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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 ... await their 100 E. Dieste, c 1966 resurrection even in light”, on screen in theaters where the light provides the show.

EN BLANCO · Nº 11 · 2013 · ARQUITECTURA SACRA That the services are conducted with ostentation and splendor is an ancient rite overfl ows into an exterior that is interior and vice versa, clashing with the limits for special occasions. However, the tendency to turn these into a Sunday show, as of reason through the emotion of the stones that direct the gaze towards the hill a rite full of fellowship, were already detected in the churches of Harlem (Image 5) of meditation. The holy place is enclosed with a wall, but it opens to allow air to during the interwar period, though, with a clear history in the Unity Temple (1905 circulate between the people turning the atmosphere to chilly or warm. And the -08) in Oak Park, Illinois, in F. Ll. Wright. More than temples, they are theaters, with light fi lters through the openings cut in the surfaces until it reaches the painful a layout that contains a patio, stands and altar-stage. The liturgy is representation moments of the death ritual: meeting beside the rainwater well, fading behind the accompanied by singing “on stage”. This idea of participatory theatrical production casket and box of hope that points towards the hill from the patio. Water, earth, air in which actors and audience come together so that the celebration is a party is and light come together and invoke time in the life of each of the people present, reproduced when all the space is likely to be fl ooded by the light: then the function dancing around a clock hanging in the crossing of all the paths (Image 9). The is moved from the altar to the room packed with congregation. Enlightening are protagonist is time through evoking, in its tracks, of its inexorable pace 11. the words of Oscar Niemeyer about what happens in these sacred interiors when The access road to the chapel at Ronchamp (1950-54) gives the feeling that explaining the route inside the cathedral of Brasilia (1959-70), a path that leads the summit invites and awaits us. Since, at the top is the white burial mound of the parishioners through a tunnel to reach the glowing center, a promenade that the hermitage that in the distance could resemble a tomb, the artifi cial bulge prepares them for the renewed liturgy: “aerial structure born of the land, a shout of of land that Loos would call Architecture. The piece reunites the forces of the faith and hope; then the gallery located in the shadows to prepare the congregation universe and of life when it is the path of the rain on the roof that points the way for the religious spectacle.” The enclosure is a circular plane completely covered inside of the fl oor of this cave space that is sculpted as a dolmen, leading us from with glass pieces whose drawings and colours are intended as a unifying sky the ground to the sky represented in the eastern wall of the altar speckled with (Image 6) which ensures the necessary light for all to be seen in the celebration. tiny bright stars in the sky. A multiple conversation, which runs the air outside The spectacle is amplifi ed when the envelope, in its entirety, is a continuous to inside, it is transmitted by the waves of the bells on the grass, mixed with the glass skin. This is the case of the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove (1975-81) by wind and the atmosphere that reaches the nave, softening as it penetrates gaps P. Johnson, that resembles a geological formation that emerges from the Earth’s in doors and skylights of the masonry built with the stones of the old church. crust to hoard the sunlight and fade inside, showing the followers in community: one Land, air and water are discussed under the infl uence of a mysterious light in facing the other in a participatory manner. The church’s star-shaped plan renews the interior, manipulated, and creating a shadow that invites seclusion (Image typological repertoire from a childlike relation to the scared enclosure with the 10). Its author, agnostic, said “This is a place of prayer, an enclosure of intense 12 infi nite cosmic (even though this form has a clear functional purpose for capacity). concentration and meditation ”, G.C. Argan referred to the sanctuary as a 13 In front, in the unitary space, a giant television screens appears where sermons and “machine for prayer ”. musical performances are broadcast. The liturgy becomes an audiovisual and media Some works of recent decades insist in this direction that avoids the exalting apotheosis raised to the heights by the intensity of the organ-playing -whose baroque of the direct symbols of religion –or its metaphors- and create the sense of altarpiece- that is involved in the mass services (Image 7). Broadcasting of services existence by bringing the gaze towards the interior through the natural exterior 14 becomes a reality show, the Sunday pastoral, where people, rather than individual itself. Think of the church of Santi Martiri dell’Uganda (1980) by G. Vaccaro, G. privacy, want to share the joys of their desires for happiness. Gualtieri and E. Canino in Rome, the chapel of Water (1988) by T. Ando in Tomamo Beyond the effects of light and sound, is the image of the temple itself when it (Japan), in buildings that mark the route of the Pilgrim (2010) Our Lady of the 15 is presented as an attraction. The conversion of these architectures into new urban Rosary in Talpa (Mexico) or the Bruder Klaus Chapel (2007) by P. Zumthor in icons is one of the latest policies of the Catholic Curia when it undertook a program Wachendorf (Germany). In the latter, the integration of the four elements is of religious buildings through competitive and prestigious commissions. This is the poetry: dense matter of the concrete is the commissioning work with a formwork case of the Church of Our Merciful Father church in Rome (2003) of R. Meier, where of trunks burned in the “cave” itself – since it has an opening at the top through the main nave dilutes its hierarchy and renounces to the luminous mystery that which the light, rain and wind come through and, in the distance look like a invites prayer, breaking down space into weightless walls and fi lling it with white light funeral stele. None of these four examples are built near cemeteries nor in them through large skylights that are attached. An attractive exterior image (Image 8), which summon death, but rather strengthen the power of the place and opens to it, prompting the thought, through the senses, to look into the background of each recalls the sails of the boat of salvation, sacrifi ces the solemnity of the shadow by the 16 invasion of the sun that hampers any possibility of seclusion. one. Shaded areas, close to Eastern concepts . Because people, in this way, will become part of the universe to which they belong and, understanding the cycles In all these sacred places that invite the assembly spectacle, the mass is of nature, become aware of this importance. It is the importance of the human neither ceremonial nor processional, but the staging of a rehearsed program for the condition which is reached by any religious path. As Tadao Ando says about his media evangelisation of pilgrims. These are places where time stops work: “I like to think of a place that allows you to forget the secular space of life for the services and that, week after week, re-emerge as television sets ready and focus on yourself, which is sacred 17”. for recording. Show and light - the cinema- form an alliance to make religion a contagious phenomenon that makes use of the mass media. A necessary refl ection on the sacred Meditation time: the four elements It is not surprising these trends of meditation in certain current sacred spaces that isolate us from the current world and lead us to an interior abyss facing “It was yesterday, and it would be the same if we had said, it was a million years ago, time is a magnifi cent panorama, that of an exterior much bigger than what lives in not a rope that can be measured knot by knot, time is an oblique and undulating surface that us. The sacred oppose the profane and to achieve this, draw a limit of closure only memory can make it move and be brought closer.” and protection. As noted by M. Eliade, scholar of religions, all sacred spaces José Saramago, 1991 are isolated by a wall that has to be crossed to enter the other world. Surely to But not all churches that cater to the ancient or recent Christian trends are evoke this dialogue, the current temples aim for a less visual and more sensory limited to getting close to the sky, recreate new metaphors or have an infl uence architecture 19, perhaps because humans crave magic and mystery, no miracles. on them as media shows as frozen in an image. Others look at the passing of And so, using the associations between the four elements and the senses, the time. The earliest demonstration of this is the Holy Cross Chapel in the cemetery passage of time is more obvious: the sacredness of every moment past that south of Stockholm (1935-1940) by G.E. Asplund. There is not a more suitable could no longer return. It is an architecture where sight is necessary because the location than that of a church in a cemetery to represent a time, because there light (fi re), measured and half power gives body and colour to shapes and gives is no time more precious to humans than the time between birth and death, and solemnity to space, where material (land) is present in its textures, activating the it is this time, in the burial for the farewell of others-, where all the time lived sense of touch and the signifi cance of that touch, where the atmosphere (air) is suddenly in an instant resembles, densely, a vast emptiness that anticipates the impregnated with moisture, temperature and odours that trigger the sense of absence of the loved one when not itself. smell activating the humility of memories. Also carrying the sound of the liquid The chapel highlights unanswered questions. Its perimeter hides the incineration element (water), the pulse of life, made of sound and silence, awakening the ear, of the body, but its orientation towards nature calls for its disappearance. The where the music takes shelter which is the most emotional intelligence. welcome is given by the water (pond, the impluvium and the fountain), metaphors Fire, earth, air and water, the four states of matter - energy, solid, liquid of the cycle of life and evidence of a silent dialogue between earth and sky. The and gas-summon the senses of sight, touch, smell and hearing to create an welcome and embrace take place under the portico protector and on the fl oor that architecture that, through humility, solemnity, silence and transcendence, invites 101

ENGLISH TEXT contemplation and shows the passing of time. This aspect of contemporary GUERRERO, S. Le Corbusier, Message in a bottle. Alicante: ed. CTAA y UA, 2011. 159 pages. sacred spaces combine West with East, taking place in the shadows, has a ISBN: 978-84-614-8578-9, pages. 147-157. secular vocation and precipitates ancient traditions of remote hermitages to 19 This thesis is maintained in: PALLASMAA, Juhani. The eyes of the skin: Architecture and the invoke the sense of existence projected onto nature. But why an architecture senses. Barcelona: Gustavo Gili, 2006. 76 pages. ISBN: 978-84-252-2135-8. that engages with nature? In part, because we have become aware that nature is limited and is in danger. And in part, because it contains all the mysteries of life and thus of the existence: listening to it is to listen, feeling it is to feel, knowing it THE CHURCH OF ST. BERNADETTE OF NEVERS ¿EXPRESSIVE CONCLUSION is to know. Between God and nature there is no gap, but an identity, the same as OR OBLIQUE BEGINNING? that of architecture whose space contains time. In short, the sacred architecture Deigo Fullaondo Buigas de Dalmau of the twentieth century has renewed its symbolic imaginary of its spaces and, Universidad Camilo José Cela, Madrid simultaneously, developed two trends: that of an architecture that caters more to the visual and crowds and the other that favours the sensory and the intimate. Between the years 1963 and 1968 Claude Parent and Paul Virilio developed, published These are certainly two sides of the same necessary coin: media light versus time and presented the main thesis of their collaboration: The Function of the Oblique. for meditation as an expression of community life, festive, and the certainty of the A thesis that was defi nitive, risky and for some critics, voluntarily simplistic, that loneliness of the individual. announced the implementation which Virilio called the “The third order of urban” 1: a new system of geometric references for society and architecture that condensed Illustrations the morphological solution into one line, in one form: the oblique. Facing the lack of IMG. 1 St. Antonius (1926-27) by Karl Moser, Basel editorial interests they encountered in presenting their ideas, they dedicated a part IMG. 2 St. Johannes church (1934-36) by Karl Edenger and Ernst F. Burckhardt, Basel of their fees corresponding to their fi rst and most signifi cant building assignment, IMG. 3 St. Policarpo church (1964-67) by Guiseppe Nicolossi, Rome the church of St. Bernadette of Nevers, to publishing the proposed theoretical IMG. 4 Our lady of Guadalupe church (1961-67) by Félix Cándela and others, Madrid themselves which they had worked on since 1963, in nine editions of the journal- IMG. 5 A church in Harlem (c. 1930), unknown, New York manifesto Architecture Principe appearing during the year 1966. (IMAGE 1) IMG. 6 Metropolitan Cathedral of our Lady Aparecida (1959-70) by Oscar Niemeyer, Brasilia In an almost concise way, the oblique theorem can be summarised in four steps IMG. 7 Crystal Cathedral (c. 1975-81) by Phillip Johnson, Garden Grove (the use of the term “theorem” is due to the scientifi c objective which the authors IMG. 8 Church of our Merciful Father (1996-2003) by Richard Meier, Rome presented their reasoning. A logical authoritarian structure, almost stifl ing, to use IMG. 9 Holy Cross Chapel (1935-40) by Gunnar E. Asplund, Stockholm an adjective that Rem Koolhaas qualifi ed his own production): IMG. 10 Notre -dame -du -Haut (1950-54) Le Corbusier, Ronchamp The urban and architectural modals are outdated. They have shown their IMG. 00 Hill of meditation in the chapel of the Holy Cross (1935-40) by Gunnar E. Asplund, Stockholm incapability to build a viable alternative for the current and future problems of a contemporary society. Within the framework of existing horizontal and vertical Endnotes urban orders, it is possible to outline a solution for the fundamental problem of the 1 BENJAMIN, Walter. Discursos interrumpidos I. Translation by: Jesús Aguirre. Madrid: Taurus urban structure: the drastic segregation that both provoke between the circulation Ediciones, 1973. 206 pages. ISBN: 84-306-1091-X. space and living space; between public and private spaces. 2 SNOW, Charles Percy. “The two cultures” (1959). In: FLORES, Edmundo. Ensayos Scientifi c Only one of the defi ning elements of the architectural space has not been experiments. Mexico: National Council of Science and Technology, 1982 (3rd edition.). 274 pages. explored or manipulated throughout the history of architecture. Interior ISBN: 968-823-006-5, pages. 11-44. enclosures, exterior and covered façades have undergone intense and successive 3 Think in the discovery of the particle elements of matter in physics in the beginning of the 20th modifi cations. However, the fl oor, the stepping plane has remained unexplored Century and the similar process that were carried out later on by the Avant- gard with respect and unchanging in its basic confi guration. to Art, in: WATSON, Peter. Intellectual History of the 20th Century. Barcelona: Crítique, 2007. 965 From these two premises, the following conclusion is deduced: predictably it pages. ISBN: 978-84-8432-805-6. will be in the manipulation of the fl oor plane, where alternatives are found that 4 A magnifi cent synthesis is found on the monograph “Recintos Religiosos” de: allow the architecture to evolve and construct a proposal that resolve the new MONOGRAFÍAS AV. 2002, nº 95. Madrid: edition. Arquitectura Viva SL. 1986-2012, ISSN: 0213- diffi culties they face. 487X. Propose the implementation of the third order of urban: the oblique order. 5 ZELLER, Christa. Guide to Swiss Architecture, 1920-1990 (2º vol): Northwest Switzerland, Jura, The oblique line should replace the rigid frame delimited by the two Cartesian Central Plateau. Stuttgart: Karl Krämer Verlag, 1994. 275 pages. ISBN: 3-909145-12-4; pages 23 axes. The vertical and horizontal do not disappear, but lose their reference and 33. and predominance and become, simply, two very particular cases of a range of 6 MAVILIO, Stefano. Guida all’Archittetura Sacra: Roma 1945-2005. Roma: Electa, 2006. 262 pages. possibilities infi nitely wider.2 ISBN: 88-370-4141-1. The function of the Oblique met with strong opposition in those cultural and 7 The success of laminated structures in architecture in the decades centred in the 20th century architectural settings, removed from the obvious changes that were occurring in is wonderfully displayed in the conference by Carmen JORDÁ SUCH: “Forma y Técnica. Otra western society. It was also met with diffi culty among the groups that were trying arquitectura, otros paisajes” en el Colegio de Arquitectos de Alicante el 10-03-2011 dentro del to envisage a probable future within the confusing scene of training. Their obscure ciclo Foro-Crítica V. diagnosis and above all their unequivocal intended conclusion were perceived with 3 8 The homily by the priest Juan Miñana is cited by MARTÍNEZ MEDINA, A. Formigó diví, Llum an uneasy mix of humour and fear among their colleagues .(IMAGE 2) humana. Religiositat i Modernitat en les esglèsies d’estiueig del sud valencià. AGUAITS, nº 19- During the short fi ve years in which their collaboration lasted, the team of 20, Valencia: Edition IECMA. 1988-2012, ISSN: 0214-269, pages 129-162. Architecture Principe exclusively received four building assignments. Two of 9 Cited in: BENJAMIN, Walter, ob. cit. page 23. them, the Mariotti House and the Charleville Cultural Centre, unfortunately 10 BOTEY, Josep Ma. Oscar Niemeyer. Barcelona: Gustavo Gili, 1996. 255 pages. ISBN: 84-252- remained in the designing stage. They completed the construction of the 1576-2, page 164. other two: Thomson-Houston Industrial complex and the Parish Centre of St. 11 Inevitably the comments about the work of Asplund as in the following by Le Corbusier are Bernadette of Nevers. The budgetary and functional limitations that surrounded nourished by visits and references to MARTÍNEZ SANTA-MARIA, Luis. El árbol, el camino, the industrial project, made it so that the responsibility of presenting in public el estanque, ante la casa. Madrid: Fundación Caja de Arquitectos, 2004. 206 pages. ISBN: the effective materialisation of the theoretical principles of their defi nitive oblique 84-932542-9-0. theorem fall exclusively on the church of St. Bernadette. 12 Le Corbusier cited in: GIL, Paloma. El templo del siglo XX. Barcelona: Ediciones del Serbal, 1999. The assignment of Nevers was built due to the strong relationship Virilio had 229 pages. ISBN: 84-7628-277-X, page. 208. with the Catholic Church. The original project of the Parish Centre was composed 13 Idem. by two facing and independent pieces: the church itself and another volume, which in the end was not built, intended for the presbytery. The volume of the 14 Can be seen in: MAVILIO, Stefano, 2006, ob. cit., pages. 206-207. church, of hexagonal fl oor and two levels places the main room on the second 15 Can be seen in: ADRIÁ, Miquel. “Senderos de arte”. Arquitectura Viva. 2011, nº 139. Madrid: fl oor, characterised for being supported on two frameworks that fl y over the lower edition Arquitectura Viva SL. 1988-2012, ISSN: 0214-1256, pages 67-69. enclosure and gently slopes towards the central intersection, where the main 16 Characterised in: TANIZAKI, Junichiró. In praise of shadows. (1933). Translation: Julia Escobar. access to the worship area appears. Two secondary access points on both sides th Madrid: Siruela, 2003 (15 edition.). 95 pages. ISBN: 84-7844-258-8. of the central space, occupy the small fractures made when laterally moving the

