SOMETIMES the wheels of progress turn incredibly slowly – especially when it
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comes to the construction of major buildings and infrastructure.
The good folk of New South Wales know this only too well.
The idea of building a second airport at Badgerys Creek was first announced in 1986. Three deades later we are still waiting.
And what about Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs Railway, first mooted by renowned engineer Dr John Bradfield before his crowning glory, The Sydney Harbour Bridge was built?
Work began on the railway in 1926 but it wasn’t completed until 1979.
All this pales when compared with the time it has taken to build the Basilica of La Sagrada Familia (or Holy Family) in Barcelona.
It was started 135 years ago in March of 1882, and it will be another nine before it is finally completed in 2026.
By the time it is finished it will have taken longer to build than all of Egypt’s pyramids, and just 50 years less than the 8,852km Great Wall of China.
Why? While he was alive, its Catalonian architect, Antoni Gaudi, was asked this very question.
He replied simply: “My client is not in a hurry.” His “client”, of course, was God.
Gaudi died at 74 years of age when hit by a tram in 1926, with the Basilica far from completed.
Since then builders are said to have strayed a long way from his original concept.
Most of his plans were destroyed during the 1930s Spanish Civil War, and subsequent construction has relied largely on guesswork as to what Gaudi had in mind.
But the massive building has become an iconic feature of the Barcelona skyline, and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The huge centre-piece of the church will eventually feature 18 massive spires – one for each evangelist – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John – who wrote the gospels of the Bible’s New Testament; one for each of the 12 apostles; another for the Virgin Mary and, at 170m tall, the highest and central spire, devoted to Jesus.
When finished, the giant structure will become the tallest church in the world.
It was consecrated by Pope Benedict XVI in November, 2010, in front of a congregation of 6500 people.
Another 50,000 were outside where more than 100 bishops and 300 priests offered Holy Communion to the faithful.
Today more than 3 million tourists visit La Sagrada Familia each year, as construction work goes on around them.
They are essential as they contribute €25 million ($A35 million) in entrance fees needed to finance the Basilica’s completion by 2026 – the centenary of architect Gaudi’s death.
Well, when we say completion, another four to six years of work on interior decorative features will still remain.
But as Gaudi said: “My client is not in a hurry’.
My client is not in a hurry.
- Antoni Gaudi
