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A man who built his own cathedral
- MaanuAir 4y agoAlso, smaller, older and in another style: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Cheval https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Cheval
- dariosalvi78 4y agoit's known as the cathedral made of rubbish too... visited a decade years ago and it was in a much more primitive state, amazing how much they managed to build meanwhile
- Geonode 4y agoI see steel reinforced concrete with the steel exposed in overhead beams. This thing is gonna have to come down. Good steel reinforced concrete starts deteriorating before a hundred years. It's no material for a cathedral.
- SECProto 4y ago> Good steel reinforced concrete starts deteriorating before a hundred years. It's no material for a cathedral. La Sagrada Familiar uses steel reinforced concrete (though technically it's a minor basilica, not a cathedral) https://blog.sagradafamilia.org/en/divulgation/construction-temples-towers/ https://blog.sagradafamilia.org/en/divulgation/construction-...
- bobthechef 4y ago> technically it's a minor basilica, not a cathedral) This is a category mistake, no? A cathedral isn't an architectural term, but a designation granted to the central church of a diocese (i.e., the seat of a bishop, hence "cathedra" which means "seat" in Latin). A basilica is both an architectural term and a designation.
- SECProto 4y agoI was using both Cathedral and Basilica in the religious designation sense - I was unaware that either word had purely architectural meanings. The self-correction was somewhat tongue in cheek, as the real mistake would be from the article, calling a homemade Church a cathedral.
- TuringTest 4y agoBasilica was a Roman public building with a specific shape - a rectangular building with several parallel arcades. Classic Christianity took the shape for their early churches, and later cathedrals and larger churches were built over them maintaining the basic shape (and extending it in the shape of a cross, for symbolism).
- pvaldes 4y agoBut they are true architects and know what are doing, totally different leagues. The place has a touristic appeal and will be probably exploited for Mensajeros de la Paz (the quickest to see its potential, appear with some money and take the keys), as another similar Christneylands are, but the fact is that no sane architect wanted to be responsible of it.
- arbuge 4y agoEverything has to come down eventually, but all else being equal, exposed steel is better for ease of access and maintenance than steel buried in concrete.
- Intermernet 4y agoExposed steel connected to the steel in concrete is a recipe for disaster.
- caymanjim 4y agoWhy would you want access to steel that's supposed to be reinforcing concrete? What kind of maintenance do you think is occurring? It's great for water infiltration.
- Spunkie 4y agoIn central america most things are built with cheap cinderblock and concrete and the vast majority of them leave rebar exposed and coming out of the top floor/roof. I've been told its for tax reasons, something about not needing to pay taxes on a building that is still "under construction"
- arinlen 4y ago> (...) but all else being equal, exposed steel is better (...) No, it's way worse. The outermost concrete layer serves multiple purposes, including corrosion protection and fire resistance. Exposed rebar can and will start corroding immediately if not covered or treated, and in turn it loses grip and resistance.
- kayodelycaon 4y agoIt’s even worse than that… > He piled empty paint cans on top of one another and filled them with concrete to make columns. He bent corrugated iron rods and fed them through slinky-like springs to create the structure for arches. When the columns he built were too short, he filled the gaps with clumps of iron, piling them up like mismatched books to the height of the support beams. He’d then solder them together.
- grosswait 4y agoThe article states that architects have reviewed and found it to be surprisingly well built. They made some reinforcements. Definitely not a “have to come down” situation according to experts
- varenc 4y agoFun fact: The definition of a cathedral includes hosting or being associated with a particular bishop. So if it hasn’t done that I don’t think it’s really “cathedral”.
- Galaxity 4y agoI guess saying cathedral is more impressive than saying a guy built a church, albeit big or fancy. Same with the also mentioned Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. I've often seen it referred to as a cathedral but it is just a large church. The actual cathedral in Barcelona is elsewhere. Although now it is deemed a basilica, which I understand is generally just a very special and honored church.
- hahajk 4y agoWell, he’s Catholic and I think the Catholic Church has specific rites that must be performed even to call a building a church. So really he just built a really cool building inspired by his faith.
- saalweachter 4y ago3d cathedral fan art?
- rob74 4y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consecration#Churches,_altars,_and_other_ritual_objects https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consecration#Churches,_altars,...
- samatman 4y agoFrom the article, he built a house of worship which he intended to offer for consecration. If that had happened, it would have been an oratory, probably, since a church has a resident priest. The intention is important, I'm not sure what to call it but "chapel" as distinct from oratory is probably closest. To a Catholic these are the same thing, but: any Christian would recognize this as a chapel, just not a Catholic one, and we have the precise term "oratory" to cover that.
- pvinis 4y agoI totally thought this would be about Temple OS
- kleer001 4y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TempleOS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TempleOS That was my first thought too. Sometimes I fear falling into a similar manic rabbit hole, wheels within wheels spinning.
- kayodelycaon 4y agoIf it's any consolation, full-blown manic episodes like that are generally uncommon for people who aren't schizophrenic or bipolar. Even then, TempleOS was really off the deep end of that. It isn't a rabbit hole you just accidentally fall into. :) Hopefully a little self-awareness should be all you need to keep you grounded.
