"Sandwichman & Ashida Mana's Hakase-chan " (TV Asahi) is a program in which children with knowledge and talents that rival those of adults give funny lessons as " Hakase-chan " (teacher). On May 31st, a three-and-a-half hour special will run from 6:30 pm to 9:54 pm, and will feature the unfinished World Heritage Site "Sagrada Familia" (Barcelona, Spain), designed by the genius architect Gaudi and still under construction. MC Ashida Mana will try her hand at an overseas location shoot, and will approach the mysteries of Sagrada Familia together with globally active talent Watanabe Naomi.
Construction of the Sagrada Familia is still ongoing, nearly 100 years after Gaudi's death, and the tallest tower, the Tower of Jesus Christ, is said to be completed in 2026, attracting attention from around the world.
Why did Gaudi design an "unfinished church" that would take so many years to build? How has it continued to be built despite almost no blueprints remaining? And what is the message that Gaudi conveys in the "fauna and flora statues" carved into the church, including pelicans, turtles, lizards, and fruit, and the "statue of Christ on bended knee"?
The program also succeeded in filming inside the Sagrada Familia. Ashida and Watanabe were left speechless by the beautiful scenery inside the cathedral, which seemed as if they had entered a forest.
They also went to the Rosary Room, which Ashida had been wanting to visit. The Rosary Room was one of the few places that Gaudi had completed during his lifetime, but it was destroyed during the civil war in 1936. It was restored by the world-renowned Japanese sculptor Etsuro Tono. What was the message from Gaudi hidden in the Rosary Room, and what were Tono's thoughts on receiving it? The program will also feature an interview with Tono by Ashida.
