OPPORTUNITIES [by Lorenzo Sizzi, April 2019] by Gennaro Postiglione

OPPORTUNITIES

A strategy for the adaptive reuse of churches

Cover: New entrance for the church of San’t Andrea Apostolo in Bergamo, thought to invite neighbors, citizens and tourist within an environment of collective activities.

Politecnico di Milano Scuola di Architettura Urbanistica Ingegneria delle Costruzioni Master degree in Architecture Architecture of Interiors a.a. 2017 / 2018

OPPORTUNITIES

A strategy for the adaptive reuse of churches

Studente: Lorenzo Sizzi | 873779 Relatore: Gennaro Postiglione

Table of contents

D The decommissioning process ... What happens when a church seems to loose its role? ... p.54 0. _

Abstract 1. WANNA BUY THE CHURCH WERE ARCADE FIRE MADE NEON BIBLE AND THE SUBURBS?

p.6

Anamnesis of a church ... How do we know it? ...

P.58 0. _ p.59 1. MAIN ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES p.63 2. THE FOUR FUNDAMENTAL PROPERTIES

part I - strategy

B Inputs

p.12 0. _

Repurposing ... How does it change? ...

C European overview ...

how five different EU countries face the phenomenon? ... p.18 p.20 p.26 p.34 p.42 p.48

0. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

_ UNITED KINGDOM NETHERLANDS BELGIUM/FLANDERS FRANCE ITALY

p.72 0. _ p.74 1. LEGEND FOR THE ANALYSIS OF THE ADAPTIVE REUSE OF A CHURCH p.76 2. EUROPEAN EXAMPLES OF REPURPOSED CHURCHES p.94 3. CONCLUSIONS

part II - project

G Context p.102 0. _ p.103 1. STATE OF RELIGIOUS USE OF BERGAMO p.106 2. STATE OF RELIGIOUS USE OF CITTA’ ALTA p.134 3. THE CHURCH OF SANT’ANDREA APOSTOLO

J Design p.174 0. _ P.176 1. SENSE OF WELCOME P.181 2. CULTURAL PATH P.186 3. AMBIVALENCE OF SOCIAL ACTIVITIES P.191 4. SPIRITUALITY

K Conclusive analysis of the design p.194 0. _

Program p.146 0. _ p.148 1. INTERVIEWS p.166 2. L’ORATORIO SOCIALE

I Spatiality p.170 0. _ p.171 1. RELATIONSHIP WITH THE FUNDAMENTAL PROPERTIES

sources

A Abstract

www.pitchfork.com/news/49218-wannabuy-the-church-where-arcade-fire-madeneon-bible-and-the-suburbs/

1. 2.

On January 18, 2013, the Pitchfork magazine began with an unusual advertisement: the former church owned by a Canadian band had been put up for sale. From the singularity of this, and of a series of similar inputs, comes the desire to investigate a phenomenon, the trade of churches, which has proved to be the tip of the iceberg of a broader theme: the decommission of buildings dedicated to Christian worship.

United Kingdom, Belgium, Netherlands, France and Italy. 1_Religious Heritage - Europe’s Legacy for the Future, organized by FRH, Paris, 11/13 Oct 2018. 2_Doesn’t God dwell here anymore?, organized by Pontificia Università gregoriana, Roma 29/30 Nov 2018. A. Cornoldi, l’Architettura dell’Edificio Sacro, Officina, Roma 2000. T. Grisi, Architettura Liturgica. Un dizionario essenziale, Lettera Ventidue, Siracusa 2019. Proprietà fondamentali Double scalability Spaial orientation Spatial articulation Controlled brightness

Following an investigation carried out regarding the situation of five European states1, selected thanks to the direct support of some experts known in the context of two international conferences2, it is initially outlined the Decommissioning process, a typical scheme that describes the evolution of the phenomenon.

1_D. Fiorani, L. Kealy, S.F. Musso, Conservtion—Adaptation, EAAE 5th workshop in Hasselt, 2015. 2_Università di Bologna, The future of churches, organized by prof. Luigi Bartolomei, Bologna 2016-2017. 3_Religious Heritage - Europe’s Legacy for the Future, op.cit.. 4_Doesn’t God dwell here anymore?, op.cit..