17 AUPING, Michael. Tadao Ando. Conversations with Michael Auping. Barcelona: Gustavo Gili, enclosure shells that delimit the main nave. (IMAGE 3) 2003. 94 pages. ISBN: 84-252-19390-6, page. 22. Undoubtedly, the most striking aspect of the work of Nevers is the incorporation, 102 18 Cited by: QUETGLAS, Josep. “Hacia Ronchamp”. En: MARTÍNEZ, A., GUTIÉRREZ, M.E.; with surprising literalness, of practically all of its morphological and constructive

EN BLANCO · Nº 11 · 2013 · ARQUITECTURA SACRA elements of a type of building which is extremely far removed from sacred A simple, temporary analysis of the collaboration between the two authors, architecture and all of the usual references to the intense architectural debates in explain in large part this difference. The Nevers project was developed between those years: the military bunkers. the years 1963 and 1966. That is to say: It began immediately following the - Parent and Virilio used reinforced concrete almost entirely for the volumetry meeting of Parent and Virilio and ends co-insiding with the public presentation of the church. Concrete does not only assume its usual structural mission, of the oblique theory in the journal. Hence, the project is developed at most but fl oors, ceilings, enclosures, or even furniture, are solved with this unique simultaneously to the new theory which they were giving form to. With the apparent fi nish. enormous diffi culties that involved always checking the material of a proposed - The characteristic morphology of the bunkers, intended for military purposes theory, already closed (construction, programme, functionality, technology, etc.) and by removing the recognisable silhouette of the building in the landscape, and adding the urgency of the timeframe, it is understandable the discrepancies through the use of soft geometry, curvilinear, continuous without edges, it is between the practical and the theory. However, this distortion or lack of recuperated for the confi guration of all the volumetry of the project. agreement between the theoretical speech and its only signifi cant materialisation - The location and singular characteristics of the access points, the circulations, generated a certain confusion and lack of understanding with specialised critics. the lighting and the ventilation of the defensive structure spaces conceived Work and theory were framed in the environment of the diverse groups of the as fractures or minimum movements among several protective shells, is also time in function that the interpreter would put the emphasis on some of the incorporated into Nevers. aspects of the misunderstood team in which they both formed. (IMAGE 6) - Imitating even its implementation of fl oating over the land which despite the Michel Ragon situated himself in the French group, in the environment referred heaviness of its mass, appear as fl oating objects, without foundations. Posed in to architectural Brutalism 9. This critical interpretation could be correct from the landscape rather than being anchored to it. a particular view, in some aspects concerning the work of the church of St. This unmistakable morphology of the church of Nevers comes from, without Bernadette. But in any case could be applied to the function of the oblique. Its a doubt an intense obsession in Paul Virilio, whose childhood was marked due principles, its position facing the masters of the Modern Movement, its relation the drama of the Second World War. The signs left in the landscape of the French with the construction industry and, in short, the theory of the oblique as a whole, Atlantic coast by the German defence of the Siegfried and Maginot lines, has been was in opposite poles to the vague formulation of the elusive current annotated by an indelible and recurring memory in all of the thinkers’ activities: “I arrived to Reyner Banham. architecture through the beaches and not through school” 4. Bruno Zevi, with some doubts, classifi ed the proposal of Architecture Principe Without any academic training in architecture, Virilio had been since 1958 in what he called the Informal Current 10. Zevi’s doubts were not limited to the (fi ve years before meeting Parent) studying and documenting those enigmatic French’s doubts. It extended to the current as a whole and the possibility that bunkers 5. The infl uence of this research on the overall work of the Architecture it could be formulated within the fi eld of architecture 11. Despite this, the Italian Principe group is manifested. They dedicated edition Nº 7 of its journal, “Bunker critic exemplifi ed this qualifying epigraph with the Nevers church and the Infi nite Archéologie” exclusively to these singular military constructions. (IMAGE 4) House by Kiesler. Again, it could be validated for the work built by the French Nevers uses a morphology and a constructive vocabulary whose richness team but does not seem to be applicable to the oblique theory. The name of the had been sensed by Virilio, and Parent, feeling the passion of his colleague 6, French group is an unmistakable symptom of the intense vocation to discipline translates the architectural codes, already far removed from the strict military and rigor that the proposal contained. Questioned by Michel Ragon about function. Despite the evidence of these formal references, Parent had always the origin of the group’s name, Paul Virilio confi rmed the last intention of the defended that its adoption should be contemplated as a secondary element in the proposal: architecture is the beginning of organisation 12. Parent is even clearer: it project 7. It may well be. However, it is also probable that this clarifi cation of the deals with fi nding new principles to respect, in order to oppose the uncontrollable architect, responded above all, to the intense discrepancies which ended their fantasy. (IMAGE 7) collaboration on 1968 8. In France, its peer group linked the work with the Church by Firminy that saw the To understand the fascination that this military architecture produced in Parent, light in those same years, and were quickly labelled as post-Corbuserian 14. it would be insightful to have a look at the previous career of this multi-faceted The overwhelming presence of the church of St. Bernadette situated it, without architect. Years before they formed a partnership, Parent was immersed in trying diffi culty in what is called expressionism. Both its dark and cavernous interior and to fi nd an architectural answer to the plastic informality of André Bloc with whom well as the heavy mass of its exterior are correctly interpreted as a cry, decidedly he diligently collaborated. As an expressive reaction to the extreme rigidity that had facing the expressive asepsis towards what had evolved in the more orthodox, degenerated the International Style, the usual sculptures of Bloc, searched with rationalist language. diffi culty its translation to architectural space in the projects he designed together Effectively, the theoretical development of their oblique theory was found in with Parent of the chapels in Paris or the proposal of the Dakar theatre. Another the notion of comfort, both psychological and physiological, the profound cause of of Parents’ projects such as the Hotel in Corsica which he designed with Gérard vertically and horizontally maintaining the old Cartesian order. A notion of comfort Mannoni in 1963 had undeniable connection to his confessed reference in that that according to them, urged getting out of, to rise from the drowsiness that period, the Infi nite House by Frederik Kiesler in 1959. Within the framework of these human beings were submerged in, to wake up to new sensations, curiosity and investigations, it is not understood how this risky encounter with the architecture of possibilities, to take apart the false sensation of balance and stability that were the bunkers presented by Virilio, provided architecture new and unexpected keys in instilled in them. (IMAGE 8) order to complete this connection between architecture and plastic arts within the However, unlike the work of the late Le Corbusier, Saarinen, Candela, Utzon maximum expression of the universe, so long sought after. (IMAGE 5) or Neimeyer who traditionally contemplated from a will of expressive origin, the The adaptation, for religious use, of a type of antagonistic architecture with the images that illustrate the theoretical ideas of Architecture Principe, was the predictable, both in its aim and its ideals, also responded to the unquestionable consequence of the application of a new and rigid spatial theorem. In them, there polemicist vocation and the publicity characteristics of the French team. But was no initial iconic and gestural will. There was no premature enmity with the what is certain is the decided use of the architectural military vocabulary in regularity. There was no arbitrary act searched for or found. Rather the opposite. Nevers aimed at an ambitious and a double objective, related on one hand, to the Having been questioned about the dramatisation and monumentality of their individual careers of the authors, and on the other, the joint proposal that they proposals, the French team defended themselves affi rming that the singularity were developing: and expressiveness of their spaces were but a perceptive consequence in addition The conclusion to the previous two investigations, personal and independent: to applying the principles of the oblique 15. Virilio and the catastrophe of the war; Parent and the architectural translation of the Five short years and only one work Parent and Virilio had to prove their great informality streak of Bloc. oblique hypothesis. Work and theory, both have exceptional architectural values. The invention of some news bases for a new constructive and architectural However, against what the authors and the specialised critics made an effort to dictionary, not contaminated in its origin by trends and previous styles that allowed point out had very little in common. The distortion that appeared between the them to give form to their new proposed oblique. function of the oblique and the Nevers church, go far beyond the timely diffi culties, Contemplating the materialisation of the church of Nevers with the critical temporary urgency, technological limitations or programmatic restrictions. A large advantage that the passing of time provides, it is easier to evaluate how the singular part of the misunderstanding that one another suffered was a consequence of work was able to reach both objectives. The expressive capacity of the volume mass forcing these interpretations into only one creative impulse. (IMAGE 9) of the church and its itinerary of interior space is undeniable. On the contrary, the The church is the result of a collision between Virilio’s childhood fascination with capacity of the project to clarify a paradigmatic physical particularity of the function the German bunkers, those small enclaves in the landscape that condensed human of the Oblique is less evident. Its conclusive value as a condenser of the previous control over the land and the plastic and the non-conformist Parent, who searched concerns of the two authors is much more evident than its purpose value as an for alternatives to develop the architectural language confi ned to the International example of the new theoretical speech in training. Style. Both approaches co-inside in one point: a conception of architecture as a 103

