23 September 2026

Review: 21065 Sagrada Família from LEGO® Architecture

Posted by Eero
 
At New Elementary, we enjoy parts, and the November 2026 LEGO® Architecture set 21065 Sagrada Família has a lot of them. Furthermore, it is a eye-opening dose of an architectural past and future.

We were given this product by The LEGO Group; the author's opinions are their own.
This article contains affiliate links to LEGO.com; we may get a small commission if you purchase.

21065 Sagrada Família

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Lego Architecture 21065 Sagrada Família – reveal

 

Introduction

The main designer of this set is Rok Žgalin Kobe, who gave us and other fan creators a 140-minute tour of the set in an online meeting. Rok also designed 21061 Notre-Dame de Paris, the LEGO Group's first major modern venture into church architecture. I reviewed the LEGO Notre-Dame two years ago, and 21065 Sagrada Família is a natural step forward from it. 

According to Rok, Notre-Dame was a proof of concept that, as it was sufficiently popular, made a Sagrada Família project possible. The first concept version was made on a similar scale to Notre-Dame, and included the phased building process and the modular construction of the final version.


Sagrada Família is Rok's passion project, designed in a relatively short period. He emphasised that while designing this set, his main objective was honouring its architect, Antonio Gaudí (1852–1926). He didn't include any silliness or "LEGO follies" – not rare in many products. 

Based on the parts number (12,060!) it is the largest LEGO set so far. However, this was somewhat accidental. The side towers originally used larger pieces, and when they were changed into a design consisting of very small parts, the overall piece count rose above that of the 11,695 in set 31203 World Map, which barely counts as a model. 

This set was unveiled on the decennial of Gaudí's death, and 2026 also marks the inauguration and blessing of the central tower – the Tower of Jesus – by Pope Leo XIV.


Originally, the building was being designed by architect Francisco de Paula del Villar. Soon after the building began in 1882, Gaudí took over and spent a good part of the rest of his life working on it. Gaudí's oeuvre is unique: he used flowing and melting dreamlike shapes and various original forms borrowed from nature. He is recognised as the most important architect of Catalan Modernisme, which – for some degree, at least – can be regarded as the local manifestation of the international Art Nouveau movement. Sagrada Família began as a more conventional 19th century Gothic (Revival) church, but Gaudí began to implement his own experimental – and experiential – vision on it. 


By his death in 1926, only the crypt, apse and part of the Nativity facade were built. The following generations continued the work. However, this has included plenty of interpretation and guesswork as anti-clerical anarchists burned and smashed Gaudí's workshop in 1936. The building is still in progress, although millions of people visit Sagrada Família yearly. 

I am an architect and a researcher of Finnish Art Nouveau, so this set interests me not just as a LEGO hobbyist and builder but on a professional level, too. Prepare for an in-depth review. But before a deep dive into the world of architecture, we'll put the New Elementary spectacles on and take a look at the parts.


Interesting pieces

As is typical of LEGO Architecture sets, particularly Rok's, there are no new moulds. 

Recolours

I usually like to show in my photos the full quantity of new parts. However, here the quantities are occasionally very large, and some of the parts are rounded and very hard to knoll without having the rolling around the photo setup. I hope the quantities on the photos are helpful enough.

In tan:

  • 4x Cone Half 2 x 4 x 3 (6600313 | 38317)
  • 18x Cone 2 x 2 x 3 Jagged (6573919 | 28598) 
  • 70x Brick Sloped 1 x 6 x 1 with 1 x 2 x 1/3 Cutout (6614148 | 4569) 
  • 9x Brick Wedged, Sloped 4 x 4 Triple, Stud Notches (6525572 | 48933)

The drill cone is a perfect piece for Sagrada Família's towers. I'm not surprised at all to see it here. The half-cone and 1x6 slope are useful pieces for figure building, and I'm astonished that the 4x4 wedge has not appeared before in tan. The mould has been around for 23 years.

