More than a century after Antoni Gaudí conceived the Sagrada Família as a temple where geometry, light, acoustics and nature integrated into a single building, the public was able to hear one of the sounds the architect imagined for the basilica for the very first time.

The Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC), through the Gaudí Chair, has successfully reconstructed the bell system designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí. This research came to life in the free public concert of 84 Campanes that took place in Plaça de Catalunya on 11 June. The concert was organised as part of the official events for Gaudí Year 2026, following its premiere during the concert of Set Somnis de Gaudí (Seven Dreams of Gaudí) by Catalan composer Olivia Pérez-Collellmir at the Palau de la Música Catalana.

The Sagrada Família as a musical instrument

Although the Sagrada Família is internationally renowned for its architecture, Antoni Gaudí also designed an outdoor musical system. On the Nativity façade, this consists of 84 newly shaped bells distributed among the basilica’s 18 towers. Gaudí’s intention was to create a gigantic carillon whose sound could reach every home in Barcelona, turning the Sagrada Família into an unprecedented urban instrument. However, the fire at Gaudí’s workshop at the start of the Spanish Civil War destroyed most of the plans and models related to these hyperbolic bells.

Following more than 12 years of studying surviving documentation and the original tower designs, architect, musician and director of the UPC’s Gaudí Chair Galdric Santana, a professor at the Barcelona School of Architecture (ETSAB), has managed to reconstruct the characteristics of the bells devised by the Catalan architect as a result of his doctoral thesis. “Gaudí designed the Sagrada Família not only as a stone forest and a grand light show, but also as a giant musical instrument. The bells were a fundamental part of this vision, and recovering them means returning a voice to an essential part of his project,” Santana explained.

Through this cross-disciplinary research spanning descriptive geometry, architectural history, acoustics and musicology, Galdric Santana obtained the parameters for the bell model designed by Gaudí. His study reveals that this unique geometric surface functions as an optimal resonant tube. The acoustic properties of the bells not only surpass traditional horn loudspeakers, but also solve the design of the projected reed pipes for the Passion façade. Furthermore, this layout amplifies high-pitched sounds through the lower bells to bring the music closer to listeners at street level.

The study also brings to light Gaudí’s evolutionary process, which began by experimenting with sizeable cylindrical tubular bells invented in the late 19th century before developing his own models. Santana’s thesis documents and analyses a new, previously unpublished ruled surface discovered by Gaudí himself, to which the architect attributed structural applications and which has been named the “Gaudí supra-hyperboloid” in this work.

The research represents a unique example of the relationship between science and art in Gaudí’s work. In this sense, the project highlights the scientific dimension of Gaudí’s output, in which rigour explains the Catalan architect’s artistic experience.

World premiere of 84 Campanes

With the aim of disseminating this discovery, American philanthropists Renée Chan and Patrick Mitchell have driven the creation of 84 Campanes, a work commissioned from American composer David Cieri. Renowned for his scores for Ken Burns’ documentaries, Cieri has dedicated much of his career to exploring the musical possibilities of bells and carillons. The idea of a basilica designed to resonate across an entire city led him to develop a piece that allows Gaudí’s imagined sound to be heard for the first time in a contemporary musical context.

Concert by the Philharmonia Orchestra

The piece was performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra, one of the world’s most prestigious symphonic ensembles, conducted by Marin Alsop, a leading figure in international classical music. The concert also featured the Cor de Cambra, Catalan soprano Núria Rial and Galdric Santana himself, who rang the three Gaudí bells cast so far thanks to the research developed by the UPC’s Gaudí Chair.

The concert, which was free and open to all citizens, took place on 11 June at 8:30 p.m. at the F1 Barcelona Fan Village in Plaça de Catalunya, as part of the official Gaudí Year 2026 programme.

The repertoire was completed with a selection of pieces performed by the Cor de Cambra of the Palau de la Música Catalana, the 4th movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 and the popular Formula 1 Theme Song by Brian Tyler, in an evening designed to remember the artistic, scientific and universal dimension of Gaudí’s legacy.

This musical event on 11 June followed the concert held the day before at the Palau de la Música Catalana, where the Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Marin Alsop, presented 84 Campanes for the first time during the premiere of Els set Somnis de Gaudí. This choral symphony by Olivia Pérez-Collellmir was created to commemorate the centenary of Antoni Gaudí’s death. With this new performance in a public space, Barcelona opened up one of the most outstanding musical proposals of Gaudí Year 2026 to all its citizens.