NEW PARISH COMPLEX IN TERRASINI
LOCATION Terrasini, Palermo, Italy
YEAR 2021
THEME Architecture, Sacred spaces, Church
STATUS Competition
DESIGNERS Tomaso Monestiroli, Luca Cardani
TEAM Martina Meulli, Alessandro Perego
The project site is located in a grid urban fabric oriented toward the sea in the city of Terrasini. The comparison between the density of the fabric of low houses and the monumentality of the church is a foundational element of the project. Two formal worlds that overlap and create a strong expressive contrast.
The choice was made to design an accomplished volume, with simple and recognizable architectural elements, which juxtaposed would define the idea of enclosure, entrusting the tower of the presbytery with the recognizability of the church site as an urban landmark. The sacredness of the church is based on the relationship between the chancel where the rite is celebrated and the assembly hall, where the community is called to participate in the rite.
The hall is formed by a succession of wall partitions that mark the processional path from the churchyard to the chancel. It is a place that we would like to have a domestic character, overlooked by a luminous presbytery, an octagonal tower that takes in light zenithally and reflects it on its walls, until it illuminates the altar and crucifix.
The symbolic power of the altar is highlighted by the presbytery tower, whose vertical momentum provides a landmark for the entire community.
In short, a place characterized by simplicity, but at the same time able to assume visibility in the neighborhood in which it fits.
IN
IDENTITÀ DELL’ARCHITETTURA ITALIANA N21 2023
L. Cardani (edit by) Studio Monestiroli Opere e progetti di Architettura Electa Milan 2021