Remodeling Hell

In late February, construction finished on the tallest spire of the Sagrada Familia church in Barcelona, Spain. 

It only took 144 years but construction is still not complete.

I know that Rome was not built in a day, but this is a bit much. 

The final piece of the central tower of Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia has been laid in place, bringing the church to its maximum final height 144 years after work began.

After several days when it has been too windy to work, the upper section of the 17 metre-high four-sided steel and glass cross was winched into position at 11am on Friday, completing the tower dedicated to Jesus Christ. At 172.5 metres, the Sagrada Familia, to which the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí devoted the later part of his life, is Barcelona’s tallest building and the world’s tallest church.

It looks like another 10 years of construction hell for the Catalonian capitol. 

………

The end to the building at the church is expected in about a decade with the construction of a striking south-facing facade.

It was nevertheless a day full of emotion for a city that has lived with Gaudí’s unfinished work for generations and, although there remains much work to do, the temple now defines the Barcelona skyline as much as the Eiffel tower in Paris or the Empire State building in New York.