Enblanco 11.Indd
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ENGLISH TEXT The magazine EN BLANCO is intended to diffuse knowledge of the best works of In this frame of mind, advances in science, renewal of art - In what has religious architecture and civil engineering made nowadays in concrete, preferably white architecture been updated into? One might think that, because the types and or coloured. It is our intention to meet the interest of those who want to know the uses survive, solutions are repeated. But it is not diffi cult to generate a list of latest innovations in the fi eld of concrete architecture and at the same time, to innovative religious pieces, from the 1900’s, European players like Wagner, Gaudí, serve as a disseminator of research emerged in the same fi eld. Berlage, Perret, Pleznick, Böhm or Schwarz. They all designed reinterpretations The purpose of EN BLANCO is to publish the results of formal, theoretical, in new ways of the ancient types; this list can be extended to the new millennium technological and scientifi c research related to the production of buildings and 4. However, here we are interested in contributions that were ahead of their time engineering works that help defi ne our environment, built in concrete. In this because, in the sense that André Breton pointed with respect to artwork: it only issue refl ection revolves around sacred architecture and the role of apparent has value when it trembles with refl ections of the future. And in this sense, three concrete in the defi nition of these spaces. decades before the ll Vatican Council (1962-65) would dictate its architectural The magazine meets the formal and conceptual requirements that allow guidelines to humanise the liturgy, the sense of space is modifi ed in the interiors recognition as scientifi c publication. Thus the magazine follows a strict editorial of the Christians enclosures. A good example is the evolution that occurred in just policy, both in the selection of works and articles and in the periodicity and one decade with the naves of the modern churches of St. Antonius (1926-1927), linguistic fi eld. It is described in the opening pages of each issue and published by K. Moser, and St. Johannes (1934-1936), by K. Edinger, in Basel 5. The fi rst is on the web. built in reinforced concrete and glass and the second in steel and glass, the two Compliance with this policy in the past two years, has enabled the magazine to are brightly lit by large glass surfaces: one with vertical windows to the east and be assessed favorably and it appears indexed in the catalogs Latindex, DICE and west and the second with a curtain wall that covers the entire south façade. While RESH, as well as databases ISOC and Dialnet. In MIAR ranks 12 of 37 national one (Image 1), the ‘stone’ space rises to the heavens with Gothic dimensions and magazines and 118 of 183 international journals in the area of architecture, caisson vault , the other (Image 2), the nave- with a fl at roof- defi nes landscaped with a visibility index IDCS-2012 of 3,102. Currently still under evaluation and space and the temple almost becomes a conference room. Thus the dwelling incorporation into other international quality indices. of the Lord approaches the congregation and the view (vertical) towards ‘the Vicente Mas Llorens Almighty’ is replaced by another (horizontal) at eye level. The sacred space is humanised with the descending of the sky. Another interesting chapter is what was happening all over Italy after the Second PLACES OF CONTEMPORARY SACRED ARCHITECTURE: LIGHT MEDIA VERSUS World War, and Rome, the Capital of the Catholic World, illustrates it like no other. TIME OF MEDITATION Urban growth requires the promotion of public housing and in parallel fi nance the religious administration in the neighbourhood. The program tries to solve the Andrés Martínez Medina container (state) and contents (church), but, given the situation, the architects Escuela Politécnica Superior, Universidad de Alicante, España achieved this with funds from only one. The artistic context of modern art favoured Art and religion: letters versus sciences the simplicity; the social context set the restrictions. The result: a return to typological origins (basilica planes, of only one nave and/or central) and a space with no more “The elk that man in the Stone Age drew on the walls of their caves was a magical additions than austere and common materials like concrete, brick and untreated instrument”. stone. There are no additional vestments and all the richness of the surface confi des W.Benjamin, 1936 in simple geometry, making the constructive system obvious and laying bare the The questions of primitive man sweeping the earth, only seemed to fi nd an echo structure that bestows rhythm and manages light. Some good examples are: S. Lucas