LATEST NEWS (4TH JUNE 2010): THE SAGRADA FAMILIA ARCHITECT SEEKS TO HALT THE BUILDING WORKS FOLLOWING THE UNESCO REPORT

Warning that the route is even worse for La Pedrera, with “much weaker” foundations

The chief architect of the Sagrada Família, Jordi Bonet, today called for the Ministry of Public Works to halt the AVE works around the temple to avoid damage to Gaudí’s work.

The chief architect of the Sagrada Família, Jordi Bonet, today called for the Ministry of Public Works to halt the AVE works around the temple to avoid damage to Gaudí’s work.

He made these statements to Europa Press upon reading the report from Unesco experts which advises a modification in the route of the tunnel that passes close to the Sagrada Familia and La Pedrera.

Bonet warned that “rectificar es de sabios" (“to rectify is the domain of the wise”) and that he has been calling for the diversion of the High Speed train route for a long time, just as the Unesco report now recommends.

According to Bonet, who made these statements after receiving the Gaudí-Fresol Award in Reus for the entirety of his professional career, the Ministry of Public Works has ignored all the recommendations made by the temple building works management team.

In addition, he considered it irresponsible to pass a tunnel “less than four metres from the foundations”. "I wonder what the Ministry would say if any damage were to occur. I have never understood that obstinacy”.

Jordi Bonet added that the AVE route represented a risk to the Sagrada Família, "but still more so for the Casa Milà (La Pedrera), which has much weaker foundations".

UNESCO ADVISES ANOTHER ROUTE
With regard to the temple, the Unesco report, commissioned by the International Council on Monuments, stated that “it is not prepared for the avoidance with full certainty of unpredictable disasters”, and therefore it recommends a modification in the route, moving it further away from the Sagrada Família.

Although the study considers that the current project “complies with safety standards”, it defends as a “preferable solution” the modification of the route through areas that would less directly affect the Sagrada Família and La Pedrera.

The report, drawn up by Rolf Katzenbach and Wolfgram Jäger, also urges the preparation of more safety mechanisms in the route to ensure the absence of repercussions on the Barcelona temple; amongst them, the creation of a double protection wall.