The moving of Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia Parish School in Barcelona

Abstract

The Sagrada Familia or Holy Family School was built by Gaudi in 1909 at the foot of the Templo Expiatorio de la Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. The building was only intented to be a provisional structure within the parish grounds though it now obstructs the normal expansion of the Expiatory Temple and it is, subsequently, necessary to demolish or move the building.
The building is some 24m long, 12m wide and 6m high with both walls and roof being built entirely in brick.
The unique nature of this building lies in the slender 2 leaf brick walls with the bricks set on their header face, bed side outward, creating an undulating façade which gives the wall the stiffness and stability to support the weight of the wavy roof of the same thickness as the wall.
The proposal presented for the movement of the building is simple, safe, economic and original and will provide a new location and use which will set off the building in the surroundings of the Sagrada Familia so that it may be visually appreciated and functionally employed as a “jewel of Modernist Catalan Architecture”.
In order to move the building the BUILDING TRANSFER AND RELOCATION SYSTEM has been invented and is described in this presentation.