By OSV News
BILLUND, Denmark (OSV News) — To commemorate the centennial year of the death of famed architect Antoni Gaudí, who designed Spain’s Sagrada Família basilica, The Lego Group announced June 4 the release of a new model kit of the church, calling it one of the world’s “most recognizable and ambitious” buildings.
The announcement came shortly before Pope Leo XIV was scheduled to visit the church in Barcelona June 10 to mark the anniversary of Gaudí’s death and inaugurate its recently completed tower.
The still-unfinished Basilica of the Holy Family in Barcelona has been under construction since 1882. Its central and tallest spire, the Tower of Jesus Christ, was finished in February. Its other spires each represent central figures in the Church, including the Twelve Apostles, the four evangelists and the Virgin Mary.
The original neo-Gothic design of the basilica, intended to resemble the shrine in Loreto, Italy, was altered two years after the laying of the cornerstone due to differences between Bocabella and the project’s first architect, Francisco de Paula del Villar. The project was then continued by Gaudí (1852-1926).
The Sagrada Família set — containing 12,060 separate Lego elements — is the largest Lego building set ever released, by piece count, the company said. The Lego model of Barcelona’s landmark basilica includes a stained-glass window effect, as well as other details, including its Passion facade and towers.
“We felt an immense responsibility to do justice to the Sagrada Família through this design,” Lego architecture designer Rok Žgalin Kobe said in a statement. “Our goal was to honor Gaudí’s vision with the utmost respect, capturing the rhythm of the basilica’s construction, its extraordinary complexity and ambition, and translating that into an immersive building experience.”
“This is not only the largest LEGO set ever, but a model of one of the most ambitious architectural works in the world,” Žgalin Kobe continued. “Balancing scale and precision, while remaining faithful to a living monument that has been evolving for more than a century, was a unique design challenge — and one we’re incredibly proud of.”
Over the course of his life, Gaudí came to see his architecture as an effort to bring people closer to God, according to multiple accounts of his life. His sainthood cause is underway. He was declared “Venerable” by Pope Francis in April 2025.
Lego’s Sagrada Família set is available for purchase Nov. 1 and is priced at $799.99.
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