As Barcelona’s Sagrada Família enters the final stages of a construction journey spanning more than a century, Lego has announced an ambitious new tribute to the landmark: a detailed miniature version made up of 12,060 pieces.
The release forms part of Lego’s growing collection of world-famous architectural icons, which already includes models of the Eiffel Tower, the Trevi Fountain and the New York skyline.
The set was created to coincide with the centenary of the death of Antoni Gaudí, the visionary architect behind the celebrated basilica.
Standing 62 centimetres (24 inches) tall, the model recreates the world’s tallest church on a much smaller scale. The real Sagrada Família rises to 172.5 metres (566 feet) above Barcelona.
The set, priced at $799.99, is available for pre-order ahead of its official release on November 1.
One of its most distinctive features is a stained-glass effect designed to replicate the coloured light that filters through the basilica’s famous windows.
According to Lego Design Master Rok Žgalin Kobe, the aim was to honour Gaudí’s original vision while capturing the complexity and ambition of the project in a model that offers an immersive building experience.
For decades, many regarded the Sagrada Família as impossible to complete because of its intricate architecture and the loss of many of Gaudí’s plans and models during the Spanish Civil War. For generations of visitors, construction cranes became an almost permanent feature of the Barcelona skyline as work continued.
Construction of the basilica began in 1882. Gaudí later transformed the design, envisioning a monumental structure crowned by 18 towering spires representing the 12 apostles, the four evangelists, the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ.
When the architect died in 1926, only an estimated 10% to 15% of the project had been completed, including part of a transept, the crypt and sections of the apse.
Although some work remains outstanding, the basilica reached a major milestone earlier this year with the completion of the Tower of Jesus Christ, a development widely viewed as marking the symbolic completion of the structure.
Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to formally inaugurate the tower on Wednesday, exactly 100 years after Gaudí’s death.
Source: CNN