when rising into the sky, where they are lost and perhaps where the gods lived. Evangelista (1956-58) by V. Fausto and L. Passarelli, of Gregorio VII (1958-61) by G. and These two directions have been established since the dawn of time: horizontal M. Paniconi, and S. Policarpo (1964-67) by E. Vichi, among many others 6. (Image 3) The gaze of search and vertical of prayer; both: with an eagerness to learn. There is naves undress as if, by following the same decomposition process as physical matter 1 broad consensus that art is rooted in religious beliefs . In the origin: the magic or artistic materials, it could reach the essence of space. An essence that is reduced and the sacred that then would be religion and art. The religious enclosures to its basic elements: order, structure and light and with these, the old symbolisms of were places to make the visible invisible. In fact, temples throughout the world the sky are modernised with more abstract images. An imaginary sacred space that are being built that always accuse the cosmos symbolism even in the twentieth would lead to more fi gurative metaphors of astral or abysmal depths. 2 century, divided by “the two cultures” according to Snow: Science and Arts . As a zenith to these experiments, we cite the peak of the temple that with only Even if the last century had to qualify them, in consideration of their merits, concrete levitating above the congregation, a miracle that was possible, thanks, it should annotate science because the progress of this knowledge has led to above all, to the reinforced plates and shells that characterised the sacred spaces in much more in the quality of human life. Now, where is the religion that explains the middle of the last century 7. The works by P.L. Nervi, B. Spence, where we are going and the architecture that directs us? Do people have no M. Breuer, G. Michelucci, E.Dieste and F. Candela (Image 4) is a prime example religion? Do we have all the answers? of the trend that equally affected the Catholic and Protestant enclosures in which In the ancient Christian tradition, the references in their churches to the cross the existential anguish seems to liberate itself in the lightness of the structure of martyrdom or the celestial vault itself are recurring and are synthesised in two and space where the light is manipulated to generate supernatural effects. In the genealogies of subordinate containers to a main-axis- from a ritual path to spiritual opening homily of the church of St. Nicholas (1959-62) by E. Torroja, in Gandia, ascent and both equipped with a powerful verticality because, you know, God is the priest sermonised: “ the congregation of today and tomorrow (…) will see (…) watching from above. So, what do the “churches” of the twentieth century represent this modern and wonderful temple of God (…) with its sober lines and its walls now that changes in culture have taken a quantum leap over all previous evolution? suspended in air 8”. The essence of space synthesised the tensions and its elements If art and science have been able to fi nd the essence of their subjects 3 does the of support, as a metaphor of the human soul in fragile balance. discovery of the essence of the soul remain where man connects with the Universe? This role surely, is still assumed by religion for most people. We come, then, to an Light and Faith: media spectacle for the masses analysis of the sacred architecture of the twentieth century in the Christian realm, far from following a chronological speech of classical historiography, it pursues “Why are there false prophets facing the church? They even allow them to have their own research in three key aspects. One: relative to the architectural space that renews television programs”. the imaginary through its essential elements. Two: relative to the light and the Don Omar, 2003 image in transforming the liturgy into entertainment for the masses. Three: relative Obviously, religious architecture was modernised despite the archaic faith or to the tactile dimension that the passage of time exhibits. conservation of hierarchy. A new step is taken for pollution from audiovisual mass media. That is, humans are more visual in cognitive processes, dependent on any Essences of space: tension and material other obvious way from the ‘bison’ of Altamira to the medieval ‘pantocrátores’. The “Part of modern restlessness is due to the absence of self-expression, to things around us advantage of the media is to reach the masses, accompanied by the word of God with that boast a secrecy that is the negation of what fraternity we take for granted would mean images that seduce. The fi lmmaker Abel Gance pointed in 1927 that: “All legends, and which obviously should be read in the work of man in space“ all mythology and all myths, all founders of religions and all religions ..