Gaudí's reluctant attitude towards the inverted catenary

The hanging model that Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926) developed for the Colònia Güell church design has been the subject of considerable research and its importance as an experiment for the design of Sagrada Família has been noted. Critical opinions and assessments, however, include a misunderstanding of the physical laws and geometry involved in the hanging model process and the legend that Gaudí was obsessed with designing stone structures via hanging models, thus rejecting other approaches. Such opinions were countered by Gaudí himself, who talked of the problems involved in interpreting hanging models. The renown of the hanging model has also invoked scepticism on the part of civil engineers, art historians and architects as to the theoretical profundity of Gaudí's design methodology. This paper offers a state-of-the-art survey of this topic, based both on specialist literature sources and on discussions conducted with leading experts since 1976. It can be concluded that Gaudí was aware of the theoretical impact of the hanging model, within its historic parameters, and his attitude may inspire current construction design.