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 an intertwined square and compass, which is the best-known symbol of Freemasonry.
Why is the secret society symbol part of the sculpture? What link exists between Freemasonry and both architects? The sculptor himself reveals the secret, which has nothing to do with Martínez and 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 the two disciplines.”
The square and compass are found 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 draw 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, to point out that his sculpture seeks a transcendent message and not a conspiracy theory about the alleged relationship of the commercial complex with a secret society. The square and compass are some of the tools of ancient medieval masons adopted from the 18th century onwards 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 marks the limits of individual freedom.
Díez adds that, if his Ildefons Cerdà sculpture project in Glòries continues, it will also include the Masonic square and compasses. In this case, there is some evidence that the father of Eixample was a Freemason. In his drawing of the Barcelona expansion, he placed Glòries as the new center of the city.
