© Richard HuangToday in Barcelona, we visited a world-famous unfinished building: the Basilica of La Sagrada Família, designed by Antoni Gaudí. It is the only World Heritage Site still under construction. Work began in 1882, yet 140 years later it remains unfinished. The authorities hoped to complete it in 2026, marking the centenary of this singular genius’s death, but delays caused by the pandemic will, by all accounts, probably put that goal out of reach.
There are many reasons it has taken so long. To begin with, Gaudí regarded the church as an offering to God and was willing to spend as much time as necessary perfecting every detail. He famously said, “My client”—meaning God—“is in no hurry.” Tragically, Gaudí was struck and killed by a tram in 1926. Since he left no complete set of plans, those who came after him have been unable to fully reconstruct his design or finish the building, even with computers, 3D printing, and other advanced technologies. Shortages of funds and the upheavals of war also played their part. In my view, the laziness and clumsiness of modern people, their lack of ambition, and excessive commercialization may be factors as well.
© InternetLa Sagrada Família is Barcelona’s most popular attraction, receiving more than three million visitors a year. We had booked our tickets online in advance. On the taxi ride there, the driver said, “Gaudí—Gaudí everywhere. Barcelona is Gaudí’s city.” He was right. Most of our other plans in Barcelona also revolved around Gaudí’s architecture: Casa Milà, Casa Batlló, Park Güell, and more.
(The computer rendering above comes from the internet.) Once the church is complete, it will have eighteen spires, representing the twelve apostles, the four Evangelists, the Virgin Mary, and Jesus.
© Richard HuangAt last, we stood before this strange and marvellous building. It has three façades: the weathered one on the left represents the Nativity; the façade at the back represents the Passion; and a third represents Glory—together symbolizing three stages in the life of Jesus. A closer look reveals that the left and right sides do not quite match, either in materials or in style. The Nativity façade on the left was the first to be completed. Inlaid with exquisite sculpture, it bears the unmistakable weight of history. The right side is newer and more modern, untouched by time. I cannot help thinking that preserving the original as it was, incomplete though it might be, would have been better than the stylistic hybrid we see today.
Many experts and scholars hold similar views. Manuel Vicent, a columnist for the Madrid daily El País, has said, “The beauty of La Sagrada Família lies in the fact that it remains unfinished.” Critics also argue that Gaudí would never have used the modern building materials employed today.
© InternetThe Nativity façade on the eastern side is covered with an immense ensemble of vivid reliefs, recounting in loving detail the story of Jesus’s birth and childhood.
© Richard HuangThis façade represents Jesus’s entrance into the world. Below is one small detail from the vast sculptural ensemble, depicting God blessing and crowning the Virgin Mary.
© Richard HuangAbove the Nativity façade rises an enormous sculpted cypress tree, symbolizing eternal life. White doves perch among its branches, representing the souls of the faithful entering heaven. The composition is a symbol of the Holy Trinity.
© Richard HuangAlongside the sculpted doves, living ones come and go. The still and the animate mingle until reality itself seems uncertain, as though we have stepped into a fantasy world. This small detail depicts the Three Wise Men arriving to worship the infant Jesus and presenting gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
© Richard HuangColourful soap bubbles, sold at the tourist site for children to play with, rise among the reliefs, drift through the air, and burst. The strange building is reflected in their shimmering skins.
© Richard HuangWe followed the bubbles into this fantastical building to see what lay within. The first things to catch our eyes were its extraordinary columns and vaults.
© Richard HuangThe church is designed as a forest of columns, some rising as high as twenty-one metres. Their upper sections branch out to bear the weight above, making each column resemble a tree and the whole interior a forest. Natural light streams through the enormous windows; walking among the columns feels like walking through the natural world.
© Richard HuangLooking up, we saw the ceiling above the altar. A thicket of interlacing branches reaches towards it, forming a wondrous composition with the patterns overhead—something like a scene glimpsed through a kaleidoscope.
