Chapel of Moledo – Caminha
In 1962 Pope John XXIII called the twenty-first council of the Catholic Church, known as the Second Vatican Council. Essentially, this council was intended for the Church of modernization through the reintroduction of liturgical aspects, which had been lost over time. The main axis of this reform is the centrality of the Eucharist and the active participation of the people and as a way to operationalize these liturgical changes are produced various documents, and specifically in the architectural approach, the Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium is published, which is the governing document, coordinates and directs the new design of sacred space.
In this sense, this study addressed two points (goals): initially, it was proposed to identify the spatial principles implicit in the Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium and what practical consequences that they produced in the design of the new religious space; and observe the suitability of the current religious architecture produced in the Alto Minho, in view of the ritual and liturgical symbolism.
The methodology used was the type of research method of case studies (multi case) based on the comparative nature of the subsequent three churches to that council, where the treatment of information collected is qualitative origin.
The case studies were selected taking into account the following selection criteria: territorial; time; cultural and authorship. Thus, the selected religious spaces containing the pre-defined characteristics were: Chapel of Moledo – Caminha; the Church of the Holy Family – Viana do Castelo; New Church Correlhã – Ponte de Lima.
Triangulation between document analysis, interviews and observation, collected for each case allows interpretative approach of all information collected and correlated the results of the comparative analysis with the theoretical foundation.
Church of the Holy Family – Viana do Castelo (Portugal).
The different architectural achievements studied in this research showed that both its conception and the definition of its celebratory space are conceived around a program, a community and a concept, creating a new architectural expressiveness. But their conception is fundamentally based on a deep theological knowledge, on the part of the authors who base them and define them in their identity as a Temple.
It was found that these spaces of worship did not resort to the addition of stereotypical religious elements, characteristic of ecclesiastical constructions, but rather reinterpreted and reintegrated them, together with the addition of elements and materials of a traditional nature of local origin that, together, created an exterior composition which suggests its internal liturgical function. Therefore, there remains conceptual coexistence between the innovative and the traditional and, as mentioned in arch. Peter Zumthor thus became the “sensory anchor of the work in its place”.
It was also found that despite different functional programs, materiality and techniques used, urban centrality, plastic expression, among others, there are common points that relate and link the new sacred production in its conception and characterize it as a temple. Therefore: light – or its absence, spatial composition and liturgical definition are seen as analogous characteristics of current religious architecture, thus assuming themselves as the pillars on which its sacramental function of prayer is evident, and contemplation, meeting the unitary paradigm, proclaimed by the Church and in which the new religious spaces are imbued.
This research also allowed us to understand the unavoidable value that current religious architecture holds in the social and urban context, asserting itself as a multifunctional space of worship that gravitates around the center of the community, thus erecting a new civic centrality – now . This new design is reflected in the multifunctionality that the religious complex houses and, which the architecture gives shape to, namely, in the functional versatility of the church, which does not limit the celebratory space to a mere liturgical exercise, hosting, for example, musical performances in its interior. In this sense, the new religious spaces are another element of the urban fabric, with which it dialogues and simultaneously builds, thus making its typological configuration significant, not only due to the balance between architecture and program. In short, the community sense that emerged from this analysis and, on which all the proposals were developed, converts them into a support of elementary community value.
New Church Correlhã, Ponte de Lima (Portugal).
One of the aspects that needs to be improved is the dissemination and communication of the new architectural design, resulting from the liturgical change, among the ecclesiastical community, as during the research it was found that the faithful lacked understanding of the new sacred space. This lack of communication between the parties – Church and community – also recognized by the authors of the works, results in a series of arbitrary misunderstandings, which distance the temple from the faithful, for whom it was designed. Now, when this was done – the clarification of the new architectural design – the community’s reaction was to appreciate and value the aesthetic, symbolic and conceptual aspects of the sacred building.
Returning to the architectural form of the new worship spaces, it can be said that this – the form – is defined by the symbol, which remains and is essential in their structuring. These symbols, of a geometric or religious nature, condition its spatiality, that is, the new sacred architecture is leveraged on pre-conceived geometries, to structure and develop the entire proposal, where the presence of the symbol blends into the temple, simultaneously, as as a part and as a whole of the architectural object and, also, as a means and as an end of the concept, converting the space into a true and metaphorical theological place, with an evident symbiosis between functionality and symbolism.
It is worth highlighting the issue of the symbol, regardless of its origin or meaning, as being the formal and crucial element in the structuring of a sacred and thought-out architectural form and, also, as the manipulator of that form, where architecture is responsible for the movement of the believer in space, thus translating the liturgy into action.
This study also indicates that there is certainly no single path or strategy to accommodate the physical and symbolic dimension of the human being in the celebratory space through previously established solutions. There is the way, the only way, that of effective foundation, of the idealized space, from the theological perspective.
Architecturally, the new conception of the religious space safeguards the primordial norms that favor active participation, in this way, the centrality of the presbytery, the ornamental simplicity in the interior and the physical and sensorial comfort of the faithful, are identified as the pillars on which the functional expressiveness of the current temple gravitates.
And, finally, research on the suitability of current religious architecture can explore much more; in this sense, a quantitative study would be pertinent, which would consolidate the results presented in this dissertation. In principle, topics such as the introduction of new technologies in the celebratory space, such as multimedia projections, internet, virtual reality, home automation, would also be of interest in being addressed, as well as a future change in their use (spatial conversion), are examples of carry out relevant studies.
Another topical issue, and whose media coverage requires reflection, is the construction of inter-religious spaces, their communication, relevance and situation, taking into account the social paradigm of an increasingly secular population. In short, it is the following of a path that has only just begun…
By Jorge Martins, architect (PhD student).
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