Gaudí's Funicular Models: Ingenious Design or Rule of Thumb?

José Ramón Hernández Correa demystifies Antoni Gaudí's use of funicular models for structural design, arguing they were not scientific calculations but intuitive design tools. The article explains how Gaudí used hanging chains and weighted fabric to generate compression-only forms, famously for the Church of Colonia Güell (1898-1908), of which only the crypt was built. Correa raises four criticisms: the arbitrary calibration of weights, the simplification of distributed loads into point loads, the subjective determination of string lengths, and the lack of section sizing. He contrasts this with modern finite element analysis used to justify the completion of the Sagrada Família, noting that historical structures like Gothic cathedrals and Roman bridges were built without calculation, relying on experience and rule of thumb. The piece concludes that Gaudí's method was about designing form rather than calculating structure, using the funicular as a justification for aesthetic choices.