acm-header
Sign In

Communications of the ACM

News

A Model Restoration


Sagrada Familia of Barcelona at night

Credit: Getty Images

Glancing at Barcelona's still-unfinished Sagrada Família Roman Catholic basilica, with its famous sandcastle-like exterior, it is easy to get the wrong idea about its architect, Antoni Gaudí, as a carefree, loosey-goosey artist. The whimsical exterior hides a geometrically sophisticated, structurally advanced design—a big part of the reason this grand basilica, begun in 1882, has taken so many decades to build, remaining the world's longest-running ongoing architectural project.

This complexity required an utterly different approach to modeling than what architects had typically deployed. Instead of using two-dimensional drawings to guide builders, Gaudí relied heavily on large, high-fidelity plaster models—models that needed to be reverse engineered and rebuilt after extensive damage during the Spanish Civil War. In a separate project, Gaudí pioneered the use of hanging-chain models that enable changes in real time; though he did not use these interactive models on the Sagrada Família, they guided his thinking and prefigured the so-called parametric design software that has been instrumental to the acceleration of the project's pace in recent years.


 

No entries found

Log in to Read the Full Article

Sign In

Sign in using your ACM Web Account username and password to access premium content if you are an ACM member, Communications subscriber or Digital Library subscriber.

Need Access?

Please select one of the options below for access to premium content and features.

Create a Web Account

If you are already an ACM member, Communications subscriber, or Digital Library subscriber, please set up a web account to access premium content on this site.

Join the ACM

Become a member to take full advantage of ACM's outstanding computing information resources, networking opportunities, and other benefits.
  

Subscribe to Communications of the ACM Magazine

Get full access to 50+ years of CACM content and receive the print version of the magazine monthly.

Purchase the Article

Non-members can purchase this article or a copy of the magazine in which it appears.
Sign In for Full Access
» Forgot Password? » Create an ACM Web Account