127 Years & Still Counting: Barcelona’s Beautiful Work In Progress
by Guest Writer on July 1st, 2009
By Priya Chhaya
Imagine a construction project in the United States lasting 127 years.
Barcelona's Sagrada Familia is 127 years in the making...and still counting!
It’s pretty hard to do, isn’t it?
This past June, I stepped into a structure that has been under construction for just that long – and will continue to be worked on until its completion many, many years from now.
This is Barcelona’s famed Sagrada Familia. Arches – sweeping and fingerlike – frame an entryway flanked by imagery and sculpture narrating the history of the Christian faith. Here and there, splashes of color indicate the handiwork of Antoni Gaudi, the master architect behind other Barcelona landmarks such as Casa Mila/La Pedrera and Parc Guell. It is a masterpiece with its own history beyond that of the hundreds of people who have worked on it.
This is a preservation story of a different kind – not of a building locked in time, but one that is quite literally entwined with the present. The construction uses some modern planning and drafting technology, but depends mostly on the written descriptions of Gaudi’s followers (a fire during the Spanish Civil War destroyed the original models and plans). More importantly, this magnificent cathedral is a part of Barcelona’s ever-changing identity, and in preserving the traditional trades and styles, the generations of workers and designers are making history.
The construction of the Sagradi Familia is dependant entirely on donations and entrance fees. The estimated completion date for the cathedral is 2026 – 100 years after Gaudi’s accidental death on the Sagrada Familia site.
I know that the places we fight for all have a deep connection to our own personal identities. Please take a moment and share with us a place that defines where you live and/or who you are. What stories does it tell?
Priya Chhaya is the program assistant in the office of Training and Online Information Services at the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
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August 7th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
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