Landmark ceremony coincides with centenary of Gaudi’s death

Pope Leo XIV has presided over the main ceremony to mark the inauguration of the Tower of Jesus Christ at the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, at an event coinciding with the centennial of Antoni Gaudí’s death. In 2014, with the building 60% complete, the Sagrada Família Foundation approached Tenderstream member Arup to help with the remaining structural design, particularly how to produce the remaining six towers. Fellow Tenderstream member IDOM has collaborated with the construction board since 2024 on the strategic planning and technical assistance necessary to reach this project's most important milestones, supporting a process of technical, symbolic, and logistical complexity. 

The Arup team were aware that the towers, built in traditional masonry or earthquake resistant reinforced concrete with stone cladding, would make the towers too heavy for the foundations and crypt below. Arup developed a scheme using the stone itself as structure, reducing the weight of the tower by a factor of two. Pre-stressed stone masonry panels as the primary structural element provide greater strength to the panels, allowing them to be accurately fabricated remotely, transported to site, and easily assembled on site by crane.

A new generation of digital tools were used to produce workable structural designs, in an approach combining deep human knowledge of the structural variables in the towers’ form and position, with powerful algorithmic tools that could model the hundreds of subtle variations of geometries for the design. Each component was modelled in 3D to a construction level of detail, with carefully designed connections ensuring that when panels are craned into place, they fit together like Lego blocks, without further adjustment. 

Jordi Faulí, Architectural Director for the Sagrada Família Foundation, stated: “The work of the Arup team has allowed us to build the central towers with the innovative technique of prestressed stone. We value their rigour and the research for the most effective, clear and simple solutions.” 

Lucy Nordberg
Tenderstream Head of Research

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