In Barcelona, on Wednesday June 10, 2026, Pope Leo XIV continues his official visit to Catalonia, which ends in the evening with a mass at the Sagrada Familia, the famous basilica of the 20th century Catalan architect, Antonio Gaudi. But above all, the pope will bless and inaugurate the last central tower of the monument: that of Jesus Christ, which makes the Sagrada Familia the tallest church in the world. A work which nevertheless remains unfinished and which RFI visited with its chief architect, Jordi Paoli.
From our special shipping to Barcelona,
Among the tourists, the discreet figure of the chief architect Jordi Fauli makes his way through the vast building. In the corridors leading to the model room, the sixty-year-old always lingers to talk to the children. “And to teenagers, he specifies. These children are the future of the Sagrada Familia. They will definitely see it finished with everything and the main staircase. »
Everything comes from Gaudi
Just 144 years after the laying of the first stone, the Sagrada Familia has reached a climax: the completion of its last central tower, that of Jesus Christ, its highest point. But it is still not finished. It is missing its last facade, that of Glory, which will be the main access, equipped with a monumental staircase. Jordi Fauli assures him, everything is indeed the fruit of the architect Antoni Gaudiwho died just 100 years ago: “In 1936, Gaudi’s studio was burned down, the plans burned and the models were destroyed into small fragments. But we recovered almost 8 000 fragments of his models, and his disciples reconstructed part of these models. »
Aware that he could never finish it, Gaudi took care to explain his project to his disciples, which was photographed and described in specialized books. But above all, he focused on the vertical construction, that of the facade of the Nativity, instead of building horizontally, as was the custom. “This is obviously a way of making the Sagrada Familia known to the whole world, because like this, with a completed facade, it left an image to be photographed, disclosed everywhere. But also, in this way, Gaudi ensured the continuity of the Sagrada Familia », said Jordi Fauli.
« A forest of columns »
« Un génie du marketing“, laughs the director architect, who continues the visit: “Let’s now enter the main nave, which Gaudi said would be like a forest. Look : a forest of columns that branch and form nodes as if they were trees. Thanks to this, there are no other structural elements on the facades, only stained glass windows for the centers and the light.“22 meter high columns which support the entire weight of the monument and have become a symbol of the work of the genius architect, explains Jordi Fauli:”When he made his last model, he said : “I’m really happy with the model of the naves, even if I’m sad, because I won’t see any part of it built.” But he knew it would be done in the future.“A project still unfinished and without a finalization date, but whose future is already written.
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