Althouse: Visualizing the completion of Barcelona's Sagrada Familia cathedral, which was begun in 1882.

September 26, 2013

Visualizing the completion of Barcelona's Sagrada Familia cathedral, which was begun in 1882.

The end of the construction is projected for 2026, and this 90-second video shows what will be done. I said "wow" out loud at 0:58:

35 comments:

Wince said...: The facade created toward the end of the video by those smooth, dense conic spires looks kind of Disneyland-ish.; 9/26/13, 9:20 AM
BarrySanders20 said...: It looks like the drip castles I make with the kids at the beach, only much fancier, ornate, and spectacular.; 9/26/13, 9:20 AM
Levi Starks said...: In-Spire-ing; 9/26/13, 9:21 AM
madAsHell said...: They've been working on it for over 100 years, and they expect to finish in the next 15 years??

Yeah....that ain't gonna happen.; 9/26/13, 9:23 AM
Tank said...: Pretty cool. It's open to the public during construction and it's amazing already to see it up close and from the inside.

Of course, you'd have to travel there to get the FULL effect.

Just sayin.; 9/26/13, 9:25 AM
TJIC said...: Amazing video, but the sound track could have been better chosen.

http://grooveshark.com/#!/search/song?q=la+sagrada+familia; 9/26/13, 9:36 AM
bleh said...: I like it better now. The design of the completed church looks too busy to me.; 9/26/13, 9:37 AM
victoria said...: Put it on my facebook page. My nephew did his Junior year abroad in Barcelona and should be interested in this. Wow is right

Vicki from Pasadena; 9/26/13, 9:48 AM
Anonymous said...: Conceived as a cathedral for worshippers, becomes a cathedral for gawkers and tourists.; 9/26/13, 9:48 AM
michaele said...: 60 Minutes did a wonderful segment on this within the past year or so.
I do worry about it being an attractive target for anti-Christian terrorists. I wonder what kind of security is has.; 9/26/13, 10:03 AM
Richard Dolan said...: "Conceived as a cathedral for worshippers, becomes a cathedral for gawkers and tourists."

Everyone worships in his own way, and as the current pope would add, his church has a standing invitation for all to enter.

The project to complete Gaudi's church according to his original plans is interesting for another reason -- like the great medieval predecessors, this church is being built around a central, unchanging aesthetic even as it takes more that a century to complete. The great Gothic cathedrals followed that pattern, the main difference being that the medieval churches rarely had identifiable architects. Those built in the Renaissance (e.g. St Peter's) had architects we can name (ussually successive ones), but as a result the finished structures often involved competing plans and aesthetics.; 9/26/13, 10:03 AM
Cheryl said...: I was so lucky to get to visit two years ago. Prepared to hate it as a product of Gaudi's ego, I was shocked to find the most beautiful, worshipful man-made space I've ever encountered. I long to go back and watch a Mass. (I'm Christian but not Catholic.); 9/26/13, 10:26 AM
lgv said...: "Of course, you'd have to travel there to get the FULL effect."

Nah, an HD version of the YouTube video should suffice. No travel required.

I didn't think "wow". I thought "why?".

The God I was taught about doesn't care about the building. The God of the bible doesn't view a congregant of this church above the congregant of a beat up old church. So, it's not really about pleasing God, is it?; 9/26/13, 10:44 AM
Diamondhead said...: I visited it in 2010 and again in 2012 and they had made a significant amount of progress. As (I'd assume) one of the most visited sites in Europe I would think they won't be lacking for the funds to complete construction on schedule. It's been a hundred years since they started, but there have been long stretches where progress was either agonizingly slow or non-existent. After the last visit it kind of occurred to me that we'll never again see a project of this kind (the kind that takes a 100 years). Seems so obvious to not be worth mentioning now but it struck me at the time. For any project (aside from transportation, I suppose)beginning after today, what will the longest construction period be? 5 years? 10 years?; 9/26/13, 11:13 AM
Diamondhead said...: "The God of the bible doesn't view a congregant of this church above the congregant of a beat up old church."

Seems like a bit of a straw man. I've never heard anyone claim otherwise. Like any other human endeavor, it was conceived (and sustained) in a combination of ego and devotion.