ENGLISH TEXT sculptural object and mildly autistic. The slight inclination of the frameworks of the of Experimental Architecture): “Parent and Virilio immediately stood out for their black suits in main nave of the church is the only element of the project that could be linked to contrast to the more psychedelic fashion preferred by most of the architects of that time. They The Function of the Oblique. The oblique theorem does not contain any consideration took to the stage and presented a series of drawings of oblique cities unfolding in the landscape. that made obligatory the physical precision of its principles with an architectural When fi nished, the audience stood up and dedicated an energetic Hitler salute” language so severely monolithic 16 and heavy. What is more, the oblique solution 4 Francis Rambert cites these words by Paul Virilio, in Absolutement Atypique, Résolument sees severely limited its effectiveness due to the superposition of the singular Moderne, inside Claude Parent, L’Oeuvre Construite, L’Oeuvre Grahique, Cité de l’architecture & du defensive and secretive morphology of the bunkers: the segregation of urbanism and patrocine, Paris, 2010, pg.24. architecture, between circulation and living, instead of being dissolved, it is made 5 The works of Paul Virilio concluded with the termination of his doctoral thesis on the subject more defi nitive; the interior and exterior space, the public and private, are brutally and published in “Bunker Archeologie”, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris January, 1975, re-edited in English in 1994 “Bunker Archaeology”. New York: Princeton Architectural Press. separated and its relation is limited in the minimum fractures of the massive protective covering of the magnifi cent spiritual refuge that makes up the church. 6 Claude Parent, “Interview with Claude Parent. Irénée Scalbert and Mohsen Mostafavi”, The function Its’ overwhelming and unmistakable morphological exterior converts it into a of the oblique, 1996, pg 51. “The military vocabulary of the bunkers dominated our initial projects, the church and cultural centre of Charleville. Virilio saw the bunker as the apotheosis of twentieth unique totem, sacred and an historic symbol of the 20th century. The project reaches century architecture (...) and his enthusiasm was contagious. I began to realise that they were a maximum proportions of expressiveness in its interior space. It is impossible splendid form of architecture. I liked the continuity of shapes, size and clarity of the concrete shells, not to be shocked facing the potential of the spiritual nucleus of the reinforced and how they responded to the landscape. Some bunkers also had a sense of movement. If you concrete that Parent and Virilio built in the centre of city in Nevers. This expressive contemplate for long enough, they seem to advance toward you, like tanks. Both Virilio and I decided vocation was the real creative vector leading the project. Apart from the timely to use the military vocabulary to start a formal dialectic” coincidence, supporting their interpretation in the oblique theory did not help in the 7 Michel Ragon, “ Réponse de Claude Parent à Paul Virilio”, Monografi e critique d’un architecte, understanding of the true values of the work. Nor, of course, in the theory. (IMAGE 10) Claude Parent, 1982, pg. 199: “Our decision to use this language to the form of the church was For the materialisation of the theoretical principles of The function of the oblique, produced in the fi nal stages of project development. Sometime after defi ning the fractured it seems more appropriate to anticipate a more ethereal, lighter morphology; an hexagonal, the double reverse slope inside the nave, the slight inclination of the walls and the side architectural form that focuses its mass on the manipulation of the oblique in the and central entrances” fl oor plan, assuring the dissolution, the dematerialisation or the camoufl age of the 8 The University riots of 1968 lit the fuse that destroyed the unity of the group, making manifest rest of its constructive surfaces. However and curiously, Parent himself remained and irreconcilable the differences in the attitudes facing the architecture of its two components. anchored to the massive constructive dictionary of Nevers in subsequent projects While Virilio committed and actively participated in all the events of May 68, Parent was much to his collaboration with Virilio in which he did attempt a real materialisation of the more distant. Claude Parent, “Interview with Claude Parent. Irénée Scalbert and Mohsen Mostafavi”, The function oblique principles, such as the supermarkets of Reims or Sens in the beginning of of the oblique, 1996 pg. 55. “‘68 was not at all as I expected. I had expected the movement to be the 70’s. In order to prove the misunderstood oblique theory in the year 1966, was beyond the simple removal of the established regime, and to propose a new way of thinking, effectively materialised in projects of important scale he had to wait almost three a new order. I don’t think being a fascist speaks of order. From my point of view, this word implies decades, when appeared buildings such as the Kunsthal of Rotterdam (opened in consistency, a system of thought accepted by most of the population. But those who were involved 1992) and the Educatorium of Utrech (1997) by OMA, the terminal port of Yokohama in the events of ‘68 just destroyed everything without proposing any realistic alternative. Virilio’s (2002) by FOA, the Opera house in Oslo (2008) by Snohetta or more recently, the experience at that time was very different. It was close to the heart of things. He wrote an article Rolex Learning Centre of Lausanne (2010) by SANNA. But this is another story. for a special issue of the magazine L’Express, and joined the group that occupied the Odeon. When I went to see him, he told me that he now called himself “Comrade Paul”. These people took themselves very seriously, forming sub-committees and revolutionary committees.I have no Illustrations stomach for that sort of thing. It reminded me of the riots in the liberation of southern France, where IMG. 1 Ideogram of the function of the oblique by Paul Virilio in 1966 and published in issue Nº 3 gangs of teenagers armed with guns went in search of revenge. of Architecture Principe, April 1966 I hate that mentality of a fervored mass. Likewise in the churches: where people gather in large groups, individual will is lost. IMG. 2 Claude Parent and Paul Virilio: [form left to right: the four responsible for Architecture Principe] Paul Virilio, “Architecture Principe. Pour mémoire”, Monografi e critique d’un architecte, Claude section scheme of St. Bernadette church of Nevers; perspective of the social building of the industrial Parent, 1982, pg. 197 “Today, as I wrote to Claude Parent during the summer of 1968, I still think that complex of Thomson-Houston in Villacoublay; section of the cultural centre of Charleville; sectioned the Architecture Principe group had a beautiful ending, since it did not end its activity because of perspective of the Mariotti House. petty personal quarrels, or short stories, but because of history.” IMG. 3 Claude Parent, Paul Virilio: St. Bernadette of Nevers, photograph of the model of the original 9 Michel Ragon, en Monografi e critique d’un architecte, Claude Parent, 1982, pg. 181: “If there is a project, published in the journal New Form 1968, in which appear the two corresponding volumes of movement to which we can get close to the built work of Claude Parent, this is the brutalism. That the church and Parish (not built). brutalism presented in the Drusch house (1963-1965), reaching its full extension in the Bordeaux-Le IMG. 4 Bunkers photographs taken by Paul Virilio and gathered in the publication Bunker Archeologie Pec House, which becomes Mannerism in the Nevers church (1966), and takes up again a staggering from the Georges Pompidou centre (1975) amplitude with the supermarket in Reims (1969)” IMG. 5 from left to right and top to bottom: exterior and interior of the Infi nite House by Frederik 10 Bruno Zevi, Historia de la Arquitectura Moderna, “XII. La tercera época: itinerarios de los años Keisler(1959); model of the project for Hotel in Corsica made by Claude Parent and sculptor Gérard cincuenta-setenta. La corriente informal: Frederick Kiesler, Claude Parent”, 1980, pg. 401: “… [The Mannoni (1963). oblique function] is the indirect result of the informal, whose naturalist chaos, however, rejects.” IMG. 6 Claude Parent, Paul Virilio: St. Bernadette of Nevers, upper fl oor, lower fl oor and volume section 11 Idem. Previous, pg. 396: “The architectural crisis in the fi fty- seventies refl ects trauma and corresponding to the church. delusions of pictorial and plastic itinerary ... [that] undermine an operational phase of architecture IMG. 7 Claude Parent, Paul Virilio: St. Bernadette of Nevers, exterior photographs of construction stage that cannot be removed: the project.” and fi nal stage, published in the New Form journal in 1968. 12 Michel Ragon, Monografi e critique d’un architecte, Claude Parent, 1982, pg. 164: “Virilio states IMG. 8 Claude Parent, Paul Virilio: St. Bernadette of Nevers, interior photograph of the main worship that the Architecture Principe group predates his meeting with Parent and it was he who chose that room, published in the New Form journal in 1968. name because he understood that before a work, architecture is an organizing principle.”

IMG. 9 From left to right and top to bottom: group scheme, use and confi guration of the residential 13 Answer from Claude Parent to Michel Ragon, en Monografi e critique d’un architecte, Claude space made by Parent for his book Ðvivre á lÐobliqueÐ (1970); model-prototype of the group of oblique Parent, 1982, pg. 164: “Architecture Principe, because it dealt with discovering principles for residential units made by Claude Parent and Paul Virilio (1967); perspective of use of exterior public architecture capable of being applied to different cases. In short, a coherent architecture, obtained space of the oblique residential units. through principles to respect, which opposes the “fantasy” unbridled and undisciplined”

IMG. 10 Claude Parent, Paul Virilio: set up plans and model of the installation project of the pendular 14 Claude Parent, “Interview with Claude Parent. Irénée Scalbert and Mohsen Mostafavi”, The function of destabilising, conceived by the authors in order to carry out a monitored experiment dedicated to the the oblique, 1996, pg. 52: “I think Firminy was a good and mature work, possibly the best Corbu building, study of life on inclined slopes, lasting one month in the University campus of Nanterre in 1968. but it did not express the oblique function. The effect created by Corbu was a cantilevered mass, which is not the same as the ground plane physically fl oating. There are some elements in the church of Nevers that are not of Corbusier: the tiny holes drilled into the walls to allow the light through. But, really, I do not Endnotes like those holes. It was not my idea, and never showed them in photographs” 1 Paul Virilio, Architecture Principe nº2 Le Troiseme Ordre Urbain, March 1966 15 Claude Parent and Paul Virilio, “Mouvement et Monumentalité”, L’Architecture d’Aujourd’hui, nº 2 For a more complete and detailed analysis of the Function of the Oblique and its singularities, 139, September 1968: “If architecture [of the oblique function] re-appears oversized in relation to consult, Diego Fullaondo Buigas de Dalmau, La invención de la Fonction Oblique [the invention man, it is neither to a mere plastic end nor a willingness to dramatise. There is no authoritarian of the function of the oblique]”, doctoral thesis of the Department of architectural design of the intention: this monumentality is inherent to moving space. This space of movement specifi cally Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura, Madrid in March 2012 oblique requires the monumentality, because it brings in its depth of fi eld perception. There is an 3 According to Frédéric Migayrou in his article “The defi nition of a critical architecture”, note 4, implicit symbiosis between the oblique space and monumental space. “ of the book “The function of the oblique” published by the Architectural Association, 1996 pg. 16 The term fractured monolithic, appears in catalogue of the French participation the 6th International 63, in which he cites the words of the members of Archigram, Dennis Crompton, related to Architecture Fair of Venice 1996, commissioned by Frédéric Migaurou, “Pour un architecture 104 the intervention of Parent and Virilio in 1966, during the congress IDEA (International Dialogue factuel”, Bloc, Le monolithe fracture, Édifi ces Culturel, Architecture de Reserche, 1996.

EN BLANCO · Nº 11 · 2013 · ARQUITECTURA SACRA PLACES OF SCARED ARCHITECTURE: THE LITURGICAL ASSEMBLY AS A It is interesting to observe the ruins of the Paleoechristian basilica of San FUNCTIONAL REFERENCE Peretó in Menorca, 5th century, that contains two baptismal pools, one excavated in the fl oor and another similar located on a podium which shows what could be Juan María Moreno Segui an example of the evolution of the pool towards the baptismal font. Department of Architectural Projects, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia However this evolution, the baptism by affusion and the baptismal pool would endure as a main a form of administrating baptism at least until the 8th century. “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes [2]. It is known that in the 14th century its use was very uncommon. from or where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the spirit” [1] Another place that is present in all primitive basilicas in Christendom is the Nartex. This is a place of meeting and gathering that fulfi ls a double function: one These words spoken by Jesus to Nicodemus, “Master in Israel”, shows in a the one hand it establishes a functional distance between the liturgical hall and certain way, the crux of the matter in the design of sacred architecture. the exterior space and on the other, contributes to the verbal exchange between The specifi c characteristics that gives a sacred quality to certain spaces in united people that through deep bonds of friendship, which inevitably, are given relation to liturgy, that is to say, the execution of actions of ritual character and in each previous meeting, but above all after the mass, does not take place inside with prayer. the hall, preserving in this way, its calm and secluded atmosphere. One of the aspects of all ritual action, perhaps one that has more to do with In the tradition of Nartex, Christianity inherits from Judaism, its place of origin architecture, is the need for symbols All important realities that affect liturgy, all (Jesus was Jewish as well as most of his disciples) and more specifi cally the those that are contained in fundamental liturgical actions, possess a quality, or Temple of Jerusalem where in reality is a richer set and articulated by portico- put this way, a fatality: it is not seen, they are spiritual realities. atrium – Nartex that reproduce the primitive Constantine basilicas becoming, Sacred architecture must be skilful in order to strengthen the experience of the in great, a model for all Christendom. (In the East the model is more concentric sacramental symbols. than in the basilica but continues to incorporate the Nartex). Liturgy, therefore, needs the ingredients that go beyond the strict functional It must be said that the places being described, exterior to the liturgical hall requirements, what is more, I dare to say, that often a purely functional design itself but generally linked to it are superimposed on a set of places that have is converted into the enemy that threatens the suitability of the architectural always been located in the interior, (the altar, the place for proclaiming the Word, space to respond to the demands of the liturgy. How many times has the strict the presidential Seat, the place of preaching or the homily, the assembly of the functionality killed liturgy? How many times have we sacrifi ced the symbols on congregation , matroneum, ambulatory,…) the altar of functionalism, under the fl ag of comfort? Others are linked to certain “special” types of Eucharistic assemblies, as in However, this does not mean to say that a church does not have to be the case of the choir for the mass in the hours when the monastic or conventual functional, but it’s the liturgy function and its contents, especially its use of the communities join. symbol that will arrange and organise all the functional characteristics. In this sense it should be pointed out that it is a common mistake, when For example, the seat in which one presides over a celebration has to be refl ecting on churches; that of putting in the same group buildings which have comfortable, but above all, whether it is or not, its suitability depends on if it little or nothing to do with each other from the point of view of their strict adequately serves the liturgy experience and the understanding of the symbols of functionality, this highlighted by the fact that cast of characters is notably the ritual action. extensive (cathedrals, basilicas and sanctuaries, pilgrimage temples, parish This article tries to refl ect around a specifi c place of sacred architecture, the churches, conventual and monastic churches, chapels, prayer room, hermitage,… most representative of all of them, the one which is more in the origin of this and many more). architecture, in short, that which receives the Christian assembly, gathered with Forget for example that Notre Dame du Haut in Ronchamp is a pilgrimage the purpose of celebrating the sacrament of Eucharist. church and take from it some elements as a model for a parish church could lead In this place that is commonly identifi ed with the term church. The refl ection us to making a very big mistake. will be mainly based on the approach this place has in the Catholic Church and Many other specifi c places have been incorporated throughout history, either in the theoretical basis that, in it, sustain the distinctive features of its form, its to satisfy certain practical needs (in the case of the sacristy, from the place for peculiarities, although on occasion could surpass this sphere. the orchestration of song or the bell tower for summoning) or in relation to the appearance of certain devotional practises (the side chapels, for example or Background -the incorporation of other sacred places the Stations of the Cross) or with the transformation of the liturgy. Although I propose to focus the analysis on the present day, a brief journey In this last sense, a case rich in consequences is what is known as the Chapel through history would be useful, to gather some facts that could be helpful in the of the Communion, a place that emerges as a result of the controversy introduced purpose at hand, which is no other than to draft a refl ection, necessarily concise by Luther and take form in the years following the Council of Trent. for its size, on the characteristics that today, the place of the Christian liturgy In effect, facing the affi rmations of Luther with respect to the modality of the assembly must have. presence of Jesus Christ in both kinds of the Eucharist, the Catholic Church As stated, the place we call church and more specifi cally its main liturgical opposes its worship. And so this is how the reservation of the Eucharist becomes hall; that which has as its main purpose to receive the gathered assembly around a central role in the liturgical space and the tabernacle is converted into the the celebration of the Eucharist, is the Christian liturgical place of origin. epicentre of the same, unchained, by the hand of notable conciliars and post- What is more, before the peace of Constantine that happened in the beginning conciliars such as; Carlos Borromeo and the expansion of the Order of the of the 4th century, the meeting places were the houses of the Christians and Jesuits, the appearance of a new space: the Chapel of the Communion, that is more specifi cally of an affl uent Christian that allowed, for the spatial generosity moderately derived from the Ferial Chapel or place for the Eucharist gathering on of a particular room, the gathering of the community. Take into account that the the day of less people. communities were not made up of many members. During these three decades, give or take, in which the church was forced by Guidelines issued by the II Vatican Council persecution by the Roman power limited to specifi c regions or more generalised After this quick tour to extract some of the episodes that will be useful in in others, alternated by periods of calm, a second liturgical place starts to make subsequent refl ections , what remains is to take a look at the guidelines outlined its appearance: the baptistery. by the teachings of the church and in particular by the documents of the ll Vatican In effect, the most primitive place for baptism does not have architecture; Council and those that derive from them, in order to analyse some of the most it was a river-bed or water from fountains. However, in the 1st decade or the signifi cant churches in the last decades to see in which way they responded to or beginnings of the 2nd a place built for this purpose began to appear: the baptismal adjusted to the guidelines, but above all, the way they embrace or not the sense pool, which is nothing more than a translation to Christian theology from the that pulses behind this orders. Jewish Mikwah or pool for the ritual bath of purifi cation. It is precisely the fi rst and early Conciliar decree: the Sacrosantum Concilium The church would adopt the baptismal pool and incorporate it gradually into its promulgated on the 4th of December 1963, which take the fi rst but important step sacred architecture in a way that the primitive basilicas were built by the Roman that led to the complete liturgical transformation in the last decades. emperor Constantine after the Edict of Milan (year 313 or 314) or for his mother in This fact should be of no surprise because the Liturgical Movement, appearing Jerusalem, the baptistery appears as a specifi c building for the baptismal liturgy offi cially in Maliñas in September 1909, but having roots dating back to the fi rst and housed the pool in its interior. third of the 19th century, had already laid the foundations for it, leaving ripe and The baptismal pool would evolve into the baptismal font as in the baptism by urgent the need to revise all the aspects that affected the liturgy and with that, immersion was replaced with baptism by affusion above all with the incorporation as it could not be any other way, the transformation of the architectural space of baptising children from the 3rd century onwards. destined to house it. 105