  • 77x Plate Special 1 x 2 with Long Stud Receptacle (Space Wing) (6573915 | 4596) 
  • 42x Plate Special 1 x 3 Rounded with 3 Open Studs (6608951 | 77850)
  • 20x Minifig Trophy Statuette (6573918 | 90398) 
  • 100x Creature Body Part, Horn (Unicorn) (6595738 | 89522) 
  • 87x Plant, Flower, Plate Round 1 x 1 with 5 Petals (6573916 | 24866) - also in 21373 Downton Abbey (see review of the LEGO Downton Abbey by TobyMac)

The space wing was introduced in 1984, and has appeared every now and then in the 2020s. Its unique shape is spot on for Sagrada Família's weird architecture. 

The tan flower was first spotted in this set, but 21373 Downton Abbey will make it to the stores sooner.  Read more about LEGO Downton Abbey in Toby's review.

Finally, I'm really surprised that the minifigure trophy has not appeared in tan before, despite being a common way to depict statues in LEGO Architecture sets.

  • 2x Plate 6 x 8 in Trans-Light Blue (6616642 | 3036) 
  • 36x Brick Round 1 x 1 with 3 Bars in White (6598613 | 6331) 
  • 12x Plant, Flower, Peony Rose with 2 Layers in Dark Red (6580724 | 5904) 
  • 5x Rock 1 x 1 Crystal 5 Point in Trans-Clear (6622626 | 30385) 

These are some beautiful pieces. They also carry a promise of some polychromy within the tan mass of Sagrada Família, including something icy cold and fresh.

Nonetheless, it's a surprise that the peony flower hasn't appeared before in dark red, and even more surprisingly, trans-clear crystals make their debut here – in the cross of Mary's tower.

New prints

  • 16x Brick Wedged, Curved 16 x 4 Triple without Inner Ridges with Triangles print in Tan (6585137)
  •  8x Tile 2 x 4 with Groove with Triangles print in Tan (6585138) 
  • 36x Tile Special 2 x 3 Pentagonal with Triangle of Round Windows print in Tan (6585140)
  • 12x Tile Special 2 x 3 Pentagonal with Three Window Cells print in Tan (6585139)
  • 1x Tile 1 x 8 with Groove with Sagrada Família print in Black (6585141) 

Resorting in printed pieces for windows is not new in LEGO Architecture sets, but the 16x4 wedge is an unprecedented piece in its size and robustness. We'll see how it works when we get the main towers upright.

The printed Nexo shields look fantastic, though; I imagine the triple-trefoil print (6585139) being especially useful for mech builders making creepy insectoid machines.

A long-awaited return

A classic part from the original LEGO® Adventurers theme!

  • 10x Brick Sloped 75° 2 x 2 x 2 Quadruple Convex in Tan (6614152 | 3688) - last seen in 1999, has a new EID as the stud is now blocked. 


Rare parts

In 1 other set:

Binoculars in new colours drop every now and then. It's pleasant, as they're universally useful pieces in non-snooping contexts as well.
 

The spike with a flexible tip is worrying, as the tips tend to bend slightly in random directions, potentially looking bad in the finished model. The inconsistent line between the rubbery and hard sections has been a nuisance in this piece's past appearances, but the issue is not severe when moulded in a single colour. 

Furthermore, I'm happy to see the tan 3x3x2 cone in another set.

These pieces appear in 2 other sets:

  • 10x Plate Round 4 x 6 in Dark Tan (6579939 | 3766) 
  • 2x Brick Special 1 x 2 x 1 2/3 with 8 Studs on 2 Sides in Trans-Orange (6567117 | 80796) 
  • 14x Plate Special 1 x 2, Top Clip [Open O] in Tan (6575079 | 44861) 
  • 7x Plate 2 x 4 in Trans-Red (6088569 | 6587192 | 5584) 

It's a good sign that LEGO is getting bolder with larger transparent plates again.