Going to a beat up church can also become a source of pride - the kind that says "my faith is so strong I don't need a fancy building to worship in."

On the point that the God of the Bible doesn't care about the building, you will have to reconcile that statement with Solomon's temple. Clearly it's not that God never cared about a building.; 9/26/13, 11:28 AM
Anonymous said...: i was there about two years ago.

While the inside was nice, the neon lighting kind of killed the entire aesthetic.

still, the original work was worth seeing.

and if you do go to barcelona, take the gaudi tour. It's amazing!; 9/26/13, 11:57 AM
Crunchy Frog said...: Church architecture is a tricky thing. Aside from the practicalities of needing to be a functional building with all the amenities, it must also be uplifting and if possible awe-inspiring.

The trick is doing this to reflect the glory of God, and not the glory of the architect.; 9/26/13, 12:28 PM
David Davenport said...: On the point that the God of the Bible doesn't care about the building, you will have to reconcile that statement with Solomon's temple. Clearly it's not that God never cared about a building.

Don't we all agree that King Solomon's Temple ought to be re-built on its orginal site in Jerusalem, exactly as described in Isaac Newton's treatise, The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms?; 9/26/13, 12:29 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: As always, future people will judge us largely by our art. Future Man, some, myself included, hope that you will give every credit for this creation to its architect and to Spain and not share that credit with the rest of us who do not deserve it.; 9/26/13, 12:30 PM
Anonymous said...: For whose glory? But amazing.; 9/26/13, 12:43 PM
SomeoneHasToSayIt said...: Islam will probably fly a plane into it.; 9/26/13, 12:43 PM
KLDAVIS said...: Was there last fall. The interior is basically complete. Since they closed the roof, it is breathtaking. The most perfectly lit room I've ever set foot in. I can't describe the lighting as anything but heavenly...and only a fraction of the stained glass has been installed so far. If you think HD YouTube will suffice, you are sorely mistaken.

madAsHell,

I'd expect them to finish on time, if not early. It's come a long way in just the last few years. They were set back by damage from the Spanish Civil War and related work stoppages.; 9/26/13, 12:50 PM
buwaya said...: All cathedrals and most churches were indeed designed to attract the gawkers and tourists. They were advertising media for both religion and commerce.; 9/26/13, 12:51 PM
Virgil Hilts said...: Spain should just subcontract its completion to the Saudis. They would have it done within 2-3 years.
Check out the Abraj Al-Bait Towers.; 9/26/13, 12:53 PM
JackWayne said...: Wow, at the end I thought "Where's the parking?"; 9/26/13, 2:41 PM
David said...: It made me think of missiles leaving their silos.; 9/26/13, 2:52 PM
sdharms said...: I didnt say wow. I asked mysself,is this even pleasing to the eye, and the answer was NO.; 9/26/13, 4:28 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: Things begin to go horribly wrong at 0:53.; 9/26/13, 5:36 PM
CT-ref said...: Hey Professor - I know what I think of the Sagrada Familia, but I won't know what you think until you have been there in person to see it for yourself. Artists like Gaudi and buildings like this make occasional travel out of the country worthwhile. And the tapas and sangria add to the experience. It only takes a weekend, not much more than one of your occasional out of state trips.

I'm going back again soon, mostly for the food.; 9/26/13, 6:46 PM
JohnG said...: Well, there's no accounting for taste.; 9/26/13, 7:36 PM
renowebb said...: If you have seen pic. of it at the very start, it amazing how Barcelona has grown.; 9/26/13, 9:14 PM
renowebb said...: If you have seen pic. of it at the very start, it amazing how Barcelona has grown.; 9/26/13, 9:15 PM
Fr. Denis Lemieux said...: @madAsHell - little events you may have heard of, called World War I, the Spanish Civil War, and World War II, have slowed down or halted the construction considerably. It hasn't been the easiest century in Spain, you know?; 9/27/13, 9:04 AM
mikee said...: It will be even more spectacular than the Hagia Sophia by 2026.

Hopefully it will still be a Catholic cathedral by 2050.; 9/27/13, 10:06 AM
lee said...: It'll probably be turned into a mosque by 2027...; 9/27/13, 11:29 AM