilar, Madre de Jesús. He explains: "It's an act of faith." The cathedral has been bequeathed by him to the Bishopric of nearby Alcalá de Henares.

The shell of the building is complete -- covering the 20x50 metre plot . Some 8,000m2 have been built -- or are underway. They include a complex ensemble of cloisters, offices, lodgings and a library. The cathedral already has a dome (modelled on St Peters) rising to some 40 metres, some 12 metres in diametre -- whose steel girders were raised with the aid of his six nephews using pulleys. He was unable to get the loan of a crane. In summer volunteers may lend a hand, but for the heavy work he hires a local assistant at his own expense. It is estimated that it may take another 15 to 20 years to complete -- although Don Justo does not know. He prefers not to speak about the future. How long he will still be physically able to continue working on it is uncertain.

(snip)

Justo's Cathedral is a Monument to the human spirit and its capacity to transcend ordinary constraints and limitations in the most improbable way. Its symbolism is that much greater because it is the act of a very ordinary hero -- whose genius lay in his persistence. The cathedral is above all a demonstration in how to implement a dream, however little wider support there is for doing so.

- more . . . including photos . . .

http://www.citynoise.org/article/732

[Xipe Totec]

1. Following an ancient tradition

THE MEDIEVAL MASON

The people who created this art weren't formally educated. In the early days, only forty percent of master masons could even write their name on a document. They weren't trained in formal geometry, and it's unlikely they made any calculations. They didn't know Euclid, but they worked magic with a compass and square.



Medieval cathedral builders learned their empirical art through apprenticeship. Master builders held all kinds of jealously guarded tricks of the trade -- a vast inventory of knowledge about material selection, personnel management, geometrical proportioning, load distribution, design, liturgy, and Christian tradition.

And make no mistake, those masons saw no clear boundary between things material and things spiritual. Their art flowed from their right brain. It was visual and spatial. They levitated tons of stone into the air to communicate their praise of God, and when they were finished, they embellished the nooks and crannies and high aeries of their buildings with the phantoms of their minds -- with cherubs and gargoyles and wild caricatures of one another.


http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi1530.htm