Il cielo in terra

The glimpse offered by this review of churches and chapels, which speak of the attempt to bring a “fragment of heaven to earth,” interprets the need to have, even in these times, testimonies “beyond the finite.” And architecture is proposed as an appropriate tool in the wake of a millennial history.

A century of religious architecture of the different Christian denominations, from the 1920s to the present day, through texts written by Mario Botta and appearing over the past five years in the Light and Gravity column published in “Places of Infinity.”

With the Ticino master’s originality and sharpness of analysis, the book investigates the evolution of sacred building over the past hundred years. By confronting a building typology that belongs to the deep history of mankind, Mario Botta lets his own conception of what architecture is and how it can respond to the tasks it is called upon to perform today shine through.

Each building is recounted by Botta’s words and a careful set of images, starting with the buildings of the beginning of the last century and continuing with the achievements of the masters of the Modern Movement, from Le Corbusier (present with the celebrated masterpiece of Ronchamp) to Aalto, including Italian greats such as Gio Ponti (Taranto Cathedral) and Giovanni Michelucci. The survey then proceeds with the outgrowth of the Modern in the second half of the 20th century through the works of authors such as Oscar Niemeyer, Carlo Scarpa, Alvaro Siza and Richard Meier, also dwelling on the creations of artists such as Mark Rothko’s Houston Chapel and Henri Matisse’s Rosary Chapel in Vence.

Ample attention is given to more recent creations from the beginning of the millennium, where Botta compares himself with fellow travelers from Zumthor to Rafael Moneo, from Mario Cucinella to Andreas Meck. With an introductory text by Fulvio Irace, the book closes with a contribution by Alessandra Coppa on the meaning of building a church today and an overview devoted to the many creations of Botta himself, a great builder of places of worship for today’s cities and people.

AUTHOR
MARIO BOTTA – (Mendrisio 1943), one of the most important architects of our time, known and appreciated all over the world, is the exact opposite of the archistar. He has always combined his creative activity with a critical reflection on the figure of the architect in today’s society, on the tasks and purposes of architectural activity.