Over time, the sacred space is architecturally characterized through the development and definition of archetypal elements such as the apse, the dome, the verticality, the light, the churchyard, the bell tower, the nave, just to name the most immediate and recognizable. Each of these elements plays a mathematically exact role within the "sacred enclosure" that aggregates them, as well as in the consequent historically determined "church form".
The project, therefore, explores the conceptual DECOMPOSITION and RECOMPOSITION, reabsorbing these elements "inside" the thickness of a continuous wall mass, which "unfolds" embracing the interior and exterior.
The new church will therefore be defined through the archaic idea of raising a "wall" towards the sky, defining the liturgical space through a shell, a stone mantle, which wraps itself without being able to close, and expanding to incorporate the churchyard, urban space and landscape.
This “wall”, conceived as an intersection and synthesis of different paths, will also host a public promenade in its thickness, an ascending path that opens onto the landscape. The regular geometries of its progression are inspired by the memory of the ancient cloisters within which, by walking through their composed and wise geometries, meditation facilitated spiritual elevation.
The enveloping arrangement of the churchyard, in relation to the liturgical hall, was the first operation necessary to reduce the “threshold” effect, seeking instead the prolongation of one into the other, thus inviting the traveler to cross.
Ultimately, we tried to avoid building a “form” or a “facade”, in favor of a multiple and aggregating space.
Design group: Arch. Giovanni Fiamingo; Arch. Giovanni Lazzari; Arch. Giovanna Russo
Artist: Alfredo Pirri
Liturgist: Padre Massimo Cucinotta
