Amongst the throngs of summer tourists outside the world’s most famous building site, the Sagrada Família, New Zealander Mark Burry stands out in the crowd. Not only because he’s tall and silver-haired but because he looks out of place amongst the colorful, casual, camera-carrying crowds bumping into each other, trying to get to the end of the miles-long queue or find a better angle for that photo. Burry instead seems more like a popular university professor: a kind smile, glasses, softly-spoken and just a little formal. He is making his way through the tourists because he is taking a short break from his work as one of the principal architects on the Sagrada Família.
Burry has been working on the construction of Antoni Gaudí’s basilica since 1979 and has been instrumental in the development of the project over the last 30 years, steering it through some once-unimaginable technological advances. He is the only person working on the project today who has used both the traditional manual architectural drawing of plans as well as digital computation techniques. In 2004, the Reial Acadèmia Catalana de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi awarded Burry the prestigious "Diploma i la insignia a l’acadèmic corresponent" and given the title "Il·lustrisim Senyor," in recognition of his work on this important Catalan landmark.
The above extract is credited to Metropolitan Barcelona where the complete article may be found.