ENGLISH TEXT If we take a global look at the liturgical doctrine of the Conciliar the fi rst thing the presbytery is more like a stage, and their “seat”, not too comfortable, it must that strongly stands out is the insistence on highlighting the participation of the be said that it is about twenty meters from the area where the scene takes place. congregation, lay persons , in the liturgy, which is but one of the many aspects that Adding to that are the 45 inches of elevation of the presbytery on the whole room try to return to the source, since the liturgy, throughout the decades had become and the height of the altar itself make it impossible for anyone in the assembly to notably clerical. have a view of the sacramental signs. The head, the Chancel that presides over the liturgy is fundamental; it acts in the Let’s see how with such emphasis one of the best Spanish specialists in recent person of Christ, but not in the body. The ll Vatican Council wanted to increase the times in the fi eld, Juan Plazaola puts it: value of the concept of the church as a body. “We must abandon this system of an elongated rectangular plan. First of Article 14 of the cited Decree manifests the intense wish of the fathers of the all, and we say again, for practical and obvious reason of participation. Being Conciliars who had expressed the active participation in the liturgy “the church of a frequent community that would count on frequent celebrations with several the Holy Mother ardently wishes that the congregation take to that full, aware and hundred believers, it is clear that a provision squadron layout makes impossible active participation in liturgical celebrations “. The underlined is mine. the “active participation” in the liturgy action. An enveloping distribution, in a It is not limited to the Decree in expressing this “burning desire” in the article greater or lesser extent, is absolutely necessary today “[6] but it is repeated at other various times, with the occasion of speaking about the Seemingly, is not referring to this church. This is a generic refl ection. Eucharist, or sacred music and others [3] but it is advisable to look at Article 19 since Another notable church that has the same disadvantage is the parish of Santa it adds a hint of accuracy. In effect, it says: “The shepherds of souls encourage Monica in Rivas Vaciamadrid, designed by architects Ignacio Vicens and Jose with diligence and patience the liturgical education and active participation of the Antonio Ramos. congregation, internal and external.” In this case the proportions of the plot and especially its meagre width have What is interesting here is the internal and external because it means that the forced the organisational scheme preventing the desire of the authors to propose participation involving the mind, the attention is not enough, nor does it deal with an assembly scheme more participatory as they have done in several of their seeing and hearing well but includes the “action”, namely, that the people gathered most representative churches. for the liturgy have to move from a spectator attitude to an attitude of actor. The interesting main resource of this church with remarkable virtues of plastic Another important aspect of the liturgical reform, full of implications for the and light contribute nonetheless to reinforce the theatrical organisation of the architectural space implies a new perspective on the altar. liturgical hall by emphasising the altarpiece. There are several features that are expressed in this place. Among them, two Another signifi cant aspect of liturgical developments affects the characteristics have remarkable architectural consequences: that the altar is the centre on which of the altar, its form, its location and its materiality. We have already mentioned the liturgy converges and everything surrounding it. [4] the provisions that stem from the liturgical reform in this matter. Needless to say, if the approach of the assembly is theatrical in nature, Basically, the issue here is whether we are witnessing the “sacrifi ce” of the if the congregation is a mere spectator, the altar and the sanctuary have all the Mass or on the contrary it is the “Passover meal”, or putting it another way, if we features of a scenario. Later, we will delve into this subject and the way they prioritise the features that identify it as an altar or sacrifi cial alter or rather those respond to such orders. which help defi ne it as a table. [7] Finally, before taking an in–depth look at the architecture and being aware of The altar (its etymology means high place) was destined for bloody sacrifi ce not having touched on more than a few aspects of the possible, I would like to where blood was spilt and fi re was lit. In a way (and here would argue over) was a make two brief descriptions of two key elements, both found in the presbytery: substitute for the mountaintop. If we want to be clear on the meaning of altar we the See and Ambon. make it out of rough stone and place it on a podium. Regarding the fi rst, the See, the essence of post-Conciliar doctrine lies in If, on the contrary, the meaning is that of a banquet table which one is understanding its role not only as a functional element but mostly symbolic, participating (a ritual banquet such as the “Seder” Passover that Jesus was and the fi gure that presides the celebration as the head of a body, that is to say, attending in his Last Supper) then place tablecloths over it, the assembly is united presiding but being part of the assembly. “around it” and it has to be big enough to make that symbol expressive. Regarding the Ambon or the place where the Word is proclaimed, it deals with The diffi culty, precisely, for the designer comes from that both meanings the understanding of it as the true throne of the Word, a stable and dignifi ed place, must coexist. reserved for certain liturgical actions surpassing its functional characteristic as a A third theme interesting but diffi cult at the same time refers to the support and lectern. relationship between the baptistery and the Eucharistic assembly. The problem Notwithstanding, it shall maintain the qualities of such that one must see well appears when you attempt to make the community which is gathered take from all the assembly and to hear well what is proclaimed, an acoustic question, of part in the baptismal liturgy. In this case the question arises as to its position, course, very much neglected in many churches today. the baptistery, with respect to the Eucharistic assembly. A position next to the entrance of the church and even exempt building better expresses the A look at some contemporary sacred architecture understanding of the Baptism as a gateway to the Christian community and The documents issued by the Church from the Conciliar that affect the liturgical better reproduce the custom of the early centuries of the Church, but today some space are numerous and generally develop a progressive itinerary, usual in policy circumstances are different to those given at that time. processes, some general concepts that defi ne the meaning of things in order to Baptism in the early Church was given, usually on Easter night only, as one establish more precise and concrete standards. more rite to all sacramental vigil and the attending community was small and For a start, all this implies an organisational scheme to the assembly. stable. Today, it is administered throughout the year and of a more individual The liturgical action is developed mostly in the area we call presbytery, which character and a la carte (the group is often unknown to the community hosting usually contains in the fi rst place, the altar, also the presidential See and sub- the ceremony) and is usually done as a specifi c rite detached from the Eucharist. See for when the con-celebration is given and thirdly the Ambon or the place How to keep out of the participation at the culminating point of the rite, the where the Word is proclaimed, contained in the Holy Scriptures. But the essential baptism itself, to those who are not there for any other reason, when the element in the organization is above all the assembly of the congregation itself. assembly is arranged facing the altar and baptism is performed by the door or This is an aspect that we don’t often fi nd refl ected in new churches, given the outside the assembly? importance of the post -Conciliar church grants. So, the designer who wants to enhance the expressiveness of the sign is A church, for example, like Santa María de Marco de Canavezes, the fl agship undecided about its placement. However, the most diffi cult issue is the one of sacred architecture by Alvaro Siza, designed and built between 1990 and affecting its form; with the choice between the font or baptismal pool and 1996, thirty years since the Conciliar, and certainly a remarkable piece of complying with the recommendation of policy documents advocating the presence architecture in respect to certain issues such as space, the handling of light or of “living water”, that is to say, visibly running, in movement and not stagnant. implementation in the place, and even sensitive to certain aspects of the renewed In fact, the Church, thus validating the baptism by affusion, the general custom liturgy, born strangely insensitive to the aspect we are discussing about schema today, advised however baptisms by aspersion/affusion as preferable in order that organises the assembly. to better express the spiritual realities which the sacrament contains. Certainly, Rudolf Schwarz in 1938 [5], in the epicenter of the Liturgical Movement, in this case, liturgical practice will go before and pull from the architectural had noted that the organisational structure of the assembly gathered to celebrate conditions and its transformation. the Eucharist should have a balance between centrality and linearity. Now, we refl ect on the choir. The Church clearly and categorically expressed In Marco de Canavezes, it is not just that the assembly is placed in groups but that it was “an assembly that sings” information fully consistent with the concept its proportions make it even more inadequate. A member of the congregation of active involvement in the liturgy. Therefore, the song does not come from 106 sitting in the back rows cannot possibly feel like an actor in the liturgy. For them a specialist group somewhat removed from the assembly, and the choir, as a

EN BLANCO · Nº 11 · 2013 · ARQUITECTURA SACRA special space separated from it, is meaningless. Only in special celebrations for IMG. 13 1995 - 1997. Dieter Georg Baumewerd. San Cristoforo. Westerland (Sylt). Germany. An assembly its solemnity and lack of cohesion of the congregation can the presence of that “Communio Raume” type which distributes the liturgical places through and axis embraced by the assembly. On one extreme of the axis, the altar, on the other the Ambon of the Word and in the centre choir make sense. the Baptismal pool. In communities that have such a specialist group consisting of members of the same, the challenge is to minister clearly showing, that by its position, belong to IMG. 14 2003 - 2005. Corine Callies and Jean Marie Duthilleul. San Francisco de Molitor. París.Assembly “Communio Raume” type, with the galleries incorporated in it. that community. The galleries, in any case, have a more matroneum sense or places of IMG. 15 AND 16 1998 - 2000. Richard Meier. Iglesia del Jubileo. Rome.This church, winner of a competition among great International fi gures, was presented as a model facing the third millennium. Without expansion of the capacity of the assembly for moments of special capacity but, diminishing the spatial and plastic qualities which are notable, from the liturgical point of view, it even so, it is appropriate that we plan them in such a way that maximises that it does not respond to the planned expectations for the church and its documents. Among other things, is understood as being linked to the liturgical assembly. the reservation of the Eucharist continues to be linked to the adjacent ferial chapel, in this case, the Also the position of the sacristy that often, for convenience is linked to the Chapel of the Communion. Presbytery runs the risk of detracting from the processional character of the ritual entrance to the liturgical celebration. Endnotes An aspect that nowadays is full of nuances refers to the position of the tabernacle or place of reservation of the Eucharist. I will close with an analysis of 1 Gospel of John, chapter 3, verse 8. (J 3.8) this issue with the refl ection on the Eucharistic assembly space since, although 2 It is known that baptism by affusion was still more frequent in the 13th century as St. Thomas of the issue is not fully developed, these are the most related to the liturgical reform Aquinas in his Summa Theologica state: It needs to be said that baptism by affusion represent that affect the characteristics of this space. with more expressiveness the symbol of the burial of Christ; and so, this way of baptising – Now the next step, once the centrality has been transferred from the affusion- is more frequent and laudable”. ST. THOMAS OF AQUINAS. Summa Theologica. lll. tabernacle to the altar, is to remove the reservation of the Eucharist from the q. 66, a. 7, ad. 2. Cited by DEL PALACIO PÉREZ-MEDEL, José Luis. The baptismal pool and the catechumen. Bilbao: Grafi te Ediciones. 2000. 162 pages. ISBN 84-95042-40-1 page 135 sphere itself of the celebration of the sacrament. The reason has been clearly expressed by many liturgists: The co-existence between the place where the 3 See: ll Vatican Council. Sacrosanctum Concilium constitution, on the sacred liturgy, numbers: 14, 19, 27, 30, 48, 50 and 114. Eucharistic bread is blessed during the celebration of the sacrament and where the reserve and already blessed bread is kept is nonsensical. 4 Among the post-conciliar documents that occupy the place for developing the liturgy, three are The solution taken by many churches after the Conciliar of moving the important for delimiting the characteristics of the altar: 1964. Instruction Inter Oecumenici for the strict application of the constitution of the sacred liturgy. -1969. General ordination of the tabernacle to an adjacent area such as the ferial chapel (thus acquiring the title Roman missal. (Pablo Ð)- 1977 Roman Pontifi cal. of Chapel of the Communion) is not the solution because the same argument that 5 SCHWARZ, Rudolf. Von Bau Der Kirche (The construction of churches). Heidelberg. 1938. justifi es and advises the dissociatation of the main hall is applicable to this. 167 pages. Includes ideological schemes on the organisation of the liturgical assembly. It’s best to create its own environment , that does not need much space but The introduction was by Mies van der Rohe. Rudolf Schwarz 1897-1961 was the architect of for its formal and environmental characteristics can acquire great dignity, not far the Liturgical Movement in Germany and together with the theologian Romano Guardini, from the different Eucharistic assemblies (main and ferial) and even within the with whom had a close relationship, developed the theoretical and practical basis for new space of one of them, if necessary, but making it clear that it does not belong to liturgical spaces. him but has its own space; this area suitable for individual prayer and in hand 6 PLAZAOLA ARTOLA, Juan. Arte sacro actual. 1ª Edición. Madrid: Biblioteca de Autores with the celebrant who preside over the Eucharistic liturgy take from there, if Cristianos, 2006. 742 pages. ISBN. 84-7914-849-7. Pg. 164 necessary, forms without giving the feeling of leaving the assembly. 7 FARNES SCHERER, Pedro. Construir y adaptar las iglesias. Orientaciones doctrinales y In conclusion, given the limitation of space to develop such a broad topic, which sugerencias prácticas sobre el espacio celebrativo, según el espíritu del Concilio Vaticano in general the liturgical norms issued in recent decades, give enough freedom to II. 1ª Edición. Barcelona: Editorial Regina, 1989. 272 pages. ISBN. 84-7129-393-5. See the designer but the importance given to the sign, to authenticity, returning to the in particular the chapter dedicated to the altar. On page 27 it states: “ But facing this sources, the concept of participation, the understanding of the Church as a body, conception of the altar as an altar Stone there is another that has begun to resurface again: to recover the mass as Pascua, the expressiveness of the liturgy, to the recovery the altar as a table, the table of the Lord, in the house of God. Seeing the altar as “a stone in the temple” responds to a common religious conception of humanity, from paganism of local languages, and so on, are so signifi cant in defi ning the characteristics of to Judaism to the temple of Jerusalem. See it, in turn, as “the table in the house” it is the place of celebration that we can say without fear of error, that the churches something exclusive and proper to Christianity. Today, the Missal of Pablo VI openly and have given a turnabout and that the schemes implemented before the council lost offi cially recognises this bipolarity of the Christian altar; and again the Pontifi cal Dedication its relevance in many aspects. The architect who is not informed of the meaning to the altar does it again, highlighting, as will be seen later, that the priority corresponds to of the new liturgical guidelines or is well advised will do nothing but base their the character of the table of the Lord, and not to the stone or the sacrifi cial stone. The altar church designs on issues that are meaningless for the Church today. [8] is, therefore, Stone, but above all table” 8 FERNÁNDEZ COBIÁN, Esteban El espacio sagrado en la arquitectura española contemporánea. Illustrations 1ª Edition. Santiago de Compostela: COAG, 2005. 693 pages. ISBN. 84-85665-71-6 It deals with an important book on the theme of sacred architecture. As a compliment to this article, read the IMG. 1 Luís Barragán. 1952. Chapel of the Capuchins. Tlalpan section ““La liturgia como programa: El Funcionalismo sacro” Pages. 205 - 210 IMG. 2 Sbeitla. Tunisia. Paleocristian Basilica of San Vitalis. Baptismal pool

IMG. 3 Baptismal pools of the Paleocristian Basilica of Son Peretó. Menorca INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY AND THE SACRED SPACE. CHURCH OF IMG. 4 1998 - 2001. Franck Hammoutene. Our lady of the Pentacost, Paris The Ambon, symbolising the BARANZATE 1957 burning bush of Moses and in a very unusual position protected by the assembly.

