The sculptor Josep Maria Subirachs, who has died aged 87, is mainly associated with his controversial sculptures for the Passion Facade of Antoni Gaudí's famous Sagrada Família cathedral in Barcelona. When Subirachs accepted his 1986 commission, he insisted on two conditions: he would live in a small flat in the cathedral precinct (as Gaudí himself had done) and his sculptures would be his own, not Gaudí imitations.
In nearly 20 years, Subirachs carved 100 stone figures and made four vast bronze doors for the cathedral's west facade. In 1990, many Catalan artists organised a demonstration against his angular "distortion" of Gaudí. The Guardian's architecture critic, Rowan Moore, railed against the "cartoonish anguish" of the sculptures, "the awfulness of which is beyond description". Subirachs, confident of the value of his art, responded to all with stubborn calm: "Polemics pass and the works remain," he said. Nevertheless, the criticism hurt and probably denied him certain prizes and recognition.
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