Gaudí Unseen: Completing the Sagrada Família For Sale

Around two million people annually visit Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí’s unfinished gesamkunstwerk, La Sagrada Família--a massive church in Barcelona, which was begun in 1883. Since many of Gaudí’s plans for the structure were destroyed during the Spanish Civil War, teams of architects have been continually tinkering with the elusive structure since his death in 1926. Because Gaudí seemingly didn’t use regular or repeating forms--relying instead on color, light and organic sculptural motifs--architects working on the completion of La Sagrada Família have faced a host of daunting design problems. In the 1980s, New Zealand architect Mark Burry began using computer-aided design to piece together the missing parts--but traditional architectural software doesn’t translate Gaudí’s off-beat forms, so Burry applied aeronautical design software to the problem. Though slated for completion by 2007, the building is still very much under construction--the completion date having been pushed back many times. As the structure is dedicated to the holy family, Gaudí would often joke, “The patron of this project is not in a hurry.” Gaudí: Unseen offers a behind-the-scenes look at this hundred-year-long architectural drama.