© Richard HuangThis is the ceiling of the nave. The columns’ ever-changing surface textures are created by combining a variety of geometric forms. The base of a single column is square; as it rises, it becomes octagonal, then hexagonal, and finally circular. Gaudí believed that “the straight line belongs to man; the curve belongs to God.” This is how I understand it: everything in nature is curved, apart from light, while straight lines are largely human creations. Since God created nature, curves belong to God. It is said that every column, doorframe, window frame, and corner line in La Sagrada Família is curved.
© Richard HuangBecause our tickets included a tower visit, we had to go up at our reserved time before seeing the rest of the church. Two towers are currently open to visitors: the Nativity Tower and the Passion Tower, each offering a different view. We chose the Nativity Tower. A lift carried us directly to the top, where we found ourselves atop the world’s second-tallest religious building. Besides examining some of the sculptures at close range, we could take in Barcelona’s cityscape, with mountains and sea in the distance.
© Richard HuangA tower visit also offers a view of the ongoing construction: rough workmanship and a chaotic building site. No wonder they have been at it so long and still cannot finish.
© Richard HuangAfter touring the tower, we discovered that the lift does not take passengers down. We had to descend on foot along a narrow spiral staircase—an interesting experience in itself.
© Richard HuangBack on the ground, our attention was drawn to the enormous stained-glass windows all around us. Each is a mosaic assembled from pieces of coloured glass. The colours shift from warm to cool, symbolizing the passage from day to night.
© Richard HuangNatural light passes through the stained glass and illuminates the church, falling across its distinctive interior structures to create an otherworldly play of light and shadow.
© Richard HuangWith enormous windows on every side, the interior feels as though it is surrounded by giant softboxes. The light is gentle and comfortable—ideal for portrait photography.
© Richard HuangOpinions differ on the best time to visit. We chose the afternoon, when the last rays of the setting sun passed through the warm-coloured windows and filled the interior with warmth. Some people online say the colours are especially beautiful in the morning. My guess is that every hour brings its own splendour.
© Richard HuangA church is meant to cleanse the spirit. Yet La Sagrada Família is now crowded everywhere with visitors, bustling more like a place to check off a tourist list. Its function as a church has been greatly diminished. Only in a few secluded corners can one recover a moment of peace.
© Richard HuangLeaving the main hall, we came to the doors of the Passion façade, known as the Gospel Doors. They are carved with passages from the New Testament; the name of Jesus and the small square beside it have been rubbed to a golden shine by visitors’ hands.
© InternetThe Passion façade was designed and created by the contemporary Barcelona sculptor Josep Maria Subirachs (1927–2014). He is regarded as one of Spain’s most influential artists after Picasso, Dalí, Gaudí, and Miró. Its sculptural ensemble depicts the stages of Christ’s Passion.
© Richard HuangThis small detail depicts the Crucifixion of Jesus.
© Richard HuangA living pigeon perches on the Veil of Veronica. According to the story, as Jesus was being led to his execution, a woman named Veronica used her veil to wipe the sweat from his face. Many legends surround this compassionate woman; here, Subirachs portrays her without a face, conveying her legendary and elusive identity.
© Richard HuangWe continued looking around the church’s exterior, though I could not tell whether this was the Glory façade. Probably not: the Glory façade, we were told, has yet to be completed.
© Richard HuangOur visit was nearly over. As we emerged, colourful soap bubbles were still rising among the reliefs, drifting through the air, and bursting. But something had changed: after two hours inside, we now had a tangible sense of what La Sagrada Família truly was.
© Richard HuangThis great work is the crowning achievement of Gaudí and the craftspeople of his age: a celebration of imagination, a pursuit of mastery, a hymn to nature, and an expression of religious devotion. Nothing like it had come before, and nothing like it will come again. It is truly breathtaking. Yet the modern additions diminish its beauty. They feel driven by haste and expediency—ill-digested and out of keeping with the whole. Of La Sagrada Família’s three façades, the Nativity and Passion façades celebrate the Saviour’s arrival in the world and his attempt to redeem humanity through suffering. The absence of the Glory façade, however, seems to imply that humanity has failed to accept that glory. What awaits us may instead be the decay before our eyes, a vision of a world nearing its end…