The (very long) building process

The set is built in modules in chronological order, beginning in the 1880s. I recommend checking the official PDF guides from Sagrada Família's official webpage. They are good and clear references for comparison with the LEGO model.

The apse

The building process consists of three sub-boxes, three thick instruction sheets and 64 bags of pieces: 12,060 in total. It follows the real building process, with the instructions giving information about each section. 


It begins with the crypt, initially designed by Francisco de Paula del Villar before Gaudí took over. Ironically, the crypt isn't really depicted in the set, as it's mostly underground (as crypts tend to be). However, the raised area in the apse features light channels leading to it. 

More apparent is the apse facade, built between 1890 and 1893. It shows the transition from Paula del Villar's Gothic (revival) to Gaudi's more organic style, and this is, I think, well presented in the section's overall Gothic air. The gargoyles shaped as frogs and lizards are not visible here: it is sad, but totally understandable due to their small size. 


The apse lacks a roof at this stage, as Mary's tower will not be built for 120 years.


The Nativity facade

Next up, the Nativity facade. This was built mostly during Gaudí's lifetime, though it was finished only in 1939, after the Civil War. It is the most iconic part of the cathedral – at least if approached via older books on Gaudí's work. 

The Nativity facade looks great. It's the friendlier of the side facades, focusing on the more cheerful side of the New Testament – Jesus's birth. The doorway is shaped like a huge natural grotto. 

I like the patterns of the flowers and other round elements, but the overall frame looks too rectangular and stepped. I wonder if more 1x1 round plates with a bar could be added to break the shape a bit, adding diagonals around it. There are two already, on the third row from the bottom.

The towers take a lot of repetitive subassemblies, but they are sturdy and look fantastic. I really like the top ornaments too. They summarise Gaudí's style well, and are represented here with elegant assemblies of 10 pieces each. 

Between the towers, there is the Tree of Life. It looks like a Christmas tree, which is… sort of fitting, given this is the Nativity facade. However, I think the dark green colour stands out too much from the tan rockwork, compared to the real building. The real thing is green, of course; but probably an olive green or a sand green tree would have created a better harmony.


The Nativity facade is considered as being "authentic Gaudí" and is part of the UNESCO World Heritage listing of his work.


The Passion facade

The Nativity facade is mirrored by the Passion facade on the western side. It was built between 1954 and 1977 and reflects its name with more angular expression of pain and passion. 

The towers look very similar on first sight, but in contrast to the 4x4 module towers in Nativity facade, these begin as 4x5 on the base. This creates a pleasing asymmetry between the sides that is highly effective. (In contrast, the asymmetry of the towers of 21061 Notre-Dame de Paris was absent in that set, making me sad when reviewing it). 


Unfortunately, the lower part of the Passion facade is quite inaccurate. The main issue is the shape and placement of the angled columns on the bottom. Here, they are uniform cylinders that disappear under the eaves; in the real building, they are angular, connect directly to the canopy edge, and fan wider near the upper end. In short, here they lack their architectural essence and resemble rather prosaic structures seen in modern-day stadiums and industrial complexes. 

Overall, the canopy looks too brooding and encovering, and the dark bluish grey line – especially with its jagged underside – is alien to the real church. Furthermore, the upper canopy looks very white in the real building. However, I understand the choice of tan here, too, as white (or light bluish grey) could have stood out too much, making the model look too busy. As a building containing 140 to zero year-old parts, Sagrada Família has naturally different hues of rock, and an uniform colour in a scale model makes it possible to perceive it as a coherent whole.


Still, oddly enough, the statues on the lowest level are white - despite them appearing close to to tan in the real building! According to Rok, the white colour was used to create a bigger contrast between the statues and the wall, emphasising the hardness and sharpness of the Passion facade. However, I think that formal and tonal contrasts are rather different, and the idea doesn't quite come across.

