The 12,000 piece Sagrada Familia set – credit, LEGO
This year will see the Sagrada Familia basilica finally finished in Barcelona, on the 100th anniversary of the death of its charismatic architect, no less.
It will also mark the release of LEGO’s largest entry in its architecture series: the Sagrada Familia.
From New York City’s skyline to the Eiffel Tower and Rome’s Trevi Fountain, the architecture series was part of a very successful swerve towards addressing adult buyers of LEGO, and now the series will mark 100 years since Antoni Gaudi’s death with a faithful interpretation of the world’s tallest and newest basilica in the famous plastic bricks.
The model stands 24 inches tall, and contains 12,060 pieces. Like all LEGO sets, it carries a hefty price tag—this one reads $800.
“Our goal was to honor Gaudí’s vision with the utmost respect, capturing the rhythm of the basilica’s construction, its extraordinary complexity and ambition, and translating that into an immersive building experience,” Lego’s Design Master, Rok Žgalin Kobe, said in a press statement published Thursday.
The interior atmosphere of the basilica is captured with transparent bricks, allowing light to filter into the LEGO set just like the real thing.
– credit, LEGO
Also like the real thing, enthusiasts will have to wait until November to get their hands on the set, as guests to Barcelona will have to wait until November 10th for the public opening.
Construction began on the Sagrada Familia in 1882 under the direction of Antoni Gaudi, who designed 18 tall spindly towers to rise up higher than any church in Europe. Gaudi’s plans were lost after his death in 1926, and construction had to continue in a makeshift interpretation through the Spanish Civil War.
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It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984, despite being more than 40 years from completion. In 2010, Pope Benedict XVI consecrated the building for worship, while building permission for the structure was officially issued in 2016, having been carried out illegally, albeit unknowingly so, for over 100 years.
In February of this year, it was considered complete when the final tower—honoring Jesus Christ with a 4-armed cross, was completed, and the inaugural mass was held.
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