Actas de Arquitectura Religiosa Contemporánea

Presentation of the issue and table of contents.

The Munich art historian and publisher Hugo Schnell (1904-81) was appointed in 1961 as an external consultant to the Liturgical Preparatory Commission of the Second Vatican Council (1960-62). He was asked to collaborate in the drafting of the chapter on sacred art of the future constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium. To this purpose, Schnell wrote an extensive votum (report). In it, among other topics, he urges ecclesiastical clients to respect contemporary culture and styles, stresses the importance of prudence in this area and the need to cultivate an objective Christian mentality among artists and architects. However, it seems that Schnell's recommendations had a rather limited impact on the final text of Sacrosanctum Concilium.

The objective of this paper is to investigate the peculiar and innovative features of the design activity of architect Franco Antonelli in the Umbrian territory during the period 1955-75. As an architect, Antonelli possessed a sophisticated, innovative, and experimental personality, positively influenced by his enduring collaboration with Bishop Siro Silvestri. Several factors contributed to creating a productive and innovative partnership between them, which lasted nearly 15 years. Silvestri was a Conciliar father who believed in the radical renovation that the Liturgical Constitution could bring. Antonelli, instead, was a Catholic intellectual supporting the new relationship between liturgy and sacred space. The case study of the diocese of Foligno appears as an illuminating land of experimentation. By examining the realized parish centers, this paper reveals a novel Italian context in which the decision-making process was shaped by liturgical pastoral care and urban procedures, combined with innovative architectural practices.

This paper explores the potential of the client-architect relationship to be part of a design methodology conducive to conceiving sacred space as collaborative, dialogical practice. The case study for this investigation is the multi-confessional project ‘House of One’ by Kuehn Malvezzi, currently on site in Berlin, Germany. The client for this project is not one cleric or religious community but a foundation initiated by a local Protestant, Jewish and Muslim congregation. The fact that the client is not one homogenous entity has shaped the conception of the project and consequently the building’s final appearance: all design decisions have been taken conjointly by the three clerics. In this project, the correlation between theological considerations and material realisation has been recognised as a reciprocal two-way process: theological doctrines are materialised through constructed space – equally, architectural questions can act as a catalyst for theological debate between the three clerics and their respective communities.

The church of Santa Maria de Sales, in Viladecans (Barcelona, 1962-67), is an atypical building in many ways. Popularly known as ‘the slide church’, it is one of the first temples conceived in an openly brutalist manner in Spain, as well as one of the few sacred works by a Germanic architect in our country. But despite its uniqueness, it is a virtually unknown building. The Austrian Robert Kramreiter was, at the time, a specialist in religious architecture. He had initially designed this church for a summer resort near the sea, but the cancellation of the commission led the parish priest to decide to take advantage of the project in a new location inland. From then on, the clergy became the main promoter of its construction, fighting against all the obstacles economic, technical, regulatory, etc. that crossed his path. Taking as a starting point a small publication by a local journalist on the occasion of its half-century of history, this paper highlights the heroic role that the client sometimes has to play in order to achieve an excellent result.

The project for the Santa Genoveva Temple and Parish Center began in a contest of ideas in which bases were provided that emphasized the traditional character of the new Temple. A way of encounter began focusing the reflection not so much on the language or the architectural style, but rather on the recovery of the symbolism of sacred architecture so often present throughout history, and the intrinsic beauty of the liturgy. A union between tradition and modernity, forged in the common purpose between the Parish Priest and the Parish Council, the architects and the participation of the entire community, building a Temple focused on the expression of the Christian mystery and with a missionary and catechetical vocation, which has crystallized in a contemporary construction with the incorporation of traditional meanings.

We usually associate the best examples of religious architecture of the 20th century with the most powerful ecclesiastical or civil subsidiary institutions, or those associated with great creators, cities or institutions. However, certain instances of a more modest order also managed to promote truly extraordinary temples. To a large extent, these were due to the initiative of smaller commissioners, who went unnoticed in the general panorama or did not achieve high levels of impact. Their diversity and the discreet circumstances surrounding them partly explain a richness that remains partially unknown. This article will reflect on the minor patrons —and even on this assessment— based on the case of Zamora, a peripheral, modest and humble Spanish diocese and province, proposing to address in a paradigmatic and exportable way to other ecclesiastical realities their diversity according to their orders of belonging, as well as their repercussions and achievements.

This paper discusses women as architectural clients through an examination of Roman Catholic nuns as patrons, designers and in some cases builders of religious architecture. The paper offers two case studies to explore the roles that women assumed in religious communities: the first, a chapel commissioned and built by a community of Carmelite nuns in Wales during the 1950s and the second, a recently completed abbey in the North of England. The examples highlight the evolution of female agency in the built environment and how this has been impacted by the professionalisation of architecture.

This text is, above all, a tribute to a client who helped me to reflect on the significance of the Church’s built heritage in Portugal. An informed client, clear in commissioning projects and demanding in his results, but always available to reflect on the purpose and meaning of religious space, as well as on the responsibility of the Catholic Church in supporting contemporary artistic and cultural production, in line with what it has practised throughout its history.
This text is also a farewell to a friend.