EPIC Engineering of The World's CRAZIEST Church! Barcelona's Sagrada Familia

Thanks for watching! Get you special offer now! Pay $99, Get $400 off: bit.ly/ytTwoBitdaVinci-Feb-US

Barcelona local here. By the time those residential blocks were built nobody was expecting the basilica to be ever finished, at least in the lifespan of potential buyers. People who bought houses there have always been fully aware of the situation, only that 40 years ago it seemed such a far away in the future problem that they just did not care.

I'm from Barcelona. One thing everyone knows is that people who bought their houses in front of the Glory Façade payed a considerable amount less of what they would've paid in another residential block nearby, knowing they would need to give up their homes once the Basilica needed the field again for the staircase. Everything is written in the contracts, so whoever bought those houses knew for a fact before living there. Of course they don't want to leave, but they have to think they paid so little money compared to others who live nearby, and that this condition was specifically specified in their contracts. Now they can't complain.

One reason it took so long to build is also that it is funded exclusively by donations, and lately by tourists. So a lot of the time, the issue was simply that there was no money to continue. Now it has so many tourists paying to see it, it is advancing pretty fast.

A few corrections: the Sagrada Familia is not a cathedral, but a basilica. 08:21. The evangelists are Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. 10:26. Buttresses normally do not support the roofs, but the vaults. Wooden roofs have normally horizontal wooden beams that take care of the horizontal forces, but vaults do not have these, and the buttresses or flying buttresses have to counteract the horizontal forces caused by the vaults.

Fun fact : in 1881 that place wasn't still Barcelona, it was a small Village called Sant Martí de Provençals.

Ricky, sorry for a long write-up but as you will read on it will make sense. I moved to Barcelona from NC back in 1989 for a 3-5 yr job which ended in my finally retiring here after falling in love with Spain, Barcelona and lifestyle. As usual, I went to Sagrada Familia in back then for the first time and was thoroughly impressed but it was still just a shadow of what it is today. Back then, and looking at how little it had advanced throughout the years, I thought it would take at least another 50 years. I remember my wife and kids going up the towers by the circular staircase, I refused, and they told me about the broken glass that is cemented in the top of the towers to reflect different colors - talk about designing detail few would ever see. Every to time friends from visit it is an imperative to visit Sagrada Familia and I see the progress which has been impressive. The construction has been advancing and I do believe that they will meet the timetable of for Gaudí's 100 yr death anniversary. When you talk about the inverted structural sand analysis it reminds me of my first thoughts upon seeing it. As a civil engineer, although never actually worked as as one, it reminded me of the structural classes with vectors which are a very graphic way of designing relatively simple structures but in this case taken to an unbelievable level. As a final note on Gaudi may I say that Gaudi was a genius and the only architect I know that when you see a building he designed you can immediately say THIS IS A GAUDI. There are 2 in Paseo de Gracia Avenue in Barcelona, Casa Batlló and La Pedrera, as well as Parque Guell which are worth a visit. I never forget a company Christmas dinner we had in Casa Batlló where you could see the detail even in the individual doors/frames to the apartments which are just unbelievable. I also remember seeing on visiting Leon where immediately remarked this is a Gaudi. Lots of respect to the man's genius.

As someone born in the USA and never being able to travel abroad until just a few years ago, pictures never do the European cathedrals justice. I am not a religious person but I can understand why someone would be after visiting a few for myself. They are truly awe inspiring. Adding the Sagrada Familia to my bucket list. Thanks!

