Gaudi’s famed cathedral on ice: Dutch students to construct 132-foot ice replica of Sagrada Familia
By Adilla Menayang, Associate Editor
Building castle-like ice sculptures isn’t only a thing in Disney movies anymore. Archdaily reports that a team of students from Eindhoven University is to build a 132-foot model of Antonio Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia in Juuka, Finland.
In order to achieve such heights the use of reinforced ice will be needed. A mixture of wooden fibers and plain ice will result in an ice-composite, so-called pykrete, which is three times stronger than plain ice.
According to the project team, the nave of the "Sagrada Familia in Ice" will be constructed by hanging ropes and freezing textiles. These ropes and textiles will also be a reinforcement of the ice.
The construction is planned to last a mere three weeks, a diminutive amount of time compared to the original’s 136 (and still ongoing) years!
Visit the project’s official website to learn more about this 1:4 scale ice model of Barcelona’s most iconic church.
Renderings courtesy Eindhoven University of Technology / www.StrusturalIce.com.
