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Primary sourceArtifactbegun 1882, redesigned by Gaudí from 1883, still under construction

Sagrada Família

Antoni Gaudí · begun 1882, redesigned by Gaudí from 1883, still under construction

Barcelona's great unfinished basilica, redesigned by Gaudí in 1883 and still under construction, which he made his life's work until his death.

Gaudí redesigned and devoted the rest of his life to this basilica, where he is buried.

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View of the Sagrada Família basilica in Barcelona from across a green pond. Tall, spired towers with ornate stone carvings rise above a facade with pointed gables. Cranes stand beside the towers, and trees and apartment buildings surround the site under a partly cloudy blue sky.
Antoni Gaudí (architect from 1883), Sagrada Família, begun 1882. Barcelona, Spain.

About this source

What it is

The Sagrada Família is a Catholic basilica in Barcelona, begun in 1882 to a Gothic-revival design by Francisco de Paula del Villar. In 1883 Antoni Gaudí took over as architect and transformed the plan, combining Gothic and curving Art Nouveau forms. He worked on it until his death in 1926, by which time less than a quarter was finished, and he is buried in its crypt.

Why it matters

The building shows how Gaudí fused structural engineering with Catholic symbolism and natural forms. It also reveals how fragile his legacy was: during the Spanish Civil War, fire destroyed many of his original models and plans, and later architects had to rebuild his ideas from what survived. Construction has continued for over a century, funded entirely by donations.

Look closer

  • What parts of the design look inspired by nature rather than traditional church architecture?
  • Why might a building take more than a century to complete?
  • What does the destruction of Gaudí's plans in 1936 tell us about how fragile historical records can be?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Antonio Gaudí on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Antoni Gaudí · 1883-1885

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