In the works of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, ​​earlier than reaching its most peak | News from Catalonia | EUROtoday

Since final November, the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona has been the tallest church on this planet. Shortly earlier than, in August, it grew to become the tallest constructing within the metropolis. But Gaudí didn’t need a human work to surpass a creation of nature, “a work of God,” he mentioned. This is how the work approaches its most peak, with out exceeding the Montjuïc mountain, which measures 173 meters.

At 85 meters excessive, David, a French stonecutter, places the ending touches on a chunk that might be a part of the bridge that may join the tower of Jesus with that of the evangelist Luke. The stone is suspended from the crane operated by José Encina from a cabin 140 meters away. The basic supervisor of the temple works is Jaume Oromí, the director of an orchestra of about 150 employees, who likes to outline himself as “master builder.” Wearing a helmet, work denims and a short-sleeved shirt on a Tuesday in February, he walks by means of the development web site day by day, from the supplies yard at avenue degree, to the entry bridge to the crane, 131 meters away, passing by means of elevators, forklifts, stairs, openings that might be stained glass home windows, inside and exterior scaffolding, and walkways. Ensure that every part is so as and in protected circumstances. And with the peculiarity of a piece that coexists with the general public: “We always have the visitors below.”

The date of completion of the tower of Jesus, the central and tallest tower of the temple designed by Antoni Gaudí, 172.5 meters, is approaching. It might be in just a few weeks. Then the scaffolding that surrounds it, a custom-made, gale-proof construction, must be eliminated. The tower might be inaugurated on June 10, the day of the centenary of the architect’s demise, a commemoration to which the Construction Board has invited Pope Leo XIV. In 2024, the final yr for which knowledge has been printed, the Sagrada Familia was visited by 4.8 million individuals. It had revenue of 134 million, from personal sources, and 52% was allotted to the works.

Unlike most buildings, within the greater than 140 years of building, the Sagrada Familia has not grown in peak, however in phases. Before he died, Gaudí left the nativity façade very superior and completed the Barnabas tower, to indicate part of the temple and to proceed attracting donations. A century later, the advanced is virtually completed in peak: the basilica, the façades of the Birth and the Passion (with sculptures by Josep Maria Subirachs), the towers of the apostles, these of the 4 evangelists, that of Mary (inaugurated in 2021) and, nearly prepared, that of Jesus.

What stays to be completed is the inside of this tower, which might be visitable sooner or later, the Assumption chapel, roofs the place two of the three cranes now sit, a vestry and in addition the Gloria façade (with its chapels), about which there’s citizen and political controversy, as a result of the Board is decided to materialize an entry staircase that might contain demolishing residential buildings. The present mayor, Jaume Collboni, defends that, if neighbors must be relocated, it needs to be the Board that assumes the associated fee.

On the development web site, 54 meters away, on the foot of the crane that reaches 200 meters with its arms absolutely prolonged, a number of employees work on the higher piece of the cross of the tower of Jesus. They place inside marble or glass in considered one of its openings. In complete, the cross has 15,000 ceramic items, taken from 500 totally different molds and 7 shades of white. At the highest, there’s a lightning rod and a beacon, a light-weight to sign it. Much increased, at 131 meters excessive, the crane is linked by a bridge to an enormous steel ring, a lock that fixes it to the within of the central tower. Bad enterprise to have vertigo at this level. The crane driver, José Encina, waves behind the glass of the cabin.

In this work, Oromí factors out, the three cranes are an important building component to raise materials, auxiliary constructions or items of the work, the place the three most important supplies are stone, concrete and metal. The central crane, the most recent technology from the German producer Lieber, doesn’t cease. The monitoring (it even has a black field) has managed to file actions for seven and a half hours of the eight hours of the work day.

At the Sagrada Familia, the actions that permit the work to proceed are elementary. In truth, when Jaume Oromí is requested about troublesome or delicate moments, he relates exactly the meeting of the supercrane foot: a 25-meter piece needed to be raised, suspended horizontally and between the already constructed towers. They spent days calculating the operation to face any unexpected occasion. “These are moments that have no media coverage,” however that require dozens of pros, together with climbers. The basic supervisor of the works additionally remembers the Gloria storm, in 2020, with a gale that made the scaffolding whistle.

Oromí boasts of mastering the commerce “in the broadest sense.” Of having been an altar boy earlier than being a friar. At 14 he helped his father as a laborer, at 17 he labored as a trowel, he was a builder and at 36 he studied structure. “My children say that this is the icing on the cake. And it is true that the Sagrada Familia is a singular work, in the sense of the importance it has, but I like to think that they all are, because we are repositories of the trust of those who commission it from us,” he says very first thing within the supplies yard.

Their days start with “a walk through the entire work, supervising that everything is in order” and that every one security measures are complied with. In the temple there are its personal employees, employees, and firms that perform particular jobs. Logistics is vital in such a posh work and with solely two patios to retailer materials (whether or not sculptures, stone, gasoline stoves from the basilica, or umbrellas to guard vacationers). And the place, regardless of how a lot forecasts are made and maneuvers anticipated, a day of wind or heavy rain can change plans.

“Another important thing is to ensure that everything happens with the least possible conflict, the management of human relations, that it goes smoothly and with minimal friction, is essential, even if it does not appear in the reports,” emphasizes this skilled who looks as if he won’t ever lose his nerve. This Tuesday, within the supplies yard, he checks that the tools that may obtain a big steel construction carrying a truck whose strategy would require stopping site visitors for a couple of minutes is prepared. Recognize employees simply by seeing them strolling backwards.

The particular person accountable for coordinating all of the groups is a kind of who, whereas talking together with his interlocutors, doesn’t lose element of what’s occurring round him: who passes, what goes up, what goes down, what strikes. “This is a pencil that has fallen,” he clarifies when a small knock is heard. The Sagrada Familia additionally has the peculiarity that it’s beneath building whereas as much as 1,500 individuals go to it concurrently. “It makes us very aware of security: of visitors, that there are many people around” and even of what occurs exterior the fences, with cranes that transfer lots of of tons. In addition to guests who pay an entrance charge, some 18 million vacationers come annually to see it from exterior: 50,000 a day, in line with the City Council.

Oromí is 54 years outdated and the estimates of the Construction Board communicate of a minimum of one other decade of works. He would already be of retirement age, however it’s not contemplated within the strict sense. He insists on the “seriousness, rigor and maximum responsibility” with which a piece is developed “which is teamwork, where you have to have confidence in the teams and perspective, see the whole tree.” In the long run, and “for fun,” he plans to do “a doctorate in structures.”