There are at least two microfigures depicting Jesus in this facade, including the golden one placed somewhat humorously on the bridge between the towers. I'm not entirely sure, but it might be the first official depiction of him in a LEGO set?

The interior side is the most beautiful among the facades.


The naves

Instruction book number 2 begins with the naves, or the main interiors, built between 1978 and 2010 – so we're speaking of rather recent architecture here. 

The interior features the load-bearing post system, the galleries and the tiled floor. The interior side of the walls is not covered with the actual surface, but shows the underside of the colourful, transparent plates forming the stained glass windows instead. This is inaccurate, of course, but I don't think it's a problem. On the contrary, it helps letting more coloured light in, recreating the dreamlike atmosphere of the real church. Sometimes "less is more" (although this utterance by Mies van de Rohe is overall quite opposite to Gaudí's architecture.

This picture shows the naves before installing the right-side columns and the covering structure. According to Rok, the different colours among the columns reflect the different types of stone used in the original building.


 Gaudí's columns have a unique system of transferring weight. These renditions are just normal columns with only ornamental "branches" without structural purpose, which is fair enough. I'm impressed enough that the candle-built columns actually carry the main towers. 


Here's a picture with all the columns connected and the first layer of horizontal structure applied on them. There are no vaults as such, but the vaults of Sagrada Família are very complex to start with, and they wouldn't be visible in the interior-peeking vistas anyway.



In my review of Notre-Dame, I reproached its desaturated trans-black and trans-clear "stained" glass: The real cathedral naturally has coloured windows. I'm extremely happy that this is not the case here, and the naves can bathe in the polychrome light. It's unlikely that they made this decision because of my review, but I still feel heard.


Each of the two rows of columns have two modules of space between them. According to Rok, the scale of the model was defined by this measure. It means that there is a Module grid of 3x3 (I'm capitalising Module here to discern it from our usual meaning of module aka "stud"). Architects (both modern-day and of many historical periods) tend to use Module grids to aid design and construction, so this feels like a good way to define a model. Rok noted that a 2x2 Module would have made the building tiny, whereas a 4x4 Module would have made it unnecessarily huge. This is easy to believe. 


As a result of the 3x3 Module, the naves and the facades, and thus the whole model, too, have an odd width in modules (studs). This is certainly uncommon in LEGO sets. Rok also remarked that the odd Module caused challenges in sideways-building techniques. As all LEGO builders should know, 2 modules equals 5 plates (convenient!) and thus 3 modules equals 7,5 plates (not so convenient.) I'm happy to note that I did not notice any problems this caused during the process.


The side facades of the naves have overall Gothic air, resembling the apse facade. They are also based on the 3-wide Modules: one for the pilaster and two for the window. The turntable bases look great as windows. They are topped by triangular pediments, and believe me, there are a lot of pediments to build here. There are two alternatives, but all of them share the same base of 8 pieces. 


The central towers and clerestory

At the top of the building, there are two bulky main towers: the slightly shorter Tower of Mary over the apse and the tallest Tower of Jesus over the crossing of the nave and the transept. The tip aside, the tower parts are identical. 


The roof is topped by the clerestory that lets light directly to the central nave, enabled by transparent pieces and light channels in the ceiling. According to Rok, it was a conscious design choice that every transparent element leads to some kind of light channel. This is a wonderful detail to realise while building the model. 

The top part with its anteater-like knobs is installed a bit later. Compared to the lower part of the facade, this derives from the usual Gothic motifs, leaning on Gaudí's original oeuvre. 


The Tower of Mary has a beautiful fixed base with five pediments. However, it has an annoying transition from the tips of the wedges to the 2x2 base of the crystal star. The 3x3x2 cone on the Tower of Jesus really makes the difference, but has likely been omitted from the other tower to make the height difference correct.


The Tower of Jesus has a taller base structure that also supports the four Apostle towers. They are similar to the towers in the three facades, but are topped with clever little angles and use wedge tiles on their surface. 

