The Masonic sculpture of Glòries

La Vanguardia – 18/02/2024 see full article

A work of homage to the architects of the shopping center includes the square and compass, the most recognized symbol of the secret society, although Jordi Díez, its author, disassociates it from any real link with the Freemasons.

The sculpture is located outside the shopping center; the square and compass can be seen in one hand and is also on the floor (Xavi Casinos).

A spectacular sculpture outside the Glòries shopping center pays tribute to Carlos Martínez and Jos Galán, architects of the complex for 25 years. It is a work by Jordi Díez in which the steel busts of the two protagonists seem to float in the air, inside a glass container. The sculpture is surprising, but more so because at its base you can see a square and a compass intertwined, which is the best known symbol of Freemasonry.

Why is the secret society symbol part of the sculpture? What is the link between Freemasonry and the two architects? The sculptor himself reveals the secret, which has nothing to do with Martínez y Galán’s supposed membership in the Masonic institution. Díez assures that he was inspired by the fact that Freemasonry and architecture “share a symbol, undoubtedly due to the construction nature of both disciplines”.

The square and the compass are the best known symbol of Freemasonry (Xavi Casinos).

The square and compass are on the floor of the work, but also, although it is more difficult to distinguish, in Galán’s right hand. “By placing this shared symbol, I want to call attention to how timely it is today to regain awareness of the transcendence of what we do, of what we build,” adds the sculptor.

“Mine is construction. I build a sculpture with steel,” says Díez, pointing out that his sculpture seeks a transcendent message and not a conspiracy theory about the commercial complex’s alleged relationship with a secret society. The square and the compass are some of the tools of the ancient medieval masons adopted from the eighteenth century by modern Freemasonry, to which it assigns a philosophical and ethical meaning. The square marks the straight path that a Mason must follow, and the compass, the limits of individual freedom.

The author was inspired by the fact that Freemasonry and architecture share a symbol (Xavi Casinos).

Díez adds that, if his project for a sculpture of Ildefons Cerdà in Glòries goes ahead, he will also include the Masonic square and compass. In this case, there is some evidence that the father of the Eixample was a Freemason. In his drawing of Barcelona’s Ensanche, he placed Glòries as the new center of the city.

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