Cathedral dream nearing reality thanks to computer software

BARCELONA - Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi's unfinished Sagrada Familia cathedral is nearing completion with the help of software from France's Dassault and IBM.

For almost 80 years, craftsmen have been working to complete the elaborate Catalan cathedral by painstakingly copying models made before Gaudi's death.

Now the Sagrada Familia Foundation, a body that has been working on the cathedral since Gaudi's death in 1926, is using software to make virtual replicas of the models and plan out the work needed to finish the cathedral.

Spanish company gedas then integrates the computer-generated designs into the physical building process.

"There are still a number of challenges to overcome, and we have not yet found answers to all of Gaudi's ideas, for instance the cross that will be installed at the top of the cathedral," said Jordi Bonet i Armengol, foundation head.

"It will probably take us another 20 years to get to that stage but I am sure the technologies we are using from IBM, Dassault and gedas are helping us make faster progress in the project."

- REUTERS