The set includes the same number of left and right-hand-side varieties of 1x2 wedge tiles: good news for everyone planning to recycle this set into pieces. Whereas the building process is well-designed overall, the lowest sections of the four apostle towers have an issue: the same bag had both left and right-hand-side varieties, making it tedious to find the right ones – as you first apply 48 of left version and then 48 of the right version. Fortunately, in the rest of the Apostle towers, these are divided into different bag sections, each having the pieces for two identical towers.


The large towers are very different from the rest of the model as they rely on large 16 x 4 wedges with print. The structure is very sturdy, and the overall shape looks accurate, but the change of surface pattern is relatively big. However, I generally like the towers. 

The real-life counterparts – The Tower of Jesus was completed just this summer – use pre-fabricated, pre-tensioned stone panels that are installed on a steel frame with a crane. The technique is totally modern-day. The reason for this is weight. The Tower of Jesus is really gigantic, standing 172 meters from ground to cross and making Sagrada Família the tallest church in the world. It is located directly on the top of the nave, and the only direct vertical structures anchoring it to our earth are the columns: this is true to both the real building and the set. The real church couldn't support traditional stone masonry of that magnitude. It is also possible that the LEGO version couldn't support towers made of thousand small parts with brick-built patterns. In that way, these "pre-fabricated" towers are true in spirit to the real structure.


This doesn't mean they are perfect. I dislike the discontinuity with the prints, as there are 2x2 surfaces of studs on top and bottom of the binding 2x4 tiles. I wonder if a pair of Nexo shields would have done the trick, keeping the full rise printed while not having the step of the tile's side. They would have to be printed too, of course. 

Earlier, I voiced my distrust of the flexible-tipped spike pieces, and indeed, some of them stick out in an ugly fashion near the base. Furthermore, the gaps at the lower end of the large wedges are really apparent. I wish there was better filling there – surely some pieces wouldn't have created too much weight? The light shines through the tower in unfortunate ways, if looked from certain angles.

 

The cloisters and the sacristies

Gaudí designed narrow cloister buildings to circulate the main part of the church. Such auxiliary buildings are not rare along larger medieval churches, but these are extraordinarily excessive. I really like how they create small enclosed squares around the main church. Furthermore, they help to mediate the impressive scale of the building. 

The rows of ground floor windows are made using the backside of headlight bricks, whereas the upper floor pediments use the printed Nexo shields. Initially, I was unhappy with the ½ plate gap between them, but it doesn't look bad when finished. Dark bluish grey is not the most accurate colour for the roofs, but I suspect it was chosen to establish a harmonious colour scheme over the whole model. A lighter colour would have been more accurate, but looked worse on the model. 


The sacristies, however, leave a lot to be desired. Their domes should be shaped with intersecting paraboloids, the shapes that are most apparent in the towers of Jesus and Mary. Whereas the belts of pediments around them look relatively plausible, the domes of the sacristies are the weakest part of the model. There is a certain logic between the arrangement of slopes in them, but they look twisted and random, far from the elegant, radial shaping of the real-life counterparts. Admittedly, the geometry is not easy to reiterate on this scale. 


However, I believe that building them around Plate Special 2 x 2 with Bar Frame Round (7068), for example, could have worked. I think that the LEGO® Botanicals theme has some good points of references for suitable techniques. I might have to try to design my own sacristies, as these do not live up to the otherwise high quality of the design. Another round of iteration might have been needed here.


The Glory facade

Finally, the Glory facade completes the model. With it, we step into the future: it's currently under construction. The main structure exists, revealing a tall window behind it, but the cluster of huge cones, reminiscent of stalagmites or gigantic chess bishops. 

Evaluating this facade is bound to be merciful, as it's impossible to compare it to the real-life counterpart. It looks very close to the modern-day renders, as well as Gaudí's original surviving drawings and model photographs.


The stud notches create "eyes" for the largest cones. These are absent from the reference material, but I can't be mad at them as they look so cute.


