00:00There are projects that defy time, and then there is the Sagrada Familia.
00:05In the heart of Barcelona, Antony Gaudi's masterpiece is nearing completion
00:09after more than 140 years of construction,
00:13a miracle that coincides with the centennial of the brilliant architect's death.
00:19Using a modular system, a puzzle of stone and steel is assembled,
00:24held together by 24 metric tons of adhesive developed by Hinkle.
00:29Begoña Cantera, the engineer in charge of the project,
00:32points out that thanks to this adhesive, construction of the Sagrada Familia
00:37has been accelerated by about 50 years,
00:40a half-century's head start thanks to a reason that absorbs moisture,
00:45sea salt and subway vibrations without cracking.
00:48We've been working on the process of using an adhesive to join the stone,
00:54pero la piedra en la construcción de los paneles modulares que recibe su Sagrada Familia.
01:01Its mystique evokes an interior forest bathed in light from the stained-glass windows.
01:07The basilica also holds secrets that inspired everyone from the stormtroopers,
01:13the imperial soldiers of Star Wars, to Gaudi himself, who is also depicted on the facade.
01:18Although he never lived to see his masterpiece completed, he rests in its crypt for eternity.
01:24On the passion facade, you can see an unconventional depiction of Christ,
01:28whose head is a book, a gateway to knowledge.
01:31After Gaudi's death, a line of architects took up the torch.
01:35In recent years, led by Geordi Fowli,
01:38they have faced the greatest structural challenge, erecting the central towers.
01:42Faouli recalls that the master knew his work would be completed, using the technology of the future.
01:48We've built the central towers with the technique, which maybe for 75 years it was not possible,
01:55but now it is, of cutting large panels of steel with invisible bars in the interior.
02:02And this technique we will use in the campanaries of the fachada of the Gloria,
02:07and maybe also in some of the columns.
02:09The Tower of Jesus now crowns the sky at 172 metres,
02:14making the basilica the tallest church in the world.
02:18The Cielo of Barcelona has already been built.
02:20The Jesus Christ Tower, the highest of the sacred family,
02:22recently blessed by the Pope León XIV on his trip to Spain,
02:26is protected by the city of Condal.
02:27The great secret of the tower is not only the stone, but the chemistry.
02:30A innovative patent of loctite adhesive is the molecular link that unites these tons of structures.
02:35Engineering at the highest level applied to the art of Gaudi.
02:38Maria Muñoz Morillo, Barcelona, para Euronews.