Program

Reflecting on the consequences of this process, Opportunities arises from the desire to conceive a strategy capable of preventing the practice of uncontrolled and unconscious reuse of churches. The strategy is organized in two phases. The first is based on the study of the work of two architects3 and is aimed at understanding the church building, which culminates in the definition of four fundamental properties4. The second concerns re-use and, thanks to the theoretical support of the documents of a workshop and three conferences on the subject5, the aim is to analyze a selection of case studies by experimenting a qualitative evaluation method that works by dividing the intervention into two themes: program and spatiality6.

1_Target of users

Public Private with public access Private 2_ Activities

Religious Commercial Social infrastructure Culture and education Reuse for private purposes

Reflecting on the analysis of the selected realities, four results are extracted, aimed at identifying some guidelines and a series of best practices able to constitute a support to an experimental design of the reuse of the church of Sant’Andrea Apostolo in Bergamo.

3_Level of appropriateness

III level: appropriateness of the activities II livello: mitigated appropriateness of the activities I livello: inappropriateness of the activities

Spatiality 1_ Architectural typology of the intervention +

Light addition Architectural modification Profound transfromation 2_Spatial impact

0/4 properties respected: dissonance of dialogue 4/4 properties respected: respectful dialogue 1-3/4 properties respected: conscious dialogue

www.pitchfork.com/news/49218-wannabuy-the-church-where-arcade-fire-madeneon-bible-and-the-suburbs/

1. 2.

Il 18 gennaio 2013 la rivista Pitchfork esordiva con un annuncio insolito: la ex chiesa di proprietà di una band canadese era stata messa in vendita. Dalla singolarità di questo, e di una serie di input simili, nasce la volontà di approfondire un fenomeno, la vendita di chiese, che si è dimostrato essere la punta dell’iceberg di una tematica più ampia: la dismissione degli edifici dedicati al culto cristiano.

Regno Unito, Belgio, Olanda, Francia e Italia. 1_Religious Heritage - Europe’s Legacy for the Future, organizzato da FRH, Paris, 11/13 Oct 2018. 2_Doesn’t God dwell here anymore?, organizzato da Pontificia Università gregoriana, Roma 29/30 Nov 2018. A. Cornoldi, l’Architettura dell’Edificio Sacro, Officina, Roma 2000. T. Grisi, Architettura Liturgica. Un dizionario essenziale, Lettera Ventidue, Siracusa 2019. Proprietà fondamentali Doppia scalabilità Orientamento spaziale Articolazione spaziale Luminosità controllata

A seguito di un’indagine svolta circa le peculiarità del fenomeno in cinque stati europei1, selezionati grazie al supporto diretto di alcuni esperti del settore conosciuti nell’ambito di due convegni internazionali2, viene inizialmente delineato il Decommissioning process, uno schema tipico che descrive l’evoluzione del fenomeno.

1_D. Fiorani, L. Kealy, S.F. Musso, Conservtion—Adaptation, EAAE 5th workshop in Hasselt, 2015. 2_Università di Bologna, The future of churches, organizzato dal prof. Luigi Bartolomei, Bologna 2016-2017. 3_Religious Heritage - Europe’s Legacy for the Future, op.cit.. 4_Doesn’t God dwell here anymore?, op.cit..

Programma

Riflettendo sulle conseguenze di questo processo, Opportunities nasce dalla volontà di concepire una strategia in grado di prevenire la pratica del riuso incontrollato ed inconsapevole delle chiese. La strategia è organizzata in due fasi. La prima si fonda sullo studio del lavoro di alcuni architetti3 ed è volta alla comprensione dell’edificio chiesa, che culmina nella definizione di quattro proprietà fondamentali4. La seconda riguarda il riuso e, grazie al supporto teorico degli atti di un workshop e tre convegni sul tema5, si pone l’obiettivo di analizzare una selezione di casi studio tramite la sperimentazione di un metodo di valutazione qualitativa che funziona scomponendo l’intervento in due tematiche: programma e spazialità6.