IMG. 5 Alvaro Siza. Santa María. Marco de Canavezes (Portugal) Guillermo Mocholí Ferrándiz, Bartolomé Serra Soriano, Pedro Verdejo Gimeno

IMG. 6 AND 7 2004 - 2008. Andreas Meck. San Nicolás of Neuried. Germany. An example of a very well Universidad CEU Cardenal Herrera resolved church in many aspects, above all, for its functional scheme. Gifted with Atrium and Nartex, 1 its assembly scheme in cross inserted in a unifi ed space, strengthens the concept of participation and In 1957 a unique opportunity is presented to the architects Angelo Mangiarotti 2 of belonging. The danger of this scheme of residual space in the corners is warded off through and and Bruno Murassutti which they seized and made into a successful “debut”. adequate layout of accesses. Due to the expansion of the Catholic Church in Milan, and by order of

IMG. 8 AND 9 1996 - 2006 Ignacio Vicens and José Antonio Ramos. Santa Mónica. Rivas Vaciamadrid. Archbishop Giovanni Battista Montini who proposed building more than a hundred new places of worship in the growing working class neighbourhoods and linked to IMG. 10 2004 - 2009 Jesús Leache and Fernando Tabuenca. San Jorge. Pamplona (Navarra). This other church recently resolved with a scheme that could be qualifi ed as post-conciliar. The proportions of industrial expansion. the halls, however, the distance between congregation-presbytery is not excessive for the capacity Adding to the selection of the group of architectures who joined the study were it holds. The interesting and useful atrium is one of the many virtues of this proposal that has been Mangiarotti and Morassutti for the building of the Church of Baranzate. This fact, improved with an appropriate Nartex. together with the respective experiences of the architects during their tour in the 3 IMG. 11 2004 - 2009 Rafael Moneo. El Iesu. San Sebastián. Rafael Moneo had opted to highlight in this U.S., and the audacity to include in the study the Engineer Aldo Favini , led to very church, clearly, the altar as a table. His scheme in cross despite placing the assembly –around-it, does not favourable conditions for designing a magnifi cent work. strongly affi rm this meaning since the corners of the section prevents a global reading of the assembly. As a team, they found themselves faced with the possibility of experiencing

IMG. 12 1978 - 1982. Matia Del Prete and others. San Bartolomeo In Tuto. Scandicci. Italy. Assembly the relationship between technique, technology and new materials, laying the Neocatechumen type. The altar possesses a strong symbolic responsibility as a table, for its foundations of a building system that allowed for the prefabrication of a “prototype” dimensions and position. The baptistery, at the feet of the assembly but integrated in it and resolved Church. A rigorous metric and industrial structure, ready to make fl exible a as a baptismal pool, appears covered outside the baptismal rite. replicable model in search of “a new design methodology in line with the new 107

ENGLISH TEXT means of construction, depersonalisation and objectifi cation of the product as an IMG. 6 Longitudinal section. Information provided by Mangiarotti Studio. indispensable means to reach the greatest possible number of users and what IMG. 7 Transversal section. Information provided by Mangiarotti Studio. 4 is essential for the implementation of a complete fabrication system” . A position IMG. 8 Prefabricated section piece. Information provided by Mangiarotti Studio very similar to the refl ections of Ignacio Gardela on the objectives of prefabrication IMG. 9 Assembly stage. “Angelo Mangiarotti1955-1964”. Editorial Seidoh-SYA. Tokyo, Japan. 1964. Pg. 69. in series and, “the necessary freedom to be creative is achieved through a modular system, rather than mechanically rigid, wonderfully fl exible.”5. IMG. 10 Exterior view. “Angelo Mangiarotti 1955-1964”. Editorial Seidoh-SYA. Tokyo, Japan. 1964. Pg. 61. Four freestanding pillars supporting a roof executed with prefabricated IMG. 11 Exterior view. “Angelo Mangiarotti 1955-1964”. Editorial Seidoh-SYA. Tokyo, Japan. 1964. Pg. 61. sections with post-tensioning, freeing the façades of any mechanical IMG. 12 Exterior view. “Angelo Mangiarotti 1955-1964”. Editorial Seidoh-SYA. Tokyo, Japan. 1964. Pg. 65. conditioning to become a lightweight limit. A glass wall gains the intimacy IMG. 13 Exterior view. “Bruno Morassutti. 1920-2008 Opere e progetti”. Editorial Electa. Milan, Italy. required for use when introducing a sheet of polystyrene 6 in the multilayer 2009. Pg. 110

construction. A dialogue between the lightweight and a thin light box and the IMG. 14 View of the bell tower. “Bruno Morassutti. 1920-2008 Opere e progetti”. Editorial Electa. structure with texture and concrete volume. Milan, Italy. 2009. Pg. 114. The Church is conceived as a pure volume of fl oor and rectangular section7 IMG. 15 Details of the bell tower. “Bruno Morassutti. 1920-2008 Opere e progetti”. Editorial Electa. whose metric is defi ned in its two directions by a covering element, self- Milan, Italy. 2009. Pg. 115. supporting and prefabricated with ribbed shaped blades and approximate dimensions of 2.40 m x 0. 94m. its grouping generates the order of the grid Endnotes cover. This grid is supported on six load lines which rest on two beams resting in situ on truncated cone pillars lightly bush-hammered. Each of these six 1 Angelo Mangiarotti. Italian architect, born in Milan in 1921. He began his professional lines is formed by the addition of post-tensioned prefabricated pieces, again, career together with Bruno Morassutti after graduating from the Politécnico de Milán (1948) and went to Chicago between 1953-54. Subsequently, he became independent and with a bladed section, in the way of a skeleton framework. The reinforced specialises in prefabricated architecture. In 1989 he founded the offi ce of Mangiarotti concrete of these responds consistently to the defi nition of its external form and associates in Tokyo. His professional work has been linked to architecture as well strictly designed with the minimum required thickness. Its design, in addition to as product design and scultpure. performing the structural role, reinforces the formal expression consistent with 2 Bruno Morassutti.Italian architect, born in Padua in 1920. He began his professional career the overall texture of the ceiling plane. together with Angelo Mangiarotti after graduating from the Politécnico de Milán (1947) and is There is a will to demand accuracy in each technique hence the pillar desires trained under the orders of F.L. Wright. Subsequently he becomes independent, founding a the pitting of its surface as a Brutalist expression of manual labour as opposed short while after the offi ce of Morassuti and Associates. to the refi nement and perfection of the prefabricated element. 3 Aldo Pio Favini. Engineer born in Varallo Pombia 1916, in the province of Novara. Specialised The resultant unitary space, confi ned by the light captured in its perimeter in structures of civil engineering and buildings. He was among those who introduced and the supporting structure of the roof plane. The pillars comply with at the reinforced and post-tensioned concrete. same time by the distributive organisation of a free fl oor plan. 4 D. BONA, Enrico. “Angelo Mangiarotti: un esempio di metodo e fi guratività”. Casabella. 1º The scheme responds precisely to the functional, structural and constructive Edition. Milan, Italy. February 1966. Nº 302. Pgs. 48-61. task of the prototype. The growth potential of the system allows to have studied 5 GARDELA, Ignacio. “Case prefabbricate alla Mostra del Consiglio delle Ricerche”. the option in which this repeated fl oor design is transferred in parallel on its Construzioni Casabella. 1º Edition. Milan Italy. March 1946. Pgs.6-4. Some time before, long side, recovering again its proportions and facilitating the growth of the nave Ignacio Gardela with the motive of an exhibit of prefabricated houses in 1946 made emphasis in perpendicular 8 to the prefabricated nerves. on three refl ections: the risk that the word “prefabrication” had for its use as a trend resulting The volume is placed in the vacuum created by the perimeter wall of the in doubtful practises; in the second he insisted that the problem lies in the production of the curved section on its exterior face and fl at canvas on the interior, where the architecture itself, indicating that “the industry is a fact and not only uses technique, but that fi gures in low relief of Gino Cosentino announces the route of the Stations of the it is an architectural fact, that included and goes beyond the pure technical”. And, the third, showed that the prefabrication in series should give way to “a system in which the necessary Cross. A wall made by manual means and materialised with stones from the freedom to be creative is achieved through a modular system, more than a mechanically river Po. Opened on its front to reveal the entrance forcing the gaze to below rigid, marvellously fl exible, as a base of the limited scale of musical notes.” the arms of the Cross which frame each access. On its right, descending at an 6 FINESSI, Beppe. Angelo Mangiarotti Scolpire/Costruire. 1ª Edition. 2009. Mantova, Italy: elevation of -0.40 m, the descent to the crypt and chapel of regular use and to 2009. 119 p. Pg.:59. “The walls of double glazing incorporate sheets of white polystyrene that its left, the ceremonial ascent to the church by the stairs to a height of +2.23 m. blocks the view, at the same time diffusing the natural light.” The functional and constructive logic in the use of materials reinforces this 7 “Una chiesa di vetro, in Lombardia”. Editorial Domus S.A. Director Gio Ponti. Domus 351. 1ª pedestrian walk. In the darkened space below, built with concrete in situ, the Edition. February 1959. Pg.: 4 “The church was designed as a prototype of the parish church. angles of the rooms are softened with round edges, the boards of the vertical From the exterior of the rectangular glass volume, ten metres high (as a base 14.34 X 28.60).” formwork are highlighted as a texture of the wall and accentuates the lighting by points from the boreholes drilled in the top the walls. Upon ascending, the path begins towards the weightless light, due to the fact of fi lling it without PROMENADE IN THREE MOVEMENTS. ABOUT THE CHAPEL IN NEVIGES the weight of the shade, making the Christ the focus, located in the center of BY GOTTFRIED BÖHM the cross section, supported by two chains hanging from the roof, recalling the mission of Christ himself. José Ángel Hidalgo Arellano. The bell tower posteriori (1984-85) was resolved volumetrically by moving it Universidad CEU Cardenal Herrera. outside, with a metal structure formally identifi ed by the stacking of cubic units, One: The expressionist utopia. materialised along their edges, enclosing the spiral staircase to its summit. Landmark which lies tangent to the access that descends to the basement at Destroy the built vulgarities! the rear, where the sacristy, a work room and a changing room are found. Stone buildings make for stone hearts A magnifi cent example of industrialisation, in favour of the defi nition of a Now our land begins to fl ourish 1 sacred space. An elegant skill in creating a prototype that addresses its shape Bruno Taut, the dissolution of the city, (1920) from a new perspective of the prefabrication of the structure in reinforced concrete and industrialisation of the glass enclosure. The face of the earth would experience a profound change from the moment that crystal “Would your bishop blesses a church like this?,” Montini expressed facing architecture supersedes completely the brick architecture. 2 such a construction in the act of consecration of the same, to defend the Paul Scheerbart, glass architecture, (1914) following: “when religion is alive, not only does not exclude the novelty, but desires it, demands it, looks for it, it knows how to extract it from the soul “9. The fi rst expressionist impact would leave, especially in Germany, some unforgettable examples of glass such as the Leipzig pavilions (1913) and Cologne Illustrations (1914) and Tuat (IMAGE 1) or the skyscrapers of Mies (IMAGE 2). The Pavilions built for the Expositions, will be destroyed immediately, leaving for posterity the images and IMG. 1 Exterior sketch. Information provided by Mangiarotti Studio. the testimonies of the time. The Mies towers were never built, feeding and aura of IMG. 2 Interior sketch. Information provided by Mangiarotti Studio. fascination comparable to the drawings of Boullée or Piranesi. IMG. 3 Structure. Roof plan. Information provided by Mangiarotti Studio. Germany, however, will be the pioneer in using glass. What is more, it will be IMG. 4 Upper fl oor plan. Information provided by Mangiarotti Studio. the forger of a language based on the tectonic of steel and glass. The projects by 108 IMG. 5 Lower fl oor plan. Information provided by Mangiarotti Studio. Gropius for Bauhaus (IMAGE 3) and the work of Mies in America are clear examples