- kleer001 4y agoOh, it's not a rational fear, by far. Same sort of thing as the fear of being mugged by a Spanish dwarf or being eaten by an Orca.
- donquichotte 4y agoThis reminds me of Jaimie Mantzel, a skilled engineer and builder who is clearly a nonconformist, and sometimes I feel like I'm detecting hints of madness (or enlightenment that I am unable to grasp) in his videos. The man has built remarkable structures, like his Adventure Builder Cathedral, using ingenuity and the most basic of tools: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kgt0UFJA6PU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kgt0UFJA6PU
- cbsks 4y agoI love his homemade fiberglass solar powered boats! He is definitely very quirky
- stefantalpalaru 4y agoHere's the 2005 Coca-Cola ad filmed there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNimfH3sNaY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNimfH3sNaY
- Mordisquitos 4y agoFor anyone who may be confused, it's and ad from "Coca-Cola" the company, not for "Coca-Cola" the product. It was an ad for Aquarius, one of their brands which is quite popular in Spain as a pseudo-sports drink. This advertisement really made Justo Gallego's project much more well-known in Spain when it aired.
- Aeolun 4y agoBut did he get buried there?
- baisq 4y ago>A longer version of this article first appeared in the online magazine Hazlitt. Jesus how I hate this. "We just wasted your time making you read an abridged version of a topic that is of your interest"
- whoisstan 4y agoFerdinand Cheval comes to mind who build a palace using pebbles while delivering mail. Astonishing. https://mymodernmet.com/ferdinand-cheval-palais-ideal/ https://mymodernmet.com/ferdinand-cheval-palais-ideal/
- ArekDymalski 4y agoThanks a lot for bringing it in. Fascinating story.
- jhloa2 4y agoAlso a little bit of this one: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bishop_Castle https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bishop_Castle
- hitovst 4y agoJaimie Mantzel is working on his cathedral.
- devrimbaris 4y agoCant help contrasting it with the man who built a forest in 50 years.
- kayodelycaon 4y agoThe article says the guy isn’t crazy… but the rest of the article does not paint the picture of a particularly sane man. But, a man who is successful in some acceptable way, is considered eccentric rather than nuts. :)
- starkd 4y agoTerms like "nut" or "crazy" are antiquated. They don't have very precise meanings. Is anyone truly crazy in the sense they are out of their wits all the time?
- kayodelycaon 4y agoThank you for your comment. My words were very imprecise. I'll try to break down what I'm seeing. I'll start with my perspective as a (painted) dog on the internet. :) I have a fair amount of personal experience with insanity and with religion and with art. (Not all at the same time.) I'm by no means an expert in psychology, but I have spend a lifetime studying people. I'd like to think I have a pretty good eye for understanding the motivations for most people in various cultural settings. I have no academic credentials. For the most part, I'm speculating with more or less the same amount of expertise as everyone else here. We all have our pet topics we like to think we know more about than average. So, what I do see? (I'll stick to one aspect so I'm not writing a novel here.) I see is a man who is outside baseline behavior in several ways, the most prominent being his religious zealotry. Reading the lines as written, there are all the parts of a "normal" "obsessive" person. But! When I try to piece those together, something doesn't match up. Specifically his mission and goal doesn't quite make sense from a religious or artistic perspective. It's tilted a few degrees in a way I don't quite follow. To use a writing analogy, it feels like I'm beta reading a story and the author made an incorrect assumption somewhere. It's not in the words themselves, but the choice of the words the incorrect assumption causes. Once I realized that, I reread the article looking for what could be missing from the picture. His childhood is the biggest red flag for me. The zealotry described seems excessive to the point it's controlling him. This detail points to the missing piece. (Ignoring that this is a classic sign of early mental illness or poor childhood which causes one.) It's not the obsession, but the shape of the obsession. It doesn't feel "normal". It feels like there's a lack of grounding to reality happening at a deep level. This is the clearest explanation from what I'm seeing. This wasn't the first conclusion I came to. I was genuinely curious about the story and was hoping to find something interesting about human nature I haven't seen before or adding a perspective like who Steve Jobs was. (He was a fucking asshole, but I do like my phone.) I didn't get that feeling here. I hope I'm missing something, but I have the sinking feeling I'm correct.
- DeathArrow 4y agoIt's easier to build your own bazaar.
- lproven 4y agoI see what you did there.
- starkd 4y agoMany of these cases around. Here's a story of Ed Thrall who constructed a dance hall constructed on his own haphazard techniques. He had visions of a community center of some kind. No one knows what to do with it. https://www.ctpublic.org/business/2014-09-30/ed-thrall-and-the-story-of-his-most-contentious-dance-hall https://www.ctpublic.org/business/2014-09-30/ed-thrall-and-t...
- brundolf 4y agoReminds me of Bishop Castle in Colorado. Just an insanely ambitious, never-ending passion project. We visited last time I was there; highly recommend if you find yourself driving through the area https://www.bishopcastle.org/ https://www.bishopcastle.org/