
133 Years Later, Gaudí’s Cathedral Nears Completion - bane
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/11/151105-gaudi-sagrada-familia-barcelona-final-stage-construction/
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bane
I posted this because I feel like this might be one of the last few multi-
generational efforts under a single project umbrella that I might see during
my lifetime. As an American I'm in awe of many of the old Cathedrals and
Basilicas in Europe that took hundreds of years to complete.

Most of the cathedrals in the U.S. were "tossed up" after a few years of
construction. (One of the rare counter examples is the National Cathedral in
Washington D.C., however it's not Catholic.)

If we start any current projects in the world that we know will take
generations to finish:

* I won't see the end of them

* I'm not sure there's the will to do it

The idea of something like a generation ship, or interstellar colony ships is
something far away from what we seem to be able to do today, but I like to
think that projects like cathedrals are about as close to what those kinds of
things might be like.

~~~
mcv
Multigenerational projects will be those of enormous scale. Interstellar
exploration and colonization of other planets, especially terraforming, are
obvious ones. But for a single building to take that much time? That's
unimaginable today.

I'm pretty sure the Sagrada Familia could have been finished sooner if more
money had been thrown at it, but in a sense, I also think such a prolonged
construction process is itself a work of art. We are often in too much of a
hurry, leading us to cut corners.

~~~
jowiar
That we're still looking at a decade from now to completion, given that the
Burj Khalifa took 6 years from groundbreaking to opening, is a testament to
how much of the work of the Sagrada Familia doesn't scale. The challenge isn't
"the building" as a structure -- it's that every single surface in (and on)
the thing is a unique sculpture.

I don't think "cutting corners" as a negative -- it's realistic, if you want
to ship. Nobody who said "let's build a new church here" lived to see its
completion. It's awesome to see, however impractical for 99% of solutions, the
occasions when a "screw time and budget -- this thing is going to be perfect"
approach is followed through.

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ant6n
There's a neat upside down model [0] somewhere in the exhibitions of the
Sagrada that shows how Gaudi figured out the shape of the strange organic
columns to perfectly distribute the weight: he made an upside down model where
the columns are represented by strings, and the weight of the cathedral by,
well, weights. When upside down, the compression pressure in the columns
becomes the tension in the strings. It's quite a brilliant way to 'compute'
the statics of the cathedral with a physical model like that.

[0]:
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/stuartmadeley/10340979205](https://www.flickr.com/photos/stuartmadeley/10340979205)

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techterrier
Still remain utterly baffled by people who hate this building. It's genuinely
astounding when you go see it. A must visit for anyone who loves maths and or
nature.

~~~
taejo
It's much more beautiful close up than in pictures, IME. I had mixed feelings
until I actually visited.

~~~
StavrosK
Yeah, it's extremely imposing up close. I recommend taking the calle de la
Marina if you want to get there, seeing this enormous church among the low
buildings is quite a sight.

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pluma
Unlike our local cathedral[0] which some say won't ever be completed because
the construction seamlessly transitioned into the maintenance phase --
allegedly it will be covered by scaffolding for all of eternity.

There's a fun local legend about this being the result of a lost bet with the
devil[1] (originally used as an explanation of the centuries-long pause during
construction but now extended to the present day).

Amazingly enough you wouldn't know this by looking at photographs. As the
scaffolding moves across the façade over the years, crafty photographers have
managed to capture every last inch of it always making sure you can't see the
scaffolding.

[0]:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cologne_Cathedral](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cologne_Cathedral)

[1]:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eifel_Aqueduct#The_aqueduct_as...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eifel_Aqueduct#The_aqueduct_as_a_stone_quarry)

~~~
sanoli
Huh... The Wikipedia link you provided states "Work restarted in the 19th
century and was completed, to the original plan, in 1880." So it is
technically completed, but its maintenance is now basically year-round, is
this correct?

~~~
pluma
Yeah, technically it was completed in 1880 but it was significantly damaged in
WW2[0] and the stone used to construct it doesn't deal well with environmental
factors (e.g. acidic rain and pigeon poop) so the cathedral has been
undergoing year-round maintenance ever since (if not even before WW2).

