How Antoni Gaudí became God’s architect

Gaudí: God’s architect
Heart and Soul

In one of his final official acts before he died, Pope Francis put Antoni Gaudí, Spain’s most famous architect, onto the path to sainthood.

Gaudí’s masterpiece, the Sagrada Familia, is a towering basilica, strangely designed and bursting with colour. It stands in the heart of Barcelona and its walls recount the entire story of the Catholic religion. After 140 years, having survived wars, arson attacks and dictatorship, it is still under construction. As Gaudí worked on it throughout his life, he became obsessive and it intensified his devotion. By the end of his life he was living like a monk.

Today, millions come every year to see his work. Some have been so affected by his art and approach they have converted to Catholicism. The process to confirm Gaudí as a saint is secretive and potentially long. But for the creator of the world’s longest ongoing construction, there’s no rush.

The BBC’s Max Horberry has been to Barcelona to see Gaudí’s work and speak to the people who have been working to finish the Sagrada Familia and campaigning for Gaudí’s sainthood. We will find out more about the path to sainthood and how architecture, nature and religion intertwine in Gaudí’s life.

[Credit: Fundació Junta Constructora del Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família]

Producer/Presenter: Max Horberry
Executive Producer: Rajeev Gupta
Editor: Chloe Walker
Production Coordinator: Mica Nepomuceno

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Source: BBC World Service – Heart and Soul, Gaudí: God’s architect