My wife burst into tears as we got off the bus, and we had to duck into the McDonald's across the street (20 some years ago.) Visiting the basilica had been life long dream for both of us. She was so emotional that she couldn't even look up at the basilica for a few minutes. We had some lunch and she regained her composure. I smiled, thinking I was was unaffected, and walked her over to visit. We entered and started the tour. There was a place in the basement where Gaudy had his work table and a cot to sleep on because once work commenced he was so devoted that he often ate and slept there. There was a rough cloth bag hanging on a rope, and the tour guide explained that he hung his lunch like that to keep the RATS from getting into it. That is when I completely lost it and burst into tears myself, realizing that this man was so devoted to his project that he worked, ate, and slept where rats might eat his lunch just so he could be there at all times. My eyes still burn and water when I think of it today, so many years later. Edited to add: Oh! And once we had started to digest it and calm down, we went out through the doors on the side where Gaudy himself designed to facade, and were amazed at the sensation of doves taking flight, carved in stone and discolored with time, but so lifelike you could imagine the sound of their wings.

The hanging model is one of the most amazing techniques i have seen. I study construction engineering and can only imagine the absolute headache if calculating the statics for those columns. Gaudí was truly a genius

What a revelation, the hanging models. Really blew my mind!

I visited Sagrada Familia about 4 years ago and was fascinating. This architecture is mind boggling. You must take an elevator to the top of a spire and walk down the stairs.

I visited six years ago. Setting foot inside the Sagrada feels like being transported into some kind of mythical fantasy land. Something that has to be experienced in person to fully understand. It's an amazing blend of outside the box architecture and modern art that was ahead of its time. Great storytelling in regards to Gaudi as I was not aware of much of his bio. If I had one very very minor critique of this video it's that the end of the video didn't live up to the rest of the video especially the beginning. The beginning starts with a beautifully panned shot accompanied by charming music while the end features the host trying to talk over traffic and feels more like I watched the end of a vlog rather than a documentary. I realize that's a totally subjective opinion but I still give this video an A+ because the overall quality and thought put in are top notch like every TBDV video.

This video needs a part II. So much to talk about in greater detail.

Hi, very interesting video, i can add few things o it, I am originally from Barcelona, the design of the interior is an amazing achievement of engineering, as you mentioned one of the challenges they faced is how to design the inside columns they have to support the towers on top, they are critical and they are like tree branches, so not conventional. I was at uni in Barcelona studyung enginnering during the 90s, one of my teachers (from the structural engineering department), talked us about the Sagrada Familia design big challenges, as you mentioned, the main problem was there were no indications from Gaudi, the technical people in charge were not able to calculate the column sections specially to design the point where the "tree branches" join at the top of the vertical coulmns, they knew the theory and they had the equations, but computers were not powerful enough, that started to change during the late 80s and 1990s, when the computing power was good enough to make these calculations and to complete the necessary stress simultaions on a reasonable time. The big reason building the temple is taking that long is financial, the temple can only be paid through donations, that meant progress was slow, you need a lot of money to build such a temple, but when lots of tourists started visiting the temple they had the idea of making part of the ticket price to be a "donation", thanks to this trick and the millions of people visiting the temple now they have enough cash to finish it. The bulidings on the sides that will have to be demolished they were not supposed to be there, Gaudi left very clear instructions that these parcels were for the temple, but thanks to what can be called as pure greed and corruption these buildings were allowed to be build during the 60s, they though it would take 100 years+ to build the temple, so once the time comes in 100 years that will be somebody elses problem, but surprise, it did not take 100 years+, so now the people living there now have a huge problem

Totally true. From far away, one of the facades looks like someone had tossed and splattered clay on it, or like someone had put a hose on a flat and raw clay surface. But when you see just how rich and full of detail it is from up close, it's truly amazing

The Hanging Chain Models 🤯🤯🤯

Great vid, thanks. Minor correction about the 4 central towers. They ARE for the four evangelists, but the four evangelists (writers of the 4 gospels) are Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. I am so glad the work on the cathedral is progressing. There have been times when there was doubt about whether or not that would happen.

I went there recently, and this place is amazing with all the colors inside. Another interesting point with the hanging models was he placed mirrors below to invert it so he could visualize what it would look like when it was complete. Super cool place along with all the other buildings he built in the area. We loved Barcelona!

I have visited Barcelona and the Sagrada Familia twice. It is without doubt one of the most incredible cities and places I have ever been to. I hope you managed to visit Parc Guell and also the covered market on La Ramblas.