My Favorite Piece of Real Estate

Nativity Facade of the Sagrada Familia

Howdy!

I'm here today to discuss my favorite piece of real estate, the Basilica de la Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain. I had the chance to spend five weeks in Barcelona over the summer, and while I was there, I went to la Sagrada Familia not once, but twice. 

Ground was broken on the church in 1882, and Antoni Gaudi was given the job of chief architect in 1883 to put his distinctly Modernist spin on it. With almost no straight lines, numerous pine cone-inspired spires, and three facades each dedicated to a different facet of Christianity (The Nativity, the Passion, and the Glory), la Sagrada Familia is truly one of the most unique architectural works on Earth. Contrary to popular myth, Gaudi made extensive plans and models for his vision of the church. He knew his design was so complex and intricate that it would never be finished in his life-time, so he left his plans for later architects to follow, albeit with some of the more minute details, such as the sculptures on the unfinished facades, left to be decided by future architects. Gaudi's design for the church, as with all of his other works, took much of its inspiration from nature. From the pine-cone shaped spires to the turtle-shaped exterior column bases to the fruit adorning the spires to the tree-shaped interior columns, the influence of nature is unmistakable. Additionally, Gaudi used complex geometry to maximize interior space and light, utilizing a hyperbolic shape for the walls and a parabolic shape for the vaults. 

Although Gaudi died before even the first facade was completed, it is the only one on which he had a direct influence. The realistic scenes on the facade depict the birth of Jesus, and the sculptures, as well as all the other details, take on as much life, texture, and detail as could be put into them. In contrast, the other completed facade, that of the Passion, is much more austere and abstract, depicting a very gaunt Jesus, along with faceless Roman soldiers and numerous harsh straight lines. The third facade, dedicated to the Glory of God, is currently under construction, and its exact design is not yet publicly known. When completed, the Glory facade will be the main facade of the church. Gaudi's design features 17 spires, one for each of the apostles, one for the Virgin Mary, one for each of the Evangelists, and lastly, one dedicated to Jesus. When finished, la Sagrada Familia will be the tallest church in the world.

The Passion Facade

I have been to Rome and Florence and seen some of the most famous churches and cathedrals in the world, and there is absolutely nothing that can compare to la Sagrada Familia. The incredible detail, both inside and outside, is unmatched by anything on Earth. Gaudi was a very devout Catholic, and that can be sensed from his design, through which he hoped to glorify God in every detail. La Sagrada Familia was Gaudi's attempt to reach heaven through architecture. When I walked around the two completed facades, I realized that it was almost impossible to see every minute detail and architectural feature. I spent almost an hour just trying to take it all in. But, for as amazing as the facades are, the interior is even more splendid. Both times I visited, my breath was actually taken away as soon as I set foot inside the church. I am not particularly religious, but I couldn't help but feel a certain sense of reverence and spirituality inside. Everywhere you look, there is more detail than you can perceive. I could look at the same spot three times and see something new each time, and I even saw new, recurring features upon my second visit. Rather than having discrete, spaced out windows, the stained glass extends almost the entire length of the building, basking the entire interior in brilliant, multicolored light at all times of day. And even the ceiling has certain recurring features that are difficult to entirely take in.

The ceiling

The continuous stained glass

View from the main doors up the nave

Everything about la Sagrada Familia is complex, yet gorgeous and smooth and natural. Whether it will remain my favorite building five or ten years from now remains to be seen. But as of right now, it is the most wondrous, incredible structure I've ever seen. The engineers intend to finish it in 2026, the centennial of Gaudi's death, and I hope to be able to return after that in order to see the final product. I can't imagine how it could possibly get any more mind-bogglingly amazing, but I'm sure it will be.

-Tucker

WELCOME TO THE BLOG!

Howdy!

Welcome to this blog, which I have created for my FINC 371: Real Estate Decision Making class at Texas A&M University. My name is Tucker Pope and I will be your blogger-in-chief here for the next few months. 

I am a Senior Business Honors major originally from Lubbock, Texas. In addition to my degree in business, I am also taking all the undergraduate courses required to attend medical school. My short term goals are focused primarily on getting in to and succeeding in medical school, before hopefully moving on to specialize in radiology. Long-term, I intend to practice medicine for a while, probably in the region of 20 years, and then moving in to the business side of medicine and becoming a Chief Medical Officer or something of the like. 

My hobbies and interests include being an avid golfer and watcher of all sports, particularly college football and soccer. I am an especially avid supporter of my favorite soccer team, FC Bayern Munich. I also enjoy discovering new music, finding new food to eat, and watching far too much TV. Lastly, I am an avid learner, and often find myself reading Wikipedia articles for hours on end. As such, I also enjoy testing my trivia knowledge in any way I can, such as at trivia nights and on the website Sporcle. Besides the two linked above, some of my favorite websites include the webcomic xkcd, the sports and pop culture website Grantland, and Jeopardy study website J!-Archive.

I am taking this class because real estate is an area of finance that has always been a mystery to me, and one which I would love to know more about. Additionally, knowing the financial basics of real estate has a great deal of relevance to my personal life, seeing as that everybody, at least once in their life, must make some kind of real estate investment decision. And so, knowing what is a good deal and what is good financing on a home purchase will be very helpful to me. Lastly, I know many people who own rental properties and make supplemental income off of them, and that is something I would like to be able to do in the future. Therefore, it would be great to know at some of the ins and outs of doing just that. 

I would say that the most interesting fact about me is that I appeared on the Jeopardy! College Championship back in February, where, after three rounds and four games against some of the smartest students in the country, I managed to finish in second place. I always get asked how I got on Jeopardy!, so I'll just say it here: I took an online test and did well enough to get an in person audition. At this audition, I took a written test, played a mock game to ensure that I understood how the game worked and didn't curse every time I got an answer wrong or got out-buzzed, and did a personality interview to see if I was interesting enough to put on TV. I was then told to wait 7 months until I may or may not get a phone call from them. I was so nervous that I bombed my first audition, so I had to go through to whole process over again the next year. After almost two full years of hard work, I managed to make it on the show, and the rest is history.

Me with Mr. Trebek himself

Another interesting fact about myself is that I moved away from home at 16 to attend the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science, where I was effectively a full-time student at the University of North Texas. I spent my last two years of high school at TAMS, living on a dorm on the UNT campus and taking full-fledged college classes. In essence, I did my last two years of high school and first two years of college simultaneously. As such, I consider myself a fifth-year senior despite this year being only my third at A&M.

The number one item on my bucket list is to climb Mt. Fuji in the early morning to be able to witness the sunrise from the peak. I hope to one day be able to play the Old Course at St. Andrews. Also, I want to see the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona once it is completed, I want to attend a Bayern Munich match in Munich, and I want to go to the Summer Olympics. Finally, I want to eventually eat at all of Texas Monthly's Top 50 BBQ Restaurants.

Thanks for reading my blog, and here's looking forward to a great semester of real estate decision making.
-Tucker