The 13th and 14tth century architects and the 19nth century architect Antoni Gaudi had a similar purpose in mind when designing their Cathedrals. They both wanted visitors to get closer to God when they went into the church. However, their approaches were different. The 13/14th century architects wanted to get the visitors closer to God through the use of eight (IntSchoolHistory). They used stained glass windows to bring in light (IntSchoolHistory). It created the spiritual effect of bringing different tones of light into the building. They also built their cathedrals to express their devotion to their faith (Cathedral Building in the Middle Ages).

          Gaudi did want to get visitors closer to God, but he did it in a different way. He wanted to tell the story of the Catholic faith (CBSNewsOnline.). His Cathedral, the Sagrada Familia has sculptures everywhere that tell different Bible stories (CBSNewsOnline.). It is also more modern in design, using forms in nature and different colors then the Gothic style ("Sagrada Família, Barcelona.).

            So why are these two approaches different, yet overall had the same goal? The 13/14th century architects may have taken the approach to bring more light in because the previous cathedrals were in the Romanesque style, which did not allow the use of large windows. Cathedrals were dark because of the use of barrel vaults (IntSchoolHistory). So to bring light in, was a great achievement. Also, the 13th/14th century was during the time of the Middle Ages when Catholicism was very prevalent. So, they wanted to show their faith and be proud of it (“Cathedral building in the Middle ages”). Gaudi’s design was made in the late 1800s in Barcelona.

During that time was the Industrial