Description
The Sagrada Família — the Expiatory Temple of the Holy Family in Barcelona — has been under continuous construction since 1882 and is projected for completion in 2026. Antoni Gaudí, who took over the project in 1883 and worked on it for 43 years until his death in 1926, designed the building in his characteristic organic Gothic style in which structural and decorative elements are inseparable. The Nativity Facade — the only facade completed before Gaudí’s death and therefore the only element executed directly under his supervision — is the densest concentration of religious figurative sculpture in modern architecture: over 100 carved stone figures populate the three portal arches and their surrounding naturalistic stonework of plants, animals, and architectural forms. This photograph was made from Avinguda de Gaudí at 8am — when the eastern-facing Nativity Facade receives its optimal morning illumination — using a 90mm tilt-shift lens to maintain vertical alignment.