1_Target di utenti

Publico Privato con accesso pubblico Privato 2_ Attività

Religiose Commerciali Infrastruttura sociale Cultura ed educazione Riuso per scopi privati

Dalle riflessioni scaturite dall’analisi delle realtà selezionate sono estratti quattro risultati, volti ad identificare alcune linee guida ed una serie di best practices in grado di costituire un supporto alla progettazione sperimentale del riuso della chiesa di Sant’Andrea Apostolo a Bergamo.

3_Livello di appropriatezza

III livello: appropriatezza delle attività II livello: appropriatezza mitigata delle attività I livello: inappropriatezza delle attività

Spazialità 1_Tipologia architettonica dell’intervento +

Aggiunta leggera Modifica architettonica Profonda trasformazione 2_Impatto spaziale

0/4 proprietà rispettate: dialogo dissonante 4/4 proprietà rispettate: dialogo rispettoso 1-3/4 proprietà rispettate: dialogo consapevole

part I - strategy

B Inputs

This thesis path arises from a series of inputs, from which a great interest in an extremely contemporary topic has slowly emerged. One of these inputs is a piece of news found online. To be precise, on January 18, 2013, the magazine Pitchfork debuted with an announcement of an unusual advertisement: a former church, owned by a well-known Canadian band, had been put up for sale due to the structural failure of the roof. This announcement, which turned out to be very interesting due to the subject of the sale, started a series of further researches that showed how the trade of a church is just the tip of the iceberg of a much wider and articulated process: that one of the decommissioning of places of worship At the beginning of the path, the role of the architect is introduced by a simple question that arises from a statement by Adriano Cornoldi, who was a professor of typological characters at the IUAV in Venice. The statement concerns a place of worship and says that it is not so much sacred in itself, but because of the presence of a community of worshippers within it1. The question that arises accordingly is: what happens to the place of worship when its constituent element, the community of faithful, fails?

A. Cornoldi, l’Architettura dell’Edificio Sacro, Officina, Roma 2000, p.11.

www.wsj.com/articles/europes-emptychurches-go-on-sale-1420245359

www.lastampa.it/2011/12/30/ vaticaninsider/belgium-whenthe-church-becomes-a-bazaarV60WkCtWhCJBTEDUVuizAK/pagina.html

www.ouest-france.fr/bretagne/ quimper-29000/en-images-finisterequand-les-chapelles-et-eglises-sontdemolies-ou-vendues-6231966

www.reliplan.nl

www.hutchings-thomas.co.uk/ property_567

C An European overview

How five different EU countries face the phenomenon?

Attempting to achieve more clarity the thesis focuses on buildings devoted to Christian worship and is based on the analysis of five European states selected on the availability and nationality of some experts, known during the direct participation in two conferences (Paris in October and Rome in November 2018)1 United Kingdom, Belgium, Netherlands, France and Italy are therefore explored following a conceptual scheme based on three questions related to the presence of the phenomenon of the decommission of buildings of worship, to the presence of someone able to face that situation and its possible available tools. It has been interesting to compare the obtained data regarding the consistency of the phenomenon, the awareness about, and the presence (or absence) of a strategy to face it at national level. These five States have been therefore divided into two main groups: the first is made up of the northern European countries, United Kingdom, Belgium and the Netherlands, which are all three interested by the phenomenon (especially Netherlands), are all three aware of the situation (especially the United Kingdom), and all three have developed methods to deal with it (Belgium in a very effective way). The second group is made up of France and Italy, which have similar features about a consistency which is still not of primary relevance and about the lack of strategies at national level, but France, on its side, has shown greater awareness mainly thanks to some private associations recognized by the government.

Religious Heritage - Europe’s Legacy for the Future, organized by FRH, Paris, 11/13 Oct 2018. Doesn’t God dwell here anymore?, organized by Pontificia Università gregoriana, Roma 29/30 Nov 2018.

Map of Europe with highlited the analyzed countries.

