Gaudí in Chile

John Hill

19. janeiro 2015

All images: Corporación Gaudí de Triana

Antoni Gaudí's unrealized design for the Our Lady of the Angels chapel dates to 1915, nine years before the architect's death. A century later the chapel is set to be built in Rancagua, Chile, making it the first Gaudí building outside his native Spain.

Busy with the realization of the Sagrada Família in Barcelona, for which Gaudí originally designed the chapel, the architect sent sketches of the design to Chilean friar Angélico Aranda in response to his request for something "very original." The exchange between architect and friar transpired in 1922, but the chapel was never constructed.

Enter the Corporación Gaudí de Triana, which has been working for twenty years to change Chile's luck. This happened last week when Chilean President Michelle Bachelet confirmed funding for the $7-million Gaudí Cultural and Spiritual Center, of which the chapel will be a part. Construction is set to start this year with a 2017 completion.