Gaudi Unseen

Around two million people annually visit Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi's unfinished gesamkunstwerk, La Sagrada Familia--a massive church in Barcelona, which was begun in 1883. Since many of Gaudi's plans for the structure were destroyed during the Spanish Civil War, teams of architects have been continually tinkering with the elusive structure since his death in 1926. Because Gaudi seemingly didn't use regular or repeating forms--relying instead on color, light and organic sculptural motifs--architects working on the completion of La Sagrada Familia have faced a host of daunting design problems. In the 1980s, New Zealand architect Mark Burry began using computer-aided design to piece together the missing parts--but traditional architectural software doesn't translate Gaudi's off-beat forms, so Burry applied aeronautical design software to the problem. Though slated for completion by 2007, the building is still very much under construction--the completion date having been pushed back many times. As the structure is dedicated to the holy family, Gaudi would often joke, The patron of this project is not in a hurry. Gaudi Unseen offers a behind-the-scenes look at this hundred-year-long architectural drama.

The city of Barcelona is unique in its possession of a church that is taking as long to complete as a Gothic cathedral. It is the creation of Antoni Gaudi, the architect of the fantastic. In this companion book to a 2007 Frankfort exhibition of Gaudi's designs and buildings, curator Mark Burry presents various aspects of Gaudi, from his use of geometry to how he was influenced by Mayan art as well as the natural world. Lavishly illustrated with hundreds of color photos and diagrams, most of the Sagrada Familia, with this book the reader/viewer is immersed in the opulence of Gaudi's imagination. Computer graphics created from studies of models made by Gaudi allow us to visualize the completed church. Distributed by Distributed Art Publishers. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Text by Mark Burry, Jordi Bonet i Armengol, Jos Tomlow, Joan Bassegoda i Nonell et al.