Signed by
Antoni Gaudí , the
Sagrada Família , a monumental church in Barcelona, Spain, began construction in 1882 and already has a completion date:
2026 , one hundred years after Gaudí's death. "The Chapel of the Assumption is expected to be completed in 2025 and the tower of Jesus Christ in 2026," the Sagrada Familia Foundation told the CNN news website.
In recent years, the speed of construction has increased thanks to the addition of engineering firm Arup, called in to help reduce the weight of one of its many colossal elements.
When Gaudí died,
less than a quarter of the work was estimated to be complete. The pace of construction slowed due to lack of funding and was then halted completely by the Spanish Civil War, when most of the architect's original plans were lost. The current design is based on blueprints and models.
