Spain - Sagrada Família

The Sagrada Família is sometimes known as the unfinished church. Designed by Antoni Gaudi, a Catalan architect born in the mid-1800's This church building was begin in 1882 by another architect. Only one year into the construction, Guaid was asked to finish the church. Guaid devoted the rest of his life to this church which was only about 1/4 complete upon his death. Thanks to his models and plans, the church has slowly been worked on through donations.

Gaudi preferred models to drawings and created a model of this church currently housed in the basement. He believed God's creations were the basis of life and as such, used gravity to design the church structure. Using a complex system of strings and weights, he created a model of this church upside down. The curvature of the towers and arches in this building are the result of gravity pulling on the weights and strings, turning the measurements right-side up to build. He used color in addition to architectural details and the windows bathe the inside with difference colors depending on where the sun is at any given moment. The Sagrada Família is truly a unique piece of history.