EN BLANCO · Nº 11 · 2013 · ARQUITECTURA SACRA of this. These works will collect the apparent) utopia 3 of the Glassarchitektur were able to synthesise in their works the new tendencies of liturgical thought with by Scheerbart (industrialisation and assembly, image of a new modernity, modern architecture. experimentation of new techniques…) synthesising it with the classic Schwarz, was a friend of the Böhm family, and had from the very beginning Legacy that had its roots in Schinkel or Behrens: material and language a great affi nity with Gottfried. Despite the fact that their language differed on creating a new style.4 numerous occasions, in both pulsed a restlessness to give a new meaning to the The confi dence in a new future, that will come from new techniques, is a sacred space that since the 30’s, Schwarz has been publishing articles in which patent in all the texts of Scheerbart and fi nd his most eloquent expression he spoke about the religious fact or the specifi c questions of architecture and the in the drawings that Bruno Taut published in Alpine Architecture (1919) Der catholic liturgy. Weltbaumeister (1919)6 . Here, marking a distinct route that was proliferated in the This restlessness, which was already extensive in many religious spheres12, architecture of steel and glass, leaving open the utopia of an architecture that take form in constitutions of the II Vatican Council where the church opens a new synthesise the forms and the social character of the gothic, the conquest of space dialogue with architects and artists for the confi guration of the liturgical spaces13. and the emulation of nature (IMAGE 4). The church of Neviges presents some important novelties in this line. Some decades later, Scharoun (that had experimented with the inherited It is not a directional plane. Despite being – for its program- the goal for a language of Mies and Gropius) and Böhm resumes all the imaginary of the pilgrimage, the interior of the building itself is confi gured as an extension of the expressionists’ texts to build an architecture that, far from utopia, will serve man and procession. There is not one focal point only; rather, the end of the path takes place the city in a sensitive, pleasant and personal way. in the centre of the space, around which the congregation meet. Böhm will capture this outlined language in the expressionist texts, and strip it of This meeting of the congregation around a central point changes the perception the futuristic rhetorical and transform glass into concrete: a concrete with a plastic of a lineal space where the congregation look toward an altarpiece and stirs them character that assumes its structural condition and relate it to stereotomy and stone to focus on the altar, where the Eucharistic sacrifi ce takes place, while producing effect tradition of German religious architecture (IMAGES 5 AND 6). an encounter among all those present, creating the sensation of a surprised He will know how to give a new citizenship card not only to concrete but he will community in a directional plane. In this way, the absence of the aspe and the use it relating it the rest of the materials inherited from the tradition: geometry, proliferation of the “aspes” can be understood. scale, language and symbolism. On the other hand, the church offers a multitude of paths thanks to the naturalness with which the secondary chapels, the crypt and the choir are set in a radical way to Two: the traces of history the central space. The visitor crosses the threshold, becomes aware of the spatial Although the chapel is clearly new and of our time, it has formed a bond with the richness while, at the same time recognising the clarity of the paths. other buildings in the neighbourhood—it seems to have been there all the time. Finally, it is worth mentioning the introduction into the architecture itself of Despite its small size, it and the others form a living space. the images: sculptures, candles, glassware, furniture… are integrated into an all Gottfried Böhm, Acceptance Speech Pritzker Prize 1986 inclusive that gives the work an extraordinary unity thanks to the inclusive geometry, The translucent and light nature of the concrete and its use linked to a using only one material and the continuity in section that is produced between the surrounding was the fi rst point in the connection with material and place. Böhm central space and the perimeters (IMAGE 14). would have been very rigorous with the use of this material. In some projects, such as the church of St. Gertrud (Köln 1960-65) (IMAGE 7) trusting the differentiation Endnotes of uses to geometry. In others, he relied on the use of, at least two materials. 1 Inside TAUT, Bruno writings 1919-1920. Ábalos, Iñaki (ed,); Ábalos, Ma Dolores (Translation). The brick, in the case of the church of Melanten (1960) (IMAGE 8), was used in Madrid: el Croquis, 1997 302 pages. Biblioteca de Arquitectura; 6. ISBN 34-88386-10-09. the base with a double function: the dialogue with the annex buildings and the 2 Inside SCHEERBART, Paul, Glass architecture. Pizza, Antonio, (ed.prol.); Pinós, Alejandro sublimation of the material of the temple raising it in a concrete that would (translation.); Gracia, Marisa (translation.) Murcia: colegio de Aparejadores and Arquitectos acquire lightness not only for its position, but for its geometry, much more Técnicos, 1998. 224 pages. Colección de Arquitectura; 37. ISBN: 84-89882-06-1. angular and free. 3 If we want to elevate our culture to a superior level, for good or bad, we will be forced to Also, in the Bethanien complex (Bergisch Gladbach 1962-68) (IMAGE 9) brick transform our architecture”. Paul Scheerbart, work cited page 85. was used to distinguish between the profane and the sacred, which was always 4 Speaking about the proliferation of the German models of steel and glass architecture, Giuliano concrete. The brick, with a short modulation, gave the buildings a certain absence Chelazzi expressed it like this: “The stereometric and glass parameters of Mies van der Rohe, of representation that was reserved for the chapel, in concrete, located in a who immigrated to America for a long time, were hunted by the ruthless and greedy German central position. avant-garde. Each project of the great master was examined in every detail. Cf. CHELAZZI, The Neviges complex is solved with two textures of one single material. Giuliano. ÐUna presenza espressionista: Gottfried BöhmÐ. L’architettura: cronache e storia. The use of the brick was out of place in an environment where it would have Rome, 1974. N. 222 (19th century, n. 12, April 1974). Pages 703-796 been an exception. The existence of the convent in the 18th century, in stone 5 Spanish edition: TAUT, Bruno. Arquitectura Alpina. Ábalos, Iñaki (ed.); Ábalos, Mª Dolores and white rendering, and the necessity to give unity to the whole demanded of (translation); Castro, Eugenio (translation). Madrid: Círculo de Bellas Artes, 2011. 142 pages. Böhm to work the new building only in concrete.7 In this way, he used a heavy ISBN: 978-84-87619-91-5. and deep formwork, of wooden slats, for the contention wall, the lower areas 6 Inside TAUT, Bruno. Escritos 1919-1920. Ábalos, Iñaki (ed.); Ábalos, Mª Dolores (translation). and the buildings adjacent to the church, while confi ding the volumetry of the Madrid: El croquis, 1997. 302 pages. Biblioteca de Arquitectura; 6. ISBN: 34-88386-10-9. temple to a concrete that was as smooth as possible – “metallic”-, Scheerbart 7 Works explained in detail in: BÖHM, Gottfried. Gottfried Böhm. Voigt, Wolfgang (Hg. Ed.). Berlin: would have said. (IMAGE 10) Jovis, 2006. 272 p. ISBN: 3-936314-19-5 and PEHNT, Wolfgang. Gottfried Böhm. Robinson, The material is joined together like so, hand in hand with geometry. Michael (translation.). Basel: Birkhäuser, 1999. 176 pages. ISBN: 3-7643-5965-X. There is a Fragmentation was the key used by Böhm to develop the complex. Firstly, Böhm small monograph on the work: HAUN, Gerhard. Il santuario di Maria a Neviges. Lindenberg: established the bases of the proposal: the church on high, the contention wall Kunstverlag Josef Fink, 1998. 40 pages. ISBN: 3-931820-56-4. freeing the program, the open and portico square, on the other side of the 8 SCHWARZ, Rudolf. The Church Incarnate. The Sacred Function of Christian Architecture. Harris, street, the college and the convent existing in a discreet background. Once these Cynthia (translaton); Mies van der Rohe, Ludwig (foreword). Chicago: Henry Regnery Company, 1958. 232 p. parameters were set, the form is settled heavily in the lower part and rise with 9 lightness in the upper part of the volume (IMAGES 11 AND 12). Within the enormous works of Schwarz two monographs should be highlighted: PEHNT, Wolfgang; STROHL, Hilde. Rudolf Schwarz 1897-1961. Milan: Electa, 2000. 352 pages and Three: the rebirth of the liturgy SCHWARZ, Rudolf. Kirchenbau. Welt vor der Schwelle. Heidelberg: F. H. Kerle Verlag, 1960. 352 pages. What drove the southern Renaissance to the dome was not the longing for the 10 Above all in two key Works: GUARDINI, Romano. El espíritu de la liturgia. Barcelona: “heavenly city”, for the “eternal Jerusalem,” but rather a humanistic way of looking at things. Araluce, 1946. 197 pages and GUARDINI, Romano. “Sobre la esencia de la obra de arte”, in They wanted the consummate measure, the monument of the free human being and thus at Obras. Tomo I. Madrid: Cristiandad, 1981. 350 pages although used editions are cited, the bottom they wanted the structure of a new world-cave. fi rst text was published in 1918 and the second – originally, a conference- took a complete Rudolf Schwarz, The Church Incarnate (1938)8 and defi nitive form in a writing from 1947 11 Neumeyer affi rmed in his biography on Mies that surely, the architect met Guardini in Alois Rudolf Schwarz has probably designed and built more churches than any other Riehl’s house, where he came in contact with other intellectuals such as; Werner Jaeger, architect 9. It is not only the quantity that is awarded a place in history but the depth Heinrich Wölffl in and Eduard Sprangler. Cf page. 81 of NEUMEYER, Fritz. Mies van der Rohe. La of the treatment of the theme and the capacity to theorise about the sacred space palabra sin artifi cio. Refl exiones sobre arquitectura. Madrid: El croquis, 1995, 524 pages. while we toast to essential churches. Very much infl uenced for the person and the 12 In 1957, the Archbishopric of Cologne, headed by Cardenal Frings, published the volume thoughts of Romano Guardini 10(the same as other architects of the time 11), WEYRES, Willy. Neue Kirchen im Erzbistum Köln 1945-56. Frings, Joseph (Vorwort). Düsseldorf: 109

ENGLISH TEXT Im Verlag L. Schwann, 1957. 196 pages, that contains all the churches built during the fi rst In this way, the Pitkänen project appears to consist of a canonical exercise decade of the post-war. In the 90’s, a double volume is published compiling the ones built in composition that, if removed from the mere aesthetic speculation, is but between 1955 and 1995: BOLLENBECK, Karl Josef. Neue Kirchen im Erzbistum Köln 1955-1995. the symbolism detached from the ritual covering of each line of the floor, each Meisner, Joachim (Grußwort). Köln: Erzbistum Köln, 1995. Zwei Bände. 982 pages. ISBN: reflection if its contained form in a significant way. Where do they lead, if not, 3-922634-14-1. This is an example of the interest shown in the construction of temples and the investigation of new typologies during the second half of the 20th century. the walls that are lost in the distance? Perhaps its expressive strength does not reside so much in the clever slipping as in the inexorable destiny that they 13 One of the last testimonies of BOTTA, Mario; BÖHM, Gottfried; BÖHM, Peter; MONEO, Rafael. point to. Sakralität und Aura in der Architektur. Tönnesmann, Andreas (Vorwort). Zürich: ETH, 2010. 112 The Chapel of the Holy Cross is a building with one entrance and many exits; pages. Architekturvorträge der ETH Zürich. GTA Verlag. Heft 8. ISBN. 978-3-85676-251-3. one enters accompanied but leaves defi nitely alone. Indeed, the sequence of approximation begins long before; when passing the fl ower kiosk, a winding PEKKA PITKÄNEN: THE CHAPEL OF THE HOLY CROSS, TURKU, 1967 path that crosses a gentle slope of natural ground clear of vegetation. Then, the construction appears as a back drop and beyond, the bell tower of the Chapel of Raúl Castellanos Gómez, Débora Domingo Calabuig the Resurrection from the depths of the forest. Department of Architectural Projects, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia Pitkänen’s building is located on the corner of a meadow, behind a portico access that initiates a dialogue with the crossed raised in the distance In 1963, the Finnish architect Pekka Pitkänen (Turku, 1927) was the winner of, enshrined in a tree-covered background. The cross that gives name to the with his proposal “triadi” [triad], the competition to build the Chapel of the Holy chapel is also believed to be ambushed, discovered only from the furthest point Cross in the cemetery of Turku (Finland). The commission makes up part of the of the meadow. Not in vane, in this along with many other churches built in extension towards the south of the cemetery, which at the time only had the Nordic countries, nature is identifi ed as a deity according to pantheist belief Chapel of the Resurrection, built by Erik Bryggman (1891-1955) between 1938 which will also have an effect on the interior space. and 1941. Pitkänen decides to build the new construction on the limit between The portico separates from the Chapel, leaving a margin, while quite the extension and the old cemetery, so that it also functions as a kind of generous, recalls those that Sigurn Lewerentz (1885-1975) planned in the chapel threshold devoted to mourning on the way to the cemetery. of the resurrection (1922-25) and Erik Gunnar Asplund (1885-1940), or even The programme consists of three chapels, with a capacity for 160, 50 and Bryggman in the neighbouring chapel in the cemetery of Turku. This is the 12 people respectively that should hold the liturgical acts previous to burial tradition of Pitkänen: despite the obvious differences in style, these buildings or incineration. In addition, the building should house a sacristy, a room share a similar mechanism of approximation to that of the portico – hardly for funeral wreaths, another for the delivering of the ashes and a series of separated from the main building -, the cross and the path (IMAGE 2). technical rooms destined to the preparation and incineration of the body. But where the infl uence of Bryggman is felt in a more obvious way, is in 1 The construction takes place between 1965 and 1967 and in it, Pitkänen the interior of the chapel, where nature bursts in through a front window that uses almost exclusively reinforced concrete, a material that judging by the bathes the catafalque laterally in light (IMAGE 3). A door points to, in all cases, to abundance with which it appears in his work could be said is his symbol of the path that this could follow once the ceremony has ended: the funeral in the identity as well as other contemporary Finnish architects. Very signifi cant is forest. Signifi cantly, as Ismael Garcia Rios points out with respect to the chapel the case of Aarno Ruusuvuori (1925-92, who like Pitkänen, tried to ignore the by Bryggman, this door is not an entrance but an exit 3. The alternative path for infl uence of aaltian free form through logical construction, of mathematical the coffi n consists in disappearing underground where the crematory is located. exactitude- two extremes, perhaps equally unachievable-. In fact, one should The lateral opening of the interior space is a characteristic common in not underestimate the infl uence it had on Pitkänen with the churches already the Finnish churches and which the chapel of the resurrection was an built by Ruusuvuori using concrete in all its variants (Hyvinkaa, 1958-61; important reference. Paloma Gil, whose vital contribution would consist in Huutomiemi, 1961-64; and Tapiola, 1963-65, or that erected by Viljo Revell (1910- clouding the idea of the traditional nave, explains: “What Bryggman does with 1964) in Vatiala (1958-61). the glazed panels is annul the existence of an opaque limit in the side nave In 1967, as an introduction to the presentation of some of his works and provoke a symbolic reading through the presence of the exterior in the in the Arkkitehti journal, Pitkänen published a short essay titled interior: the forest that is seen from the mourning place represents the hope “Betoniarkkitehtuurista” (architecture in concrete), where he puts forward in the resurrection”4. his ideology on the material which he used to build the then chapel of Turku. The truth is that Pitkänen clarifi es this solution by compensating said In the text, Pitkänen specifically stresses two issues: the correspondence opening – to the west, whereby enacting the drama- through the narrow area of between the form and the material – underlining then the enormous freedom the opposite face, where a bench receives the morning sunlight of an extended that, in this way, the concrete gives to the architect-; and the decisive skylight; similar to this, another, oriented to the north, bathes in diffused light function of formwork, whose mark, legible in the finished work, entails a the background of the main chapel behind the overhead loft destined for the host of meanings that surpass its mere technological aspects. In his opinion, choir. Finally, two small skylights (one of them deliberately slanted towards the mould represents, first, the discipline of the surface, otherwise lacking the south-east) point respectively to the position of the catafalque and the in effective articulation; later, it manifests a double dependency of the altar. Under the revealed light by this unknown hidden source, the bereaved conformed material and what it conforms to; and finally, reveals the metric contemplate through transparency a land (a holy fi eld) close to its fragile 2 precision of the work . Pitkänen illustrates his text with photographs of existence, more akin to their limited understanding of the world. emblematic buildings such as the Unité of Marsella (1946-52) by Le Corbusier or the Salk Institute (1959-65) by Louis I. Khan. Illustrations Built also in concrete, the Chapel of the Holy Cross could well be due to a skilled architect in the art of sternotomy. The relevance given to the formwork IMG. 1 Pekka Pitkänen. The Chapel of the Holy Cross, Turku (Finland), 1963-67. in “Betoniarkkitehtuurista” is seen in this work for its concern with the Exterior view from the north-east. surface articulation of the constructive elements as well as its dimensional IMG. 2 Pekka Pitkänen. The Chapel of the Holy Cross, Turku (Finland), 1963-67 Portico access. coordination. But far from the freedom of form that Pitkänen applauds in IMG. 3 Pekka Pitkänen. The Chapel of the Holy Cross, Turku (Finland), 1963-67. his article, the building of Turku is presented as a meditated exercise in Sketch of the competition. constructive syntax in which the volumes, walls, and slabs of concrete blend without losing its mutual independence (IMAGE 1). And so, the main chapel emerges as an inscrutable mass above a natural composition of horizontal and Endnotes vertical planes that extend towards the surrounding landscape. Walls shaped 1 Collaborators in this Project: Ilpo Raunio, Ola Laiho, Arto Kukkaniemi, Esa Piironen and by panels of prefabricated concrete identical to the slabs of paving bonded by Hannu Kuusela. way of ashlars – on a simple skirting board formed in situ - it extends beyond 2 Pitkänen, Pekka. “Betoniarkkitehtuurista”. Arkkitehti Arkitekten. Nº 5 (1967), p. 9-10. The Chapel the strict limits of the built volume, enclosing laterally an exterior space of the Holy Cross was previously published in the German journal Bauen + Wohnen (April 1969), appertaining to each of the chapels and pointing unequivocally to building’s p. 142-143 and in some recent monographs: Jetsonen, Jari. Sacral space: modern Finnish main access. churches. Tampere: Rakennustieto, 2003, p. 86-97; Plummer, Henry. Nordic light: modern Two powerful horizontal lines – the fi rst, clearly visible in the main façade; Scandinavian architecture. London: Thames & Hudson, 2012, p. 188-191. the second, on a lower level, favours the natural slope of the land- cover the 3 García Ríos, Ismael. Alvar Aalto and Erik Bryggman: la aparición del funcionalismo en Finlandia. secondary chapels avoiding the encounter with the walls through a narrow Madrid: Instituto Iberoamericano de Finlandia, 1998, p. 247. 110 perimeter fi ssure that illuminates the interior. 4 Gil, Paloma. El templo del siglo XX. Barcelona: Ediciones del Serbal, 1999, p. 44.

