September 24, 2012
‘Une allégorie des sept jours de la création’
Gaudi’s architecture is one of the main draws for people visiting Barcelona. The Basilica Sagrada Familia, a magnificent Catholic church, is perhaps his most famous building.
The basilica, which is still being pieced together 130 years after construction began, was seen in a new light on Friday after being illuminated as part of the Spanish city’s Merce Festival.
The ‘Ode à la Vie’ or Ode to Life light show by Canadian company Moment Factory lit the church in a spectrum of colour, highlighting its exquisite detail and celebrating it as an icon of the city.
The projections on the facade of the Nativity of the Holy Family will be shown again tonight as part of the four-day festival, which ends tomorrow.
Despite being incomplete, the church is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was proclaimed a minor basilica by the Pope in 2010.
At the time of Gaudi’s death in 1926 the church was less than a quarter finished. The project was reliant on private donations so progression was slow. It was also interrupted by the Spanish Civil War before construction resumed in the 1950s. The basilica is expected to be complete in 2026 to coincide with the centennial of Gaudi’s death.