The facade is supported by 15 columns with excellently designed forms. Again, the columns have structural function: the wall behind them is narrow and the towers are almost floating in the air between the wall and the columns. This can be observed on the side view. The towers themselves are identical to those on the Nativity facade.


The Glory facade is flanked by the baptistery (left) and Chapel of Penitence and the Sacrament (right). They look great, but a pair of 2x4x3 half-cones would have worked better on the roof than the 3x3x2 cones.


There are some trees in front, which help to establish the feel of the building's immense scale. They certainly look better than the iron fence encircling the real building – fortunately, this model is not a building site any more.


The completed model

The completed model consists of six sections: The sacristies, apse, naves and Glory facade, flanked by the Nativity and Passion facades. Furthermore, the middle towers and the middle nave roof can be removed: they're easily separable with only a few studs connecting them to the rest. 

The six main sections are not connected to each other, but 3x4 stands from LEGO® Minifigures are used on the bases. They slide into the gaps in the adjacent bases, ensuring that the sections line up perfectly. The weight of the model keeps them in place.


According to Rok, this design decision makes it tempting to explore the model. This is indeed true, and it makes admiring the interior easier. The model cannot be moved without exposing the church's secrets.

This is an improvement to Notre Dame, where the interior was hidden inside the model, perceivable only through the removable roof. It makes the final model more interactive – after all, it's mostly a huge display piece.

The finished model looks splendid, and many of the shortcomings I noted blend into the vastness of it – except the sacristies, which stick in the corners like sore thumbs. But let's forget them for a while and focus on the wonders of Catalan Modernisme, from 1882 to 2026... and beyond!





Conclusion

With the price of US$799.99/ £649.99/ 749,99€/ AU$1299.99 for 12,060 pieces (and obviously, no minifigures), 21065 Sagrada Família has an excellent price-per-part value. Of course, most of the pieces are very small, so those numbers don't tell much. 

In fact, it is very difficult to evaluate a price of over 700 euros for a plastic model. If you have such sums handy for LEGO sets, this definitely isn't a bad choice. It's a splendid model, and although there are some shortcomings and inaccuracies, they mostly disappear within its detailed mass.

Another comparison: I think it is cooler than 3 copies of 21061 Notre-Dame de Paris. I think it's bigger, too.

Its building experience is probably the best I've had. There's plenty of repetition, but it's best to conform to  designer Rok Žgalin Kobe's guidance and build it over a bit of a longer period. I built it over two weeks.

I doubt there are many people in the world who would buy this as a parts pack only. Nonetheless, there is a decent number of recolour and some interesting and potentially useful prints. Many pieces come in high quantities, as expected from this total piece count. There's nothing in this set that would feel like a compromise due to the limited budget.


With Sagrada Família done, we can only guess what's next. St. Peter of the Vatican? Notre Dame du Haut? Stephansdom of Vienna? It's difficult to imagine a church that would be more difficult to make into a set than Sagrada Família, so anything feels possible.

The box is really large, by the way. This means that once you've sold your house to buy the set, you can live in the box.

Linkt o pre-order / buy

Lego Architecture 21065 Sagrada Família – reveal

 


READ MORE: 21371 Wallace & Gromit reviewed, plus add your own ladder!


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3 comments:

  1. Skye Barnick23 Sept 2026, 15:58:00

    The 4x4 triple sloped wedge has appeared in tan before — but only with printing! I remember it from set 7155 Trade Federation AAT from the early years of LEGO Star Wars! Still kinda fascinating it took this long to appear in sets without printing, though.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous23 Sept 2026, 17:47:00

    I believe you mean centennial of Gaudi's death not decennial. Centennial is 100 years, decennial is every ten years.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Keith23 Sept 2026, 18:07:00

    How heavy is the box, btw? Does one need to rent a dolly to get it from the store to a friend's SUV (because it looks like it wouldn't fit easily into the back of most compact cars...)?

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