Wild. This is a model (reconstructed) that Gaudi used to design the load-bearing columns. The deal is that by hanging weights on string segments, the string will adjust itself to the most relaxed configuration. Flip this upside down, and it's the proper configuration for a load-bearing arch. Gaudi did on a massive scale, building this little `analog computer' to figure the proper angles and positions simultaneously for all of the building's load-bearing columns.