The Sagrada Família in Barcelona, started 142 years ago and still not quite finished, is one of the world's most beloved buildings. And that makes sense, because it's totally unique, right? Not exactly. This is the story of how you create an iconic building...
The Basilica di Sagrada Família, meaning the Basilica of the Holy Family, is Antoni Gaudí's masterpiece. He took over as chief architect in 1883, one year after construction had started, and totally transformed the project. 141 years later it is still incomplete.
A lack of funds, the Civil War, and the loss of Gaudí's original plans have all delayed construction — plus the sheer time needed to build a cathedral. You can even see how long it has taken by comparing older and newer stonework. But they are close... only two years left.
Gaudí poured his heart into the project, designing every last detail of the church with scrupulous care, fearless vision, and an impressive virtuosity. This building is defined by its flowing shapes, inspired by nature, and an endless procession of colour and light.
Gaudí's genius was to take recognisable, time-honoured architectural styles and breathe new life into them. The Passion Façade is clearly inspired by Gothic Architecture, but it totally reinvents a familiar sight:
There is probably no other building in the world, on such a vast scale, which has been so minutely and carefully designed. From the fabulous bronze doors, whether decorated like a canopy of leaves or with relief sculptures, to the colourful spires:
And the gargoyles, a famous and vital feature of Gothic architecture — only here, rather than demons, we find snails, lizards, and snakes:
And the fabulous Nativity Façade, overflowing with detail, sculpture, and wildly original organic forms. True to the spirit of Gothic Architecture rather than merely imitating it.
Unsurprisingly, then, Antoni Gaudí is the most famous Catalan architect. His unique methods of design are beloved around the world and have helped make Barcelona into the globally iconic city it is today:
But Gaudí and his Sagrada Família did not just appear out of nowhere. The story began in 1855, when Barcelona was a filthy Medieval city with 200,000 people squeezed into just two square kilometres, within the old walls. Disease and squalor were rampant; something had to give.
A project was announced to demolish the walls and expand, called the "Eixample". The design was by Ildefons Cerdà, who quit his job to perform topographical studies of Barcelona — right person, right time. Everything in black is Barcelona in 1855; everything else would be new.