Controversy yet again surrounds Sagrada Familia

Controversy yet again surrounds the Sagrada Familia, Gaudi’s last great work. The building has been fitted with a number of stained glass windows created by Vila Grau, one of Spain’s top artists in this field. The work of the resurrection is being criticised as being too modern and not in line with Gaudi’s .

Controversy has always surrounded the Sagrada Familia. One of the fiercest protectors of Gaudi’s legacy is Spaniard Oriol Bohigas who will be remembered for his Olympic architecture for the Barcelona Olympics. He is a long time collaborator of English architect David Mackay, they both believe that the Sagrada should have been left as it was when Gaudi died and they do not approve of the plans to finish it. Using computers to recreate the intricate geometric shapes so loved by Gaudi, it is hoped that the building can be completed in 2020.

Good news for the project is that du-ring the year of Gaudi (2002), “El ano de Gaudi”, tourists flocked to the site. Numbers have been going up every year but last year was a particularly busy one.

This is important as the work on the building is largely funded by paying visitors. The year of celebration was to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Gaudi’s birth. The building was started 120 years ago, although commissioned to design the building in 1883, only the crypt, the apse and one tower were completed during Gaudi’s lifetime. A deeply religious man, Gaudi stopped doing any other work to live in a cluttered workshop on the building site of the Sagrada.

After his tragic death in a tram accident in 1926, more towers were added but during the Spanish civil war anti- clerical mobs burnt his documents and drawings. The building did not restart until 1954. As the controversy continues Gaudi has many supporters as “God’s architect” and moves are afoot to beatify him. Perhaps he will become the patron saint of tourism as his buil-dings have become the symbol of Barcelona and in no small way contributed to the enormous increase in tourism to the city