EN BLANCO · Nº 11 · 2013 · ARQUITECTURA SACRA 4 BEAMS OR ANTI-ARCHITECTURE without pillars – located between the street and the back patio, mixing with the vegetation of the urban surrounding, apt for all kinds of meetings and events, Eva M. Álvarez Isidro where it is possible to chat, share, understand. Events that easily pass to the Department of Architectural Design Universidad Politécnica de Valencia memory of the people that enjoy, contributing to the notion of communication, keeping in the memory, of eternity. “I think the main activity of the human being should be communication. Where On the other hand, the home, the house, is the natural place for the repeated does man think he exists? In which space does the individual exist? In the space care of people, an action that happens without an end in time, and whose of the interlocutor: in the eyes of the interlocutor. It is there where existence is repetition, generally, is the minimum base for immediate happiness that we feel. really felt. (…)”1 Benítez indicates in his conferences “it is sacred to eat breaded meat on Sundays in It is not incorrect to say that Solano Benítez 2 is a good communicator 3. If we my mother’s house” 13 the moment in which the whole family comes together. The value the fascination his discourse causes in the attendees in his conferences, architect seems to make reference to Arendt, when he indicates that the human we can affi rm – without a doubt- he is a magnifi cent speaker, vehement, that labour - that includes chores – should follow the circular motion of the cycle of with diligence mixes all types of narrations 4 to provide the clarity to his task. life, in an infi nite repetition. Work that architecture explains with generosity, in detail, and that in the “Man produces what is vitally necessary to feed the process of life of the human language- above all the Guarani, but also that of construction – is presented as body. And, given that this vital process, despite taking us to a rectilinear process of “that other memory” 5 that stores a common past and promises an unfi nished decline from birth to death, it is in itself circular, the activity of the labour should future; a language that is understood as the crystallisation, throughout time, in follow the cycle of life, the circular movement of our bodily functions, which means its own and local way of inventing the universe and whose necessary element is 6 that the labour activity never takes us to the end while life lasts. It is indefi nitely “imagination” that keeps it active, useful and expressive, facing new meanings infi nite 14 (…). Given that the labour corresponds to the condition of life, not only does and necessities of everyone, for all. it participate in the fatigue and the problems of life, but the simple happiness that In these chats by Benítez and with deliberation, he usually fi nishes his exhibit our being alive can experience.” 15 presenting his work “4 beams”- his father’s tomb in Piribebuy (2001)- which he The characteristic of this human labour – so visible in the chores, in his explains with the most energy; energy similar to which he uses to talk about the mother’s house – “indefi nitely infi nite”, so understandable to the infi nite, is “Abu&Font” house – his mother’s house in Asunción (2004) – both, in Paraguay. incorporated by the architect in his father’s tomb through the recovering with a This circumstance is not accidental, since both spaces represent the head and mirror of the interior surface of the four beams of concrete. tail of the same anxiety. This repetition of images has, as an immediate consequence – like immediate The tomb in Piribebuy is located in the Pilinchos – the branch of the sky – in happiness- the fact of exteriorising our “I” and place far away from ourselves; a fi fth property belonging to his family, fulfi lling the wishes of his father to be a place that makes us equal to the rest of our fellow man that we also see laid - his last resting place- precisely there, beside a stream that forks into two refl ected, together with us, all occupying a common space, perhaps a common branches and comes back, in a place somewhat dark and fresh, with generous origin. vernacular vegetation. “I left various fortunes (not all) my garden of forking paths I gave back in According to Benítez himself, he pondered for 10 years about what and what silence the leaf. Alberto continued: - Before exhuming this letter, I had asked 7 not to do. “going through all the stages of melancholy” ; in our opinion, as a myself how a book can be infi nite. I couldn’t think of another possibility other than result of this long and deep thought, invented - acting on a portion of space as his cyclical, circular. A volume whose last page was identical to the fi rst” 16 8 only tool – the “anti-architecture” . Moreover, from this common future, Benítez – through the repetition with no For this, the architect imagined –and built – a square space of nine metres to end of the images in mirrors parallel among them- achieves the dissolution of the side, using four pieces of reinforced concrete, whose exterior formwork was the signs and signals of the space to, in reality, build a circular, cyclical, infi nite covered – with the help of his son – with Amambay leaves, a type of local fern; volume; perhaps, the artefact would be like a watch that eternally measures time. these pieces are low, the height of a handrail - one metre ten- T- shaped with “Precisely, said Albert. The garden of forking paths paths is an asymmetrical wings - ridge beams of eighty and twenty centimetres wide and enormous puzzle or parable whose theme is time; a hidden cause that prohibits fl ights of one and a half metres and six metres, respectively. These T-shaped the mention if its name.” 17 pieces, marked by the obvious asymmetric position of the short pillar, are The images not only multiply. From this moment, the place surrounded arranged in turbine, leaving four spaces of access 9 in the interior part of the by mirrors becomes liquid 18; the shine and refl ections , the change in the enclosure, which also has a turbine. The geometric centre of these squares is relationship in the distances, produce an effect of translucent liquid: it is possible occupied by his father’s tomb and beside it, there is a chair, both pieces also to feel as if you are submerged – diving - in a swimming pool 19 or in the sea, - an made of concrete. element that is often used as an image of a fi nal destiny – 20 , where the light In the position of the pieces, we see a special preoccupation for breaking darkness, the difference refraction of light and the distinct transmission of the corners, using the access to the enclosure as an excuse; as we also see a increases the strangeness facing the homogenous pressure of the water. And negation for the symmetry, belonging to the language of the abstract. This skill in this sensation, considering is an allusion to the pressure that the passing of the disposition of the pieces invite, in addition to imagining the inventiveness as a time exerts – and the accumulation of the events- on the memory. The mirrors machine whose rotation has been frozen in the instant of turning. This movement, in Piribebuy increase the feeling of pressure that exerts on our conscience. The in the case that it had not been suspended, would spread the interior space of the time, once again 21. enclosure towards the infi nite, in a movement similar to asteroids in the universe. But the ingenuity of Benítez does not only seem to be a metaphor: we don’t Perhaps this is a vision somewhat cosmic – belonging to clear night skies and the know if, in the same way we long to preserve memories – many of them, family: of sophisticated viewpoint - but the windmill or the spirals and their rotation have the children, parents, - through photographs and videos, Benítez, wouldn’t have often been used as images of the eternal. wanted to imitate Morel 22 and he wanted to create a machine – still unfi nished However, the tactic of the disposition of the spiral pieces is not the only thing – that faithfully stored complete impressions, real as well as unreal, in order to that produces a solemn impression in the place. The artefact in itself – the space be able to reproduce them as many times as we want, to infi nity. We don’t know surrounded by the four beams, the tomb and the seat-, are built on a plot whose where the”power plant” would be that would produce the energy with the force argumentative storylines have an elaborate idea of eternity. Borges, Bioy Casares of the waves, or how the images would be transcribed. But, despite this, we can – who Benítez cites in so many of his talks – the fi rst defi nes eternity as”the understand the four polished beams as a machine that we still don’t know how to immediate knowledge of all things” 10; the second, the memory of man as the place make it work, “a work of reasoned imagination” 23 whose functionality could store “where perhaps it is in the sky”11. From this perception, it is not a coincidence that, memory, perhaps the sky. beside the tomb, the architect has made a seat available; searching, perhaps, Perhaps, it is a lot to assume… but the most important of the examples that through the understanding and also memory to try and amplify the notion of the have been mentioned here, is that through his ingenuity, Benítez demonstrates that eternal as the interlocutor reclaims to the absentee an unfi nished conversation in reasoned imagination can be- and should be – an effective mechanism to defi ne and the hope – for both- of not ceasing to exist. address the problems that humanity has planned – and in which architecture has “The interlocutor is the mirror to the subject that speaks. In such a way that an important role – that need new ways of understanding and acting. the interlocutor is for me, sacred, that has nothing to do with literary work but With these works, Benítez exposes a new discourse with which he combines also with the presence of man in the world” 12 the central aspects of the discipline with the peripheral: he speaks about basic Several of these notions are transferred to his mother’s house. The interior and sophisticated constructive processes simultaneously; about imaginative enclosure to the 4 beams turns, in the house, into a wide and generous space on solutions, about recycling, about people, about the Guarani, about architecture, the ground fl oor –two Vierendeel beams provide an opening of fourteen metres about a change in focus. 111

ENGLISH TEXT “[…] the antipoetry has something to do with science, but also with other things fl uidity we sense in the pavilion must arise from this translucent liquid-like space. What we that are not science; it also has to do with religion, and sport. I would then, try experience here is not the fl ow of air but the sense of wandering and drifting gently underwater. to allow it to open doors and windows, in a way in which the complete reality It is this sensation that makes the space distinct and unique” incorporates into the academy. […] The academy has to be deconstructed, and how 19 BIOY CASARES, Adolfo, La invención de Morel, 1940 this is done, is with a peripheral discourse.”24 http://redescolar.ilce.edu.mx/redescolar/memorias/entrale_2000/pdf/morel.pdf On the island The tomb in Piribebuy, “4 beams” - the same as the house “Abu&Font” – is there was a pileta or swimming pool perhaps an embryonic prototype of the “reasoned imagination” , of the anti- 20 Song ‘Mediterráneo’ by Joan Manuel Serrat architecture , that like the antipoetry “has opened doors and windows in a way that http://www.jmserrat.com/index.php/es/discografi a/J/1-joan-manuel-serrat/49- the complete reality incorporates into the academy”…” Maitei!” 25 mediterraneo/382-mediterraneo 21 Luis Mansilla, Playgrounds http://mansilla-tunon.blogspot.com.es/2012/02/blog-post.html ‘I am starting to think that space Endnotes is not a signifi cant part of our preoccupations in life. Just time, that spills and slips between our 1 ‘Nicanor Parra o el artefacto con laureles’; Nicanor Parra interviewed by Mario Benedetti, 1969. fi ngers when we try to catch it.’ More information 22 BIOY CASARES, Adolfo, La invención de Morel, 1940 http://www.nicanorparra.uchile.cl/entrevistas/index.html http://redescolar.ilce.edu.mx/redescolar/memorias/entrale_2000/pdf/morel.pdf 2 Solano Benítez was born in Asunción (Paraguay) in 1963. He received his degree in 23 BORGES, Jorge Luis, Prologue ‘La invención de Morel’, 1940 architecture from the Universidad Nacional of Asunción (FAUNA) in 1986, and in 1987 founded http://www.literatura.org/Bioy/Morelprologo.html the Cabinet of Architecture, the professional society that he currently shares with Alberto ‘In Spanish, works in reasoned imagination are infrequent and even rare. The classic practised Marinoni and Gloria Cabral. Among the prizes that Benítez has received the following on the allegory, the exaggerations of the satire that sometimes, is mere verbal incoherence. […]” distinctions are highlighted; “Outstanding Youth” by the Junior Chamber of Paraguay for his contribution to Paraguayan culture (1999); the BSI Swiss Architectural Award, an 24 ‘Nicanor Parra o el artefacto con laureles’; Nicanor Parra interviewed by Mario Benedetti, 1969. international prize directed at architects under 50 who have made a signifi cant contribution to More information contemporary architecture (2008); and an honourable mention from the Paraguayan National http://www.nicanorparra.uchile.cl/entrevistas/index.html Congress for contributions to the Nation (2011). He was also elected “Bicentenary Architect” 25 In Guaraní, ‘Maitei!’ means ‘greetings!’ Guaraní interactive dictionary by the Paraguayan Association of Architects (2011) and honorary member of the American http://www.uni-mainz.de/cgi-bin/guarani2/diccionario.pl Institute of Architects (2012). For its part, the Cabinet of Architecture was recognised, among others, with the prize: Work of the Decade 1989-1999 from the College of Architects Paraguay (1999), he was a fi nalist in the second edition of the Mies van der Rohe prize for Latin America (1999), and represented Paraguay in the biennial of Venice, San Paulo and in Lisbon, Latin CEMETERY COMPLEX, MUNICH-RIEM, GERMANY American capital of Culture (1994). 3 Conference in the Congress ‘Architecture: the common’, Architecture and Society foundation, Cemetery June 2012 The graves float like slightly raised islands in the surrounding meadow http://vimeo.com/45710863 landscape. Tree groves consisting of a variety of indigenous species such as 4 Solano Benítez cites with frequency the literary Works by Borges, by Bioy Casares, by Nicanor birch and pine, oak and hornbeam, cherry and crab apple, lend the graveyard Parra, entre among others. its own special character. On the inside the graves are enclosed by dry walls 5 BORGES, Jorge Luis, Ficciones, Alianza Editorial S.A., Madrid, 2008, page. 201: “without a sacred and permit a view only into the distance. The graves integrated into the lawns book that brings together like the Scriptures to Israel, without a common memory, without this are reached via sealed paths. other memory which is the language, scattered on the face of the earth […], extracted text from The burial route connects the islands with each other, with the mortuary and the story “ The sect of the Fenix” the old section of the cemetery. The sharp bends in the paths are accentuated 6 BORGES, Jorge Luis, Ficciones, Alianza Editorial S.A., Madrid, 2008, p. 55: ‘[…] all man should be by water points. capable of all ideas and understand that in the origin it will be” text extracted from the story by Viewed from the outside, the cemetery has a park-like appearance: the “Pierre Menard, author of Quixote” landscape embraces the islands with blossoming dry meadows and single fruit 7 Described by the architect in this text trees with footpaths and bike trails leading further afield. http://www.anothermag.com/reader/view/1985/SOLANO_BENITEZ_A_GARDEN_A_TOM Framed by a dome of lime trees, the mortuary stands between the old and 8 Nicanor Parra o el artefacto con laureles’; Nicanor Parra interviewed by Mario Benedetti, 1969. new sections of the cemetery. More information http://www.nicanorparra.uchile.cl/entrevistas/index.html Mortuary 9 Width of the walkway, 1.5 metres Opposite the entrance to the old cemetery, the new cemetery buildings are 10 BORGES, Jorge Luis, Ficciones, Alianza Editorial S.A., Madrid, 2008, p. 157: ‘[…]its 9th attribute, arranged as an austere, almost monastic quadrangle in the otherwise flowing eternity – that is to say the immediate knowledge – of things that will be, that are and have been Riem country park. in the Universe […]” text extracted from the story “Death and the compass” Together with the rough-cast surrounding walls, these unassuming 11 BIOY CASARES, Adolfo, La invención de Morel, 1940 structures with their clear outlines create a haven of peace and tranquillity. http://redescolar.ilce.edu.mx/redescolar/memorias/entrale_2000/pdf/morel.pdf Page 3: ‘I The complex features three courtyards. The central, peaceful entrance yard don’t agree, being reminded of it in this diary; I am not ungrateful to… The defence facing is the starting point for visitors proceeding to the cemetery, mortuary, private survivors leave no doubts: as in reality, in the memory of men- where perhaps is in the sky – chapels of rest and the entrance to the old cemetery precinct. Ombrellieri will have been charitable to a neighbour unjustly persecuted and, until the last The buildings were conceived as solid bodies emerging from the ground: memory appears, he would treat him with kindness. oak, Corten steel and stone (concrete and natural stone) set the tone. 12 ‘Nicanor Parra o el artefacto con laureles’; Nicanor Parra interviewed by Mario Benedetti, 1969. All materials are solid and untreated. Their natural aging is symbolic for the More informaiton cycle of life. http://www.nicanorparra.uchile.cl/entrevistas/index.html The mortuary is protected by a natural stone roof: a smooth oak cube 13 Conference in the Congress ‘Architecture: The common’, Architecture and Society Foundation, presents a complete contrast to the rough quarried stone surrounding walls June 2012 and the stone floor. http://vimeo.com/45710863 The mood in the mortuary is set by the warm colour of the wood enclosing 14 ARENDT, Hannah, De la historia a la acción, Ediciones Paidós Ibérica S.A., walls and an introverted, sacred character due to the avoidance of a direct view Barcelona, 1995, page 93 to the outside. A golden water surface as a meditative focal point bathes the 15 ARENDT, Hannah, De la historia a la acción, Ediciones Paidós Ibérica S.A., space in a special light and atmosphere. Barcelona, 1995, page 95 From the mortuary the burial route leads through the roofed forecourt adjoining 16 BORGES, Jorge Luis, Ficciones, Alianza Editorial S.A., Madrid, 2008, page 111 ‘El jardín de los the pool, past the mortuary bell and over the crunching gravel to the cemetery, the senderos que se bifurcan’ “large cross” and the graves, which resemble islands in the landscape. 17 BORGES, Jorge Luis, Ficciones, Alianza Editorial S.A., Madrid, 2008, page 115 ‘El jardín de los senderos que se bifurcan’ The materials 18 TOYO, Ito, Tarzans in the media forest, Architectural Association, London, 2011, page 116. “But the The complex is conceived as a heavy-weight element “rising up out of the transparency of the Barcelona Pavilion is not that of clear air. Rather, it makes us feel as if we earth”. Oak, weathering steel and, primarily, the “stone” (fair-face concrete 112 were looking at things deep underwater, and would better describe as translucent. The infi nity and natural stone) determine the overall appearance.

