Overview
Presented by Documentary Edge
The Sagrada Familia Church in Barcelona is Antoni Gaudi's most
ambitious creation. Begun in the 19th century, it is still
under construction today. Gaudi spent 43 years of his life working
on the church. When he realised it would not be completed within in
his lifetime, he left intricate design models encoded with an
ingenious geometrical system that would enable future generations
to complete it.
With Gaudi's untimely death in 1926 and the destruction of the
precious models during the Spanish Civil War, coupled with a
sculptural style of building that was utterly unique, the task of
continuing posed a daunting enigma for those who followed. No-one
understood the complex geometry needed to interpret the models and
translate them into ways of building.
In 1979, 23-year old New Zealand architect Mark Burry met two of
the directors who had worked with Gaudi and was offered the chance
to unlock the master's code. Slowly he began graphically recreating
Gaudi's plans by hand. To speed up this time-consuming
process, Burry then took the innovative step of applying
aeronautical software which transformed the long process ahead and
revealed the astonishing constructive genius of Gaudi's design.
And now this famously unfinished building is close to being
completed.
New Zealand/Australia 2009 / 52min / Spanish with English
subtitles.
Director: Polly Watkins. Producers: James Frankham, Beth Frey
Sunday 11 December - 1pm
Auditorium