Editing Sagrada Família (section)

===Geometric details===
{{Further|Mathematics and art}}
[[File:AlphaOmega.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Alpha and Omega]] carving at Sagrada Família entrance]]

The steeples on the Nativity façade are crowned with geometrically shaped tops that are reminiscent of [[Cubism]] (they were finished around 1930), and the intricate decoration is contemporary to the style of [[Art Nouveau]], but Gaudí's unique style drew primarily from nature, not other artists or architects, and resists categorization.

Gaudí used [[hyperboloid structure]]s in later designs for Sagrada Família (more obviously after 1914). However, there are a few places on the nativity façade—a design not equated with Gaudí's [[ruled surface|ruled-surface]] design—where the [[hyperboloid]] appears. For example, all around the scene with the pelican, there are numerous examples (including the basket held by one of the figures). There is a hyperboloid adding structural stability to the cypress tree (by connecting it to the bridge). Finally, the "bishop's mitre" spires are capped with hyperboloid structures.<ref name="BDM">{{cite conference |first1=M. C. |last1=Burry |first2=J. R. |last2=Burry |first3=G. M. |last3=Dunlop |first4=A. |last4=Maher |title=Drawing Together Euclidean and Topological Threads |url=http://www.business.otago.ac.nz/SIRC05/conferences/2001/05_burry.pdf |year=2001 |conference= The 13th Annual Colloquium of the Spatial Information Research Centre, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand |access-date=5 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080625010337/http://www.business.otago.ac.nz/SIRC05/conferences/2001/05_burry.pdf |archive-date=25 June 2008 |quote=The paper explores the assemblies of second order hyperbolic surfaces as they are used throughout the design composition of the Sagrada Família Church building.}}</ref> In his later designs, ruled surfaces are prominent in the nave's vaults and windows and the surfaces of the Passion Façade.