EN BLANCO · Nº 11 · 2013 · ARQUITECTURA SACRA The sculpted forms radiate tranquillity, dignity and composure. Visible from CAPELA DE QUEBRANTÕES. VILA NOVA DE GAIA, PORTUGAL afar in this open landscape, the long-span “stone” roof is a distinctive element. The sculpted buildings with their homogenous surfaces are built in Siteplan’s shape results from the junction between both the railway and an reinforced concrete, the properties of which correspond ideally to the concept Avenue with a Street. The terrain’s morphology had been altered because of of this structure because this material can be moulded into virtually any shape. landfills produced by the construction of the two roads. As a consequence, the Large spans are also no problem in reinforced concrete. The image of the average altitude is now approximately 4 metres higher than the existent street. longspan “stone” canopy can only really be achieved with this material. The necessary distance to the railway and Avenue imposes a situation plan Concrete provides the chance of differentiating surfaces according to architectural within the North/East limits. At the same time the landfi ll forces the building requirements-another material porperty crucial to the realisation of this design. to be set away from the access road, gaining an exterior public space. Project’s Different types of surface finish can be achieved depending on the type of idea comes from the need to arrange the surrounding area by the use of a formwork panels used and the subsequent treatment of the concrete, enabling reinforced concrete wall that not only sustains the land but also organizes the a rise in quality from outside to inside, and from rough to smooth. exterior spaces. Above the spaces made between “walls” rests a structural The external surfaces of the chapel of rest and the adjoining central wood shell that covers the nave and the entrance. Occasionally the interstices of courtyard are in coarse, homogenous fair-face concrete, which has been those walls connect the exterior entrance spaces (North and East), becoming an given its texture by means of bush-hammering. This mechanical treatment access gallery at a higher level, across the hole site. The main access is made exposes the aggregate in the concrete so that the surfaces are given a by the Street, through the churchyard, connecting with the supporting spaces: Mortuary Chapel, Catechism Centre and parking lot at South. uniform appearance. The increased concrete cover to the reinforcement must The chapel consists of a long space with axial organization and a three- be considered at the design stage, otherwise such subsequent mechanical partition structure, corresponding to different formal characterizations treatment is not possible. By revealing the aggregates in the concrete, bush- manifested in its high ceilings: at the entrance there is a small Mortuary hammering gives a concrete surface the character of a gravestone worked by a Chapel and a religious font containing holy water; in the centre, the nave with stonemason. a really high ceiling; at the back, the Altar with a patio, lighted through all its The concrete surfaces facing inwards have a board-marked finish - a linear extension. The Parochial Centre, with a multipurpose room and catechism pattern achieved by using a formwork of boards with a highly absorbent rooms, is located on the East side and is organized around a patio. surface. The imprint of the rough-sawn boards lends the concrete a vigorous In terms of construction, there are three materials: reinforced concrete texture and creates a visual reference to the more noble oak wood lining to the walls; roof covering in wood supported by wood beams; wooden and granite chapel of rest. pavements. The straightforward application of the materials, with no special Inside the chapel, the materials are used differently depending on their finishing, allows not only the economy of construction but also expresses visual and haptic qualities. Both the timber and the concrete here haves simplicity, reinforcing the religious rituals’ sense of despoilment. smooth surface. The concrete was cast against smooth formwork panels with a mildly absorbent surface. In the passageway to the laying-out cells, the concrete ST. PAOLO CHURCH, FOLIGNO, PERUGIA. ITALY “The suspension of a volume within another. See the sky through the concrete, outside, inside, outside” DE LA PIEDRA CHAPEL. CIENEGUILLA, LIMA, PERU Massimiliano Fuksas The de la Piedra Chapel is located at the margin of the Lurín river and beside the Lomas de Castilla hill, in the district of Cieneguilla, east of the city of Lima. This project won the national competition organised by the Italian Episcopal The area is characterized for a natural context of desert vegetation, in contact Conference to design new parish centres: “to provide an innovative and decisive with the foothills of the Andes mountain chain. landmark in accordance with the latest international research and symbolising The commission was to design, within a rural lot, a private chapel for a the rebirth of the city after the earthquake”. couple who values solitude. The new parish complex is composed of two main elements, which also The placement, away from the preexisting dwelling, isolates from everyday serve the purpose of providing a religious centre. The first feature, the and induces a long walk in order to reach the project. The generating line of church, is a monolith designed in a pure geometric form, a box within a box this hike derives from a form of nature: the seashell. measuring 30x22.5metres by 25 m in height. The second feature, an elongated This continuous spiral creates an enclosure within the vastness of the low parallelepiped, holds the Vestry, Pastoral Ministry rooms and Canonical plot, and by means of reflection and surprise, values the transition from the House. A third translucent structure, the Weekday Chapel, both joins together “profane” of everyday life to a profoundly “sacred” space where verticality is and distinguishes the two main structures. A thrust towards spirituality and the means to approach the divine. quiet prayer blend together in an interplay of beams of natural light crossing Its orthogonal geometry allows to differentiate stages throughout the the structure both transversely and vertically, projecting towards the main pilgrimage. The first approximation takes place in contact with nature, features, the Altar, Ambo and Baptismal Font. accompanying the river and vanishing the visual towards the valley. The striking structure is raised one a half metres above grade level. It can Further ahead, the water appears as a purifying element, whilst allowing the be reached by crossing a parvis, a long walkway leading to the entrance, a confrontation with one’s self. clean horizontal cut into the absolute compactness marking the entire front The patio provides the necessary pause for refl ection. An enclosure is created elevation. A beam of light which interacts with the outside. which completes the surroundings: the height of the visual determines a new All the furniture have been designed by local craftsmen. horizon, gathering nature (exterior) and architecture (interior) on a same plane. They even help alter how we perceive the works of certain artists. The verticality of the interior attempts to approach the divine, The artist Enzo Cucchi designed the monumental “Pole-Cross” sculpture underlined by a skylight which is hidden behind a suspended plane. outside the church, which is 13.50 m tall and made of concrete and white No typological or symbolic references which manifest a religious character Carrara marble, actually turning into an architectural feature itself. are deliberately used. The materials are austere and elemental in order to The artist Mimmo Paladino created the 14 stations along the Via Crucis. dissolve in the experience. The project is solved as an abstract object, although the multiple lecture CHURCH AND PARISH CENTER SAN JORGE. PAMPLONA, underlies in all of its components. When discovering the interior, a cross NAVARRA. SPAIN is configured on perspective between the vertical of the open door and the horizontal of the exterior bench. The altar has a dual function: on the inside for The program included the building of a church for 400 people, within which, a individual meditation and on the outside for mass ceremonies. chapel could allow up to 100 people daily use. The parish center was completed Searching for a correct human proportion, a module (modulor) is used with offices, multipurpose rooms, classrooms catechesis, two houses for as a starting point. Such is the case of the internal space with its three priests and a guest room. differentiated heights. The first (1.83m) relates to men. The second (2.26m) Urban planning provided the situation of the building in the center of a space to its aspiration and spirituality. And the third (2.26m) to the divine and surrounded by residential buildings of up to eight plants height: A difficult unattainable. The presence of the constellation solves the natural ventilation of situation to deal with. This situation provides two sub-squares on each side the tower, becoming manifest from the inside out during the day and from the of the site. The relationship with these squares and their connection were the outside in during the night. fulcrum when designing the building. 113

ENGLISH TEXT The church stands perpendicular to the main street of the neighborhood, the The main room of the temple was conceived primarily as a meeting place sequence of its accompanying buildings, thus assuming some rules that help for the people of God for the joyful celebration of the Sacrifi ce. Thus, the to fill the site with ease and discretion. A large atrium acts as the outer hall, architectural layout should emphasize the communal and the festive character linking the squares mentioned, adds an interesting urban episode for those of the area meeting, symbolic references with a rich tradition. who simply crosses, and serves as a meeting and gathering place as a prelude To meet these assumptions, the central form of the temple, especially suited to the entrance into the temple, connecting it at the same time with the parish to contemporary liturgical assumptions, combined with traditional cross layout, center. In this building, the houses of the priests have been placed on the respecting the centered position of the presbytery. This solution is revealed top floor. A raised patio that runs the full length of the facade allows their particularly effective in two aspects: fi rst, it allows the people surrounding the illumination without privacy problems. place of sacrifi ce, on the other, provides a differential setup, but always centered, Three pieces (atrium, temple and parish center) that are melt under a unique the altar, ambo headquarters and, with perfect visibility from any point. skin and image, giving the assembly a certain character of church-fortress that Another important topic of study has been the claim of fi nding an tries to defend from their surroundings, but also to create a neutral backdrop in architectural arrangement that combines the requirements of the Blessed contrast to the built environment. Sacrament chapel, a place of eucharistic reservation and adoration particular, with a perfectly recognizable presence and star in her temple. Concrete specifications Here again the recurrence types tested in the long and rich Christian The design of the temple walls contemplates the simultaneous construction of two architectural tradition has proved fruitful. The reference is to the altarpieces sheets of poured concrete that host an insulation layer between. Given its thickness now Aragonese late-Gothic and Renaissance-like the Basilica del Pilar, Damian (17.5 +17.5 +5) texture provided both in the socket, made with vertical slats in low relief Forment, or the Cathedral, Cathedral of Teruel, Huesca Cathedral, San Pablo de every 5 cm, as in the higher levels and the corresponding armor, on proposal of the Zaragoza, etc-or Baroque altarpieces-custody. construction company, it was decided to do it with concrete with components and Thus the Blessed Sacrament chapel, which is also used as daily chapel, additives for self-compacting. This technique, used regularly in civil and engineering, provides suffi ciently high on the dimension of the presbytery as to allow the is less known in building small scale, as in this case. The Abrams cone is fl at, tabernacle that houses visible from the entire temple, chairing the group ensuring that the material fl ows between the formwork fullfi lling the formwork without interfering in liturgical . Under this chapel, sacristy is located. texture and coating the armor without vibration, not losing the required mechanical Direct access is from the north street, higher than the corner from the main requirements. To improve control of mixing and kneading, a concrete mixer was entrance of the temple. installed in the work. The structural formwork panels are made with phenolic and Seven large skylight spread colored light inside the temple, qualifying lattices. The formwork for the surface fi nish was executed with pine fl ooring planed spatially distinct areas. The skylights are images of the seven sacraments by sandwiching the corresponding trapezoidal section where the design preview. which the Church illuminates the life of the faithful and manages Grace. At the entrance of the temple, on her atrium, a different one, which combines the steeple with the sign of the Cross, and serves as a call and as an urban “IESU” CHURCH IN RIBERAS DE LOIOLA. SAN SEBASTIAN. SPAIN reference point. Taking advantage of the morphology of the land and ancient carbon deposit Building a church for the Bishopric of Donastia-San Sebastian in the new required to be excavated in its entirety, the parish center and priestly houses neighborhood of Riberas de Loiola along the bend of the Urumea River was a are arranged on two fl oors. One, the access fl oor at the level of the street, new experience for the architect in the stormy territory of religious architecture. and the other, the lowest fl oor at the level of excavation. Gardens at this level If in the Cathedral of Los Angeles the architect felt intimidated by the symbolic turn it in ground fl oor for all purposes, they are accessible from the locals. content needed for the Cathedral and by its scale, in the church in Riberas The parish center structure is reinforced concrete with ceramic fl oors, while de Loiola, this weight was lifted. In this occasion the expectation for the the temple was resolved with steel trusses. The entire assembly is coated architecture was primarily to help confi gure a space capable of contributing with a veneer precast rough concrete. to the life of a community that feels Christian in the midst of a plural and diverse society. The parish came into being with a will to serve as the threshold of a new residential neighborhood that through its park establishes continuity with the city. The church is by no means the dominant volume in the way that a steeple on a tower makes us understand the church as the axis around which all social life inevitably turns. The volume of the parish church, compact and dense, presents itself as we pass by, offering itself to us with an open and friendly gesture: the church is a space willing to receive everyone, not only those that share similar ideas and the same faith. A garden court, an entrance hall, classrooms, seminar rooms, apartments...and with the desire to serve and not be set apart from everyday life, a supermarket in the lower level closely connected to the park, can be understood as a meeting place: an up to date version of open markets under porticos. Entering the church we pass through the fi lter of a space that makes us aware of what we seek when we attend church. The space is abstract, cubic and it could be said that its vertical condition helps it to come close to being what in our culture is understood as a religious space par excellence, the space we admire in Gothic cathedrals. The cross appears in the roof, bringing in light, once again using the metaphor that leads us to understand light as a manifestation of transcendence. I would not want to fi nish these brief lines without mentioning how much all of us involved in the construction of this church would have liked to have counted on the presence of the work of Oteiza and Chillida: hopefully a trace of their mastery can be found in the architecture of the church.

CHURCH AND PARISH CENTER “EL BUEN PASTOR” PONFERRADA LEON. SPAIN Fundamental premise of the project was the most faithful compliance of all functional and symbolic requirements demanded by the new provisions adopted by the liturgical reform. The temple is presented as the protagonist of the whole. It is located at the site of maximum visibility and better access to the 114 front garden of the “Rosaleda” ride.

EN BLANCO · Nº 11 · 2013 · ARQUITECTURA SACRA