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> I think of the cathedrals, temples, mosques, etc. that have been built all over the world, where the people who started the work knew they wouldn't live to se
by mehrdadn 6y ago
> I think of the cathedrals, temples, mosques, etc. that have been built all over the world, where the people who started the work knew they wouldn't live to see it finished, but that didn't dissuade them.
That's mind-boggling. Why would building a cathedral/mosque/temple take longer than a lifetime (or half)?
- 9wzYQbTYsAIc 6y agohttps://history.howstuffworks.com/european-history/notre-dame-cathedral.htm https://history.howstuffworks.com/european-history/notre-dam...
- mehrdadn 6y agoAh, thanks for the pointer! I just Googled and got this explanation: https://www.quora.com/Why-did-it-take-nearly-200-years-to-build-Notre-Dame-when-Hagia-Sophia-took-only-5-years/answer/Pat-Sullivan-32 https://www.quora.com/Why-did-it-take-nearly-200-years-to-bu...
- obastani 6y agoNot an answer to your question, but the Sagrada Famila [1] began construction in 1882, and is projected to be completed around 2030. It's an immense (and beautiful) structure. Just want to point out that it's not just a matter of the buildings being built a long time ago; this kind of long-term construction is still happening today.
- mehrdadn 6y agoI... just can't wrap my head around this. Is it that they actually take that long with enough people, or they have too few people working on them?
- readams 6y agoThey're specifically using old-style techniques to build it, and doing a sort of fund-as-you-go structure where donations finance the construction. This is combined with the fact that the building is really complicated and every block has to be custom-carved into a unique shape. There's also likely an element of not really wanting it to be done since the construction itself is a big part of the draw of the building for tourism.
- close04 6y agoAnd yet the author of the present article would simply judge it by weight and say "with certainty" it must have taken only a fraction of the time.
- teruakohatu 6y agoFunding but also they are to an extent a giant work of art, adding more people does not produce a better work of art.
- ALittleLight 6y agoI hadn't heard of it, it seen pictures, until we went to see it in Spain. The building is absolutely mind boggling. The sort of thing that makes you proud to be a human. When you see it, the timeline starts to make sense.
- goto11 6y agoFunding has been the limiting factor, as far as I know. There have been long breaks where no work was being done, and it was damaged during the civil war. Also the building is immense and very detailed.
- ReptileMan 6y agoThe fact that Gaudi's original plans were lost in a fire don't help
- hinkley 6y agoThat said, Christopher Wren was in high demand for designing churches after the Great Fire, So he made a deal: I will design you a church but no steeple (yet). Once the backlog of churches cleared he designed the steeples, and some churches had a 20 year gap. Even pre-industrial London could crank out enough churches in a dozen years to keep a celebrated architect booked solid. But that’s an exceedingly dense urban era, capable of supporting a large array of skilled labor.
- fouc 6y agoYou might enjoy Ken Follet's novel "The Pillars of the Earth", it touches on the notion of spending a lifetime to build a cathedral.
- smabie 6y agoI mean, look at Petra. Some of that stuff must have taken centuries.
- goto11 6y agoSome cathedrals took centuries to complete, but mostly because of long gaps in active work due to lack of funds or interest. Furthermore cathedrals were often build iteratively - e.g. someone finances a new tower to add to an existing centuries old building.
- watwut 6y agoYou run out of money, wars happen, corruption happen, things get finished later.