Antoni Gaudí’s unfinished masterpiece, Temple Sagrada Família, in the Spanish city of Barcelona, will be consecrated by Pope Benedict XVI in November.

The design team that has been critical in untangling the mysteries of Gaudí’s compositional strategies is based at RMIT University, working in collaboration with UPC University, Catalunya.

Professor Mark Burry, Founding Director of the RMIT Design Research Institute and Professor of Innovation (Spatial Information Architecture), has been involved with Temple Sagrada Família since 1979.

He can be seen this Sunday, 25 July, at 7.30pm on ABC2 TV in the national premiere of Liquid Stone: Unlocking Gaudi’s Secrets.

The program will be repeated on ABC1 at 3.30pm on Sunday, 1 August.

Professor Burry has published internationally on two main themes: the life and work of the Gaudí, and putting theory into practice with regard to "challenging" architecture.

As Consultant Architect to the Temple Sagrada Família, he has been a key member within a small team untangling the mysteries of Gaudí’s compositional strategies for the Sagrada Família, especially those coming from his later years.

To assist with the continuing construction of the church, the research starts from the interpretation and "reverse engineering" of Gaudi’s own models to fully understand his intentions, and involves a forensic approach to the surviving evidence.

In 2004, in recognition of his contribution to this project, Professor Burry was given the prestigious award "Diploma I la insignia a l’acadèmic correspondent" and the title Senyor Il Lustre by la Reial Acadèmia Catalana de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi.

Professor Burry is director of RMIT’s Spatial Information Architecture Laboratory, which has been established as a holistic interdisciplinary research environment dedicated to almost all aspects of contemporary design activity.

Source: RMIT University http://www.rmit.edu.au/browse;ID=e40pydlf6j4k1;STATUS=A