Gaudí, an example of the culture of service, Almuzara tells Ràdio 4
“I believe that Gaudí, after everything I have heard, would embody the potential of the culture of service. When you serve, it is the other who is made happy, because you do it thinking of the other”
José Manuel Almuzara spoke on Radio Nacional de España (Ràdio 4), in Barcelona, during the days marking the centenary of Antoni Gaudí's death and the visit of Pope Leo XIV to the Sagrada Família. There he presented the architect as an example of the culture of service.
José Manuel Almuzara visited the studios of Radio Nacional de España, on the station Ràdio 4, in Barcelona, to speak about Antoni Gaudí. His appearance coincided with two notable events: the centenary of the architect's death and the visit of Pope Leo XIV to the Sagrada Família. In that context, he offered a reading of the Catalan genius that reaches beyond architecture. He presented Gaudí, above all, as an example of the culture of service.
For Almuzara, Gaudí's greatness is not exhausted in his forms or his calculations, but lies in a way of living that places others at the centre. So he summed it up during the interview, after listening to the various testimonies about the architect. In his view, Gaudí embodies a way of being in the world that is fulfilled by giving oneself to others. That, as he explained, is the root of a joy that does not depend on circumstances.
“If you serve while thinking of the other, you are always happy, because you are serving”
Almuzara explained that those who serve always think of the other, and that therein lies a stable happiness. According to his reasoning, the good done by the one who serves falls upon the person served, yet the one who gives also receives. For this reason, he argued, one can be happy even in solitude or in difficult company, so long as there is a willingness to serve. It is an idea both simple and demanding, which he tied directly to the figure of the architect.
In his reflection, Almuzara connected this culture of service with the teaching of the Church. He recalled that in 2016 Pope Francis had spoken of mercy in very concrete terms. Those words of the pontiff described mercy not as an abstract concept, but as something that translates into gestures towards people. Almuzara brought them into the conversation to illuminate the Christian meaning of the service he attributes to Gaudí.
“Mercy is not an abstract word: it is a face to recognise, to contemplate and to serve”
His appearance on Ràdio 4 added to the intense activity of these days surrounding Gaudí, marked by the centenary and by the Church's gaze upon the Sagrada Família. With his testimony, Almuzara once again underscored the architect's spiritual dimension and his relevance as an example for the present. Beyond stone and light, he invited us to contemplate in Gaudí a lesson on how to live. A lesson that, in the end, is found in serving.