Re: Re: reorganisation and destruction of irish catholic churches

Ouch…Hope I don’t lose me nads over this one either. .but i wont endanger me little lovely’s by commenting myself & putting them in mortal danger manu militari, I will however at the end, post some of the conflicting views & commentary that accompanied this blog because I found them humorous & relevant.

Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas Architects have completed a church in Foligno, Italy.

The project was won in 2001 after a national competition organized by the Conferenza Episcopale Italiana for the construction of new churches, the jury gave the following reasons for choosing, “as a sign of innovation that meets the latest international research, becoming a symbol of rebirth for the city after the earthquake. ”

The new parish designed by Fuksas Architects, is a monolith of pure geometry, absolute, in a tin box. There are two main architectural elements that are identified with the functions of the religious center, the first element, the Church building, consists of two rectangules inserted into one another, the second element, also rectangular shape but long and low, is home to the Sacristy, the Pastoral Ministry of Local and Casa Canonica. A third an architectural element, smaller, combining the latter two. Spirituality and meditation joined together in a play of natural light entering horizontally and vertically, drawing a dialogue with the sky.

Eric Says:
As a building, I completely respect the design principles at work here. As a church, I feel this austere movement is not due to preference, rather we have somehow lost the talent and artisans capable of making truly beautiful churches. It is much easier casting square concrete than hand carving wood. God must feel a sense of loss at churches like this. Tell me this inspires you closer to God than than the older cathedrals.

James Says:
actually Eric…. have you ever cast concrete? its quite hard. that’s not to say its harder or less harder then wood (haha no pun). but a lot more goes into casting concrete than simply forming. you have to have the right mixture, color, board form, pouring alone is an art unless you want air bubbles, the list can go on…
also I don’t believe god cares where you pray. but so much that your praying. that would be like saying if you pray in a cardboard box god looks down on you.
whether a person feels like their in “gods house” i don’t know i think that can only be experience in person. It does have a clean and refreshed feeling sure beats mega churches…

fromageplus Says:
James,

The question is not about “praying god”. This is a catholic church, this is not just “a place to pray”. A catholic church is a place of worship, there’s an altar, on which is celebrated the sacrifice of Christ. One of the big things in catholicism is about Incarnation. And modern churches like this one are des-incarnated places, they’re abstract spaces, they’re empty, they erase all representation of Jesus, of the Saints, any figuration is bannished,… Come on, this is not a protestant place or a deist temple ! This is not a zen house ! What do we believe in ? That God is minimalist ?
Architecturally speaking it can be really beautiful, I admit some modern churches have a really beautiful design, but that’s because I have an architectural education. Well, actually I never found any spirituality in those places. I never met the Mystery of the Incarnation. I never found any love for life.
I only saw photogenic constructions.

king Says:
Great entry Fromageplus ! The best comment on contemporary Church Design i`ve read in a long time. Places like the one by Fuksas rather remind me of sex cabins for architects to wank off, than spiritual places for the public ! And James stop making things more complicated than they actually are, of course you can gather with some swiss dudes and look at the beauty of a concrete wall for 3 hours, philosophying about the amount of bubbles per sqm . But i`d rather look at a beatiful female, or a boroque church for that matter, and admire god for creating them.

Blue-Lotus Says:
Well, if churches were always built in concrete, say from the 8-9th centuries onwards, worshippers wouldn’t have ever looked for stained glass, baroque, gothic or other architectural elements in it – they would have simply appropriated the blank, clean and “minimalist” space as a place to commune with God and exulted in the beauty of the “concrete” church. So, given enough time, children and youngsters of this generation who are used to seeing all glass and steel structures, but still want to have a place to “talk to God”, will feel much more at home in a realistic, down to earth concrete-building like structure, such as this church – rather than a soaring to the sky, heavily-adorned decorative church.
What I am a bit curious to know is if the guys at deMassimiliano e Doriana Fuksas are a religious lot or otherwise? Did spirituality inspire them towards austerity or was it a post-modern sensibility at work?
Talking about soaring spires, how about this Rem Koolhaas structure, bang in the jungle of corporatehood?
And finally
arjun Says:
im not sure if this church has anything to do with italys religious heritage. i think its more about the architects personal proclivity and thats definitely food for thought. i love contemporary japanese churches because they tie in so beautifully with their spiritual and austere beliefs, but italy is all about the roman catholic church with soaring volumes and ornamentation so it would have been nice to see some sense of contemporary translation there. otherwise, its quite a beautiful space, and im sure webs of rhetoric can be spun around the brutal exterior.
ultimately it boils down to ones personal interpretation of spirituality.