There's even a dedicated stone mason workshop beside the cathedral itself (the
"Dombauhütte", which according to its website currently employs about 60
people). They have replaced a lot of the weathered parts with more resilient
replicas. I'm not sure what they do when they have to replace entire statues
but I've heard about smaller parts being presented as a special honour to
individuals (similar to fragments of the Berlin Wall).

[0]: Aerial photographs after WW2 gave rise to the urban legend that bomber
pilots were instructed not to damage it and that it survived unscathed. Not
only was there no such order, it would have been impossible to follow given
the accuracies of bombing runs at the time. Until a decade ago there was a
large piece of brick wall covering up some of the damage from WW2. In total,
the Cathedral was hit by at least 70 bombs -- that its exterior didn't
collapse should be attributed to its skilled architects rather than well-
meaning Allied admirals or divine protection.

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stevoski
The article says the targeted completion date is 11 years away. Like almost
all long-term projects, it is likely to run much longer than expected.

I live in Barcelona, twenty minutes walk from Sagrada Familia. I enjoy
watching it ever change as the development continues. I also marvel at the
long queues of people outside of it most of the year, waiting to pay good
money to enter what is still a construction site.

~~~
webjunkie
I really liked visiting it. And also wondered about the super long queues,
when all you have to do is buy a ticket online and skip the queue entirely.

~~~
ollie87
Exactly. I visited in April and used my phone to buy a ticket while sat in the
park opposite.

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jobigoud
Brace for the 133 years construction timelapse squeezed in under three
minutes.

Thinking of it, that would also serve as a timelapse of photography technique
itself.

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f_allwein
"It’s now in the final phase, with just another 11 years until completion."

Interestingly, 11 years is the time it took to completely rebuild Frauenkirche
in Dresden (1994-2005), which had been destroyed in WWII.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dresden_Frauenkirche](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dresden_Frauenkirche)

~~~
eitally
That's incredible -- thanks for sharing! I'm amazed both at the speed and the
fact that they had the nearly 300 year old original plans.

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gjm11
I find much of what this article says about timescales confusing.

The article says the building "has entered the home stretch of construction"
but never clarifies what that actually means. Is there some important
milestone that has just been passed?

(It says "six new towers will soon be added", but surely the fact that some
new towers _are going to be added in the near future_ isn't the kind of thing
that can constitute entering the home stretch. It says the building is 70%
complete, but that doesn't seem particularly home-stretch-y for something
that's been under construction for over 130 years already.)

Other schedule-related oddities in the article: only 70% complete but 11 years
to go after 133 have passed already (this could be reasonable, if construction
is faster now than it used to be); "on track to be finished in 2026" except
that immediately afterwards it says "some decorative elements could take up to
six additional years" \-- so, er, in 2026 it will be finished apart from the
bits that aren't finished? (It's not like "decorative elements" are secondary
to the design of the Sagrada Familia.)

Anyway, regardless of when (if ever) it gets completed, the Sagrada Familia is
a glorious building even in its present construction-site state. Go see it.

~~~
moomin
I think they mean that they're now constructing the final facade (Gloria).
Equally, would mean the other three sides are now completely done.

(ps, hi gjm11, jmb29 here)

~~~
gjm11
Wikipedia (which is always right except when it's wrong) claims that
construction of the Glory facade began in 2002.

I can't escape the suspicion that they just wanted to write an article about
the Sagrada Familia (can't blame them for that) and felt that they had to come
up with some topical-sounding spin on it.

[EDITED to add:] Oh, and hi! Long time no see.

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tirant
Small but important correction, Sagrada Familia is not a Cathedral but a
Basilica.

A Cathedral hosts the seat of the bishop. Barcelona already has a Cathedral,
located in the old gothic district, between Via Laietana and Sant Jaume
Square. AFAIK there are no plans to demote the existing Gothic Cathedral.

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sixQuarks
I first visited Sagrada Familia 5 years ago and remembered it to be one of the
most amazing structures I had ever seen. But as the years passed, I wondered
if my memory was fooling me because Barcelona is a beautiful city and you can
get caught up in its ambiance.

Well, I got to visit it again last month, and it was just as amazing, if not
more so. The inside is even more impressive than the outside.

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cmarschner
It just beats me that parts of Sagrada familia were made out of concrete. Not
quite the material one would expect to last for centuries.

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vonnik
Notre Dame, in Paris, broke ground in 1163 and was finished 182 years later.
Gaudi's ahead of schedule...

