View of Sagrada Familia from the completed 'skydeck'
Sagrada Familia: A New Urban Anchor
The iconic Sagrada Familia basilica located in Catalonia's Barcelona, remains world renowned as a local and global architectural masterpiece. The idea of an 'anchor' is a bridge between architecture and urban planning which presently does not exist at the site of the Sagrada Familia. With increasing tourism along with the tentative completion of the project in 2026, the site of the basilica has become incredibly contested to local citizens as existing infrastructure does not accommodate the millions of people who visit each year.
This conceptual project study looks to design and formalize an 'anchor' for Sagrada Familia to the greater Barcelona with the introduction of an Antonio Gaudi Museum and new urban design for the city.
In a two-phase project proposal, an axial connection with Carrer de la Marina connects a tentative new underground museum with the future new tram station as a spatial relationship reminiscent of Gaudi's original 'star plan' for the city. This new facility will provide public space for ticketing, galleries, public events, and artifacts reducing the traffic impacts that pedestrian overcrowding causes in the area. Thus, both vertical and horizontal connections create the larger anchor to the city.
The final concept creates an elevated 'Skydeck' with accompanying new train station and Antonio Gaudi Museum in accordance with the future expansion of the Avenue Diagonal tram connection. This train will run two blocks away from Sagrada Familia and connects tourists, locals, and citizens alike to many destinations throughout the city. Presently, the train does not service this area of Barcelona which impacts access to the Cathedral and surrounding locals. The 'Skydeck' creates a new place relative to Sagrada Familia. For an entirely different viewing experience, the Skydeck will create an additional public viewing and destination for visitors and local citizens as well as alleviate transport and overcrowding issues. The concept is reminiscent of other examples of the Gaudi's thoughtfulness to viewing details on other work throughout the city.
work completed with partner: Zimo Ren
Diagram depicting locations of the new Gaudi musuem and Skydeck/train station (Red) in relationship to the Sagrada Familia and Gaudi's original star plan concept (gray) Dashed line indicates the future expansion of the tram line while transparent red forms indicate existing green space in the neighborhood.
Red outlines indicate future location of the new train station and the sky deck in reltionship to Sagrada Familia
Some Images used from the film "The Birds" Alfred Hitchcock
