Modern Technology Helps Complete a Building Designed 130 Years Ahead of its Time

Still under construction 130 years after it was designed by architect Antoni Gaudi, the Sagrada Familia is the longest running architectural project in the world. On Sunday, "60 Minutes" looked at how modern technology is aiding its completion.

March 12, 2013, 9am PDT | Jonathan Nettler | @nettsj

The effort to construct the complex and advanced vision of Antoni Gaudi was made even more difficult by the destruction during the Spanish Civil War of a set of models the architect had constructed before his death, explains Amar Toor.

However, "[u]sing advanced aeronautical design software, Mark Burry and other architects have been able to reverse engineer Gaudi's models from leftover shards. Today, Burry is among a group of architects leading construction on the church's central tower, which, when completed, will stand 566 feet above the ground, making it the tallest church on Earth."

"'We had to look to other professions who've actually tackled the complexities of the Família,' Burry told 60 Minutes. The only equivalents, he added, are the initiatives undertaken by today's car, plane, and ship designers. 'They've been grappling for decades with the very same issues that Gaudí was putting up as architectural challenges.'"

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130 years later, modern software helps complete Gaudi's architectural masterpiece

Published on Monday, March 11, 2013 in The Verge