Several times, Le Corbusier appears quite proud of those testimonies that point up a valuable link between his architecture and the architecture of the early Christian churches. This article pinpoints the subtle but intense correlation between the original content of liturgical traditions and the mechanisms of the direct lighting used in the church of Saint-Pierre of Firminy-Vert; a relation that at the same time exhibits the poetic connotations of the light sources, which in this project become a powerful tool able to unleash our emotions under the attentive eye of the architect.
The following text is a summary of the conclusions reached during the research of the 1947 Luís Barragán’s house in Tacubaya (Mexico DF). The concepts and tools of my analysis approach Architecture in such a way that it reveals its values as well as the references that connect it to other places.
It could be a paradox to talk about the introduction of modernity in the field of religious architecture due to the attitude of custody and continuation of a tradition that her promoters should maintain. However, we can see how modern churches emerged from the unity of a new theological and architectural vision, with the aim of building a new architecture with the features of the new world. The objective of this study is to show the basics that led to the radical change that have happened in the creation of sacred spaces in the whole of Europe from the beginning of the last century.
Beyond the choice of one more star-chitect, architectural current scenery needs projectual references taken from professionals that maybe aren´t too much recognized because of the size of their opera, but their works show enough degree of reflection to be taken into account into architecture evolution. Glenn Murcutt´s choice not only fulfills this aim but his job was recognized with the award of Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2002. The aim in this article is non other than the offering a pattern and a way to formalize architecture in the antipodes through Murcutt’s ecological functionalism, based in the thoughts of this magnificent professional.
There is an imaginary place which sits the creative activity of Jørn Utzon. In developing this paper, we propose, through the study of his works and writings reveal this «imaginary world» that arises each of its architectural proposals in order to learn more about not only his work, which is large and complex, but also of the personal world, that world of ideas, from which it arises so that leads us to understand somewhat the origin and development of creative activity.
In front of the Le Corbusier’s horizontal and pictorical opening, the wall-opening widens the denial of the structure, producing the maximum interior-exterior relationship. The research about its shape, work and the progresses that time and technique have provided it will let us to explore its possibilities through two pioneering experiments in different contexts: the Coca Cola Factory in A Coruña and the Lovell Health House in Los Angeles, two great examples to understand this category of architectural opening.
Mat-building is a low-rise, high-density construction which characterizes European architecture of the 1960s and 1970s. The term is coined by Alison Smithson and its paradigm is the Free University in Berlin by Candilis, Josic and Woods. Based on a strong internal order and indeterminacy in form, mat-buildings’ design is a combinatory method. In Spain, Rafael Leoz and Ricardo Bofill demonstrate the utility of this way of designing to conceive high-rise works. This paper addresses how these proposals anticipate some important aspects of contemporary architecture.
Giacomo Lercaro’s appointment as archbishop of Bologna in 1952 caused a revolution in the field of sacred architecture. Conferences, exhibitions, publishing of a relevant magazine, more than fifty churches built in the suburbs, and above all, the invitation to Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier and Kenzo Tange designed churches for the city, allowed a decade later the experience Bolognese reach global resonance. A small team of very young architects, among whom were the brothers Giuliano and Glauco Gresleri, turned to Bologna in a laboratory of the new Catholic architecture of the twentieth century.
José Luis Sánchez is one of the most important Spanish sculptors in the field of sacred art since the middle of the 20th century: his work in religious architecture from the late fifties has been numerous and celebrated. The interest of this interview lies in the first hand information and untold data provided by the sculptor from La Mancha about the introduction of avant-garde art in the Spanish churches during a particularly interesting period, linked up to a radical change of religious architecture in our country.
