Builders on Antoni Gaudi's landmark Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona are to get helping hand in realising the Spanish architect's vision - in the form of new software from Dassault Systemes and IBM.

For nearly 80 years, architects and masons have struggled to interpret the models which represent the only means of reference left by architect Gaudi after his premature death in 1926. The first stone for the moumental project was laid in 1882, but the cathedral stands unfinished. The project's trustee - the Sagrada Familia Foundation - now hopes that computer-generated virtual replicas of Gaudi's models will accelerate the building process a little.

"It will probably take us another 20 years to get to that stage, but I am sure the technologies we are using from IBM and Dassault Systemes are helping us make faster progress in the project," he concluded. ®

Related stories

Toshiba trumpets world's fastest lift
Cowboy computer glitch blamed for construction slump
Stressed-out Spaniards attack computers with hammers