サグラダ・ファミリア、コロナで完成に遅れ　主任建築家の思い

【バルセロナＡＦＰ＝時事】スペイン・バルセロナを象徴する未完の巨大教会、サグラダ・ファミリア。９代目の主任建築家を務めるジョルディ・ファウリ氏（６２）は、１８８２年に着工されたこの教会が待望の完成に至るまで総指揮を担うと思われていた。（写真はスペイン・バルセロナの未完の巨大教会サグラダ・ファミリアを見上げる主任建築家ジョルディ・ファウリ氏）
　だが、約１４０年間続いてきた工事は今、新型コロナウイルスの流行に阻まれ、遅れている。完成時にファウリ氏が指揮を執っているかどうかは、もはや不確かだ。「もちろん、これからも何年もここにいたいが、それは神の御手にかかっていることですから」と笑う。
　１９９０年に地元の建築家としてチームに加わったとき、ファウリ氏はまだ３１歳だった。カタルーニャ人の天才建築家アントニ・ガウディが、１９世紀末から残り４０年余りの生涯をささげたこの最高傑作を築き始めたのと同じ年齢だった。
　「私がここに来たときは、列柱のうち立っていたのは３本だけで、高さも１０メートルしかなかったのです」。ファウリ氏は身廊のバルコニーから見下ろし説明した。「内部全体を設計し、それから聖具室、今は主要な塔と、建設を監督してこられたことは幸運でした」
　サグラダ・ファミリアは、完成すれば１８本の尖塔（せんとう）がそびえる教会となる。最も高い尖塔は高さ１７２メートルに達する予定だ。
　２番目に高い聖母マリアの塔（１３８メートル）は先ごろ完成し、昨年１２月８日、先端に設置された５．５トンの巨大な星の飾りとともにライトアップされた。尖塔の完成は１９７６年以来で、すでに完成している９本の塔の中では最も高い。

■没後１００年の完成は白紙に
　だが昨年３月、サグラダ・ファミリアは新型コロナウイルスの流行で閉鎖され、およそ１年間、その門は閉ざされたままだった。建設が中断されたのは、１９３０年代のスペイン内戦以来だ。
　建設費は主に観光客の見学料で賄われているが、コロナ危機によって大幅減収となり、目指していたガウディ没後１００年となる２０２６年の完成は不可能となった。
　ファウリ氏は「いつ完成するのか、予測できません。今後数年間でどれだけ訪問者数が回復するか、分からないからです」と語った。
　２０１２年に主任建築家に指名され、建築家７２人、建築職人１００人以上のチームを引き継いだ。今は建築家５人と建築職人約１５人が、サグラダ・ファミリアの完成に取り掛かっている。
　ガウディに一つ質問できるとしたら何を聞きたいかと尋ねると、ファウリ氏は少し考えて答えた。「この建築に込めた深い思い、目に見える形ではなく、どんな感情を伝えたかったのかを聞くでしょう」【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】

〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/01/06-11:12）

Jordi Fauli is the seventh chief architect of Barcelona's iconic Sagrada Familia since Antoni Gaudi began work on the basilica in 1883, and he had been expected to oversee its long-awaited completion.
But the pandemic has delayed efforts to finish this towering architectural masterpiece, which has been under construction for nearly 140 years, and it is no longer clear whether Fauli will still be in charge when it is finally done.
I would like to be here for many more years, of course, but that's in God's hands, says Fauli, 62, a wry smile on his lips.
He was just 31 when he joined the architectural team as a local in 1990 -- the same age as Gaudi when the innovative Catalan architect began building his greatest work in the late 19th century, a project that would take up four decades of his life.
When I arrived, only three of these columns were built and they were only 10 metres (33 feet) high, he explains from a mezzanine in the main nave.
I was lucky enough to design and see the construction of the entire interior, then the sacristy and now the main towers.
When finished, the ornate cathedral which was designed by Gaudi will have 18 towers, the tallest of which will reach 172 metres into the sky.
The second-highest tower, which is 138 metres tall and dedicated to the Virgin Mary, was officially inaugurated on Wednesday with the illumination of the gigantic 5.5-tonne star crowning its highest point.
Several thousand people attended the opening, which coincided with Immaculate Conception Day, a key Marian feast of the Catholic Church.
Pope Francis sent a video message to mark the occasion, hailing the great architect Gaudi.
It is the tallest of the nine completed towers and the first to be inaugurated since 1976.
- Construction halted by Civil War -
In 2019, the Sagrada Familia welcomed 4.7 million visitors, making it Barcelona's most visited monument.
But it was forced to close in March 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic took hold, with its doors staying shut for almost a year.
This year, there have been barely 764,000 visitors, municipal figures show.
And as entry tickets are the main source of funding for the ongoing building works, the goal of finishing the basilica by 2026 to mark the 100th anniversary of Gaudi's death -- he was run over by a tram -- has been abandoned.
We can't give any estimate as to when it will be finished because we don't know how visitor numbers will recover in the coming years, Fauli says.
It is far from the first time Gaudi's masterpiece has faced such challenges.
During the Spanish Civil War in the late 1930s, construction work stopped and many of Gaudi's design plans and models were destroyed.
For critics, this major loss means they do not view what was built later as Gaudi's work, despite the research carried out by his successors.
UNESCO, the United Nations' cultural agency, has only granted World Heritage status to the Sagrada Familia's crypt and one of its facades, both of which were built during Gaudi's lifetime.
But Fauli insists the project remains faithful to what Gaudi had planned as it is based on the meticulous study of photographs, drawings and testimony from the late Modernist architect.
- Some local opposition -
Nominated chief architect of the project in 2012, Fauli took over at the head of a team of 27 architects and more than 100 builders.
Today, there are five architects and some 16 builders working to finish the Sagrada Familia.
It is a lot of responsibility because it's an iconic project, which many people have an opinion about, says Fauli.
Building such a vast monument which draws huge numbers of visitors is not welcomed by everyone, with some arguing that the hoards of visiting tourists are destroying the area.
Many also oppose plans to build an enormous staircase leading up to the main entrance, the construction of which will involve the demolition of several buildings, forcing hundreds to relocate.
My life is here and they want to throw me out, says one sign on a balcony near the Sagrada Familia.
Fauli said he understands their concerns and wants to find fair solutions through dialogue.
And if he could ask Gaudi one question? Fauli pauses to reflect for a few moments.
I would ask him about his underlying intentions and what feelings he wanted to communicate through his architecture, he says.