United Kingdom

Consistency 16000 total churches 1600 decommissioned 50% reused - 50% abbandoned

Around 28 church are closing every year since 1999

Actors Church initiatives Pastoral and Mission Measure

SAC - Statutory Advisory Committee Government initiatives Department for Culture Media and Sports + Church

CCT - Church Conservation Trust Private initiatives Not Anglican churches

National Churches Trust England and Wales

Friend of Friendless

Overview

The United Kingdom is one of the first countries which had to face the phenomenon of the decommissioning of churches. The reason of this reality comes from the beginning of the Twentieth Century, more precisely in 1913, when churches were not included in the Ancient Monuments Consolidation and Amendment Act for the national safeguard of historical buildings1. During the second postwar period, starting from the sixties, it has been reported a separation between the population and the church. Due to the industrial development and to the urbanization, a significant number of worship places started to being characterized by a redundancy condition. Moreover, behind the wish of rationalising the resources, some dioceses edited pastoral plans that led to the closure or, even worst, the demolition of some of these churches that were not used (or very little). As a matter of fact, after the Sixties, a lack of consideration on the meaning of cultural heritage was the main responsible for the demolition of a lot of churches that were not characterized by the sign of English great architects or did not have particular formal features. Nowadays the United Kingdom is witnessing the presence of a constantly growing number of churches that, due to common causes around all over Europe (that are the secularization and the difficulty in affording maintenance costs), are slowly being dismissed. In terms of numbers, during the the Nineties, the average number of annual closures was 28, and since 1999 this average has fallen again to just less than 24 closures per year, out of an estate of more than 16,000 church buildings2. For over half of those buildings closed a new active use is found for them. Actually, the possibilities for these buildings are mainly two: a minority is converted to others religions, but, according to the facts, a relevant part of the 1600 Great Britain’s officially decommissioned churches are now transformed in concert halls, libraries, shops, apartments, hotels, sport centers, and so on3.

Is there a way to face the situation? The British government seemed to care the situation since 1958, the year during which a commission chaired by Lord Bridges was in charge of finding reasonable solutions for the safeguard and a compatible reuse of the redundant Anglican churches. Their work led to the institution of two important authorities: the Advisory Board for Redundant Churches and the Redundant Churches Fund, that is now named Church Conservation Trust (CCT). The role of the first one is to find out the building which can be recommended for the permanent conservation fund, while the CCT’s purpose is, at all the effects, to find a way of preserving these buildings.

F. Radice, Chiese ‘sconsacrate’: processi di dismissione e riuso. Dal caso di Venezia un metodo di analisi, PhD thesis from Politecnico di Torino, p.39. www.churchcare.co.uk/churches/ closed-and-closing/what-happenswhen-a-church-closes F. Radice, op. cit., p.41.

www.visitchurches.org.uk In England there are two grade of value for listed building. I, that represent the buildings of the highest significance, II. More informations at: www.historicengland.org.uk/advice/ your-home/owning-historic-property/ listed-building/ 6. M. Mckeague, Inspired by the past - Engaging the present - Securing the future, contained in Università di Bologna, The future of churches, organized by prof. Luigi Bartolomei, Bologna 2016-2017.p.133-145. 7. www.champing.co.uk 8. www.nationalchurchestrust.org 9. www.friendsoffriendlesschurches. org.uk 10. www.churchcare.co.uk www.churchofengland.org 11. A religious organization that manages Church’s buildings. www.churchcare.co.uk/churches/ church-buildings-council 5.

The Church Conservation Trust4 is an organization funded by the Department for Culture Media and Sport and by the Church of England. Its primary concern is the conservation or the regeneration, through practical projects, of nearly 350 Grade I or II5 historic churches, in order to ensure their survival and their heritage for the future generations. Beyond the fundings, which are solid (even if in the last years were reduced by the 20%) the approach of the CCT is to work with people to identify what their community’s needs are, to look for further fundings coming from interested investors (for practical, but also economical needs), and to deliver temporary or permanent thought projects that will meet the needs within their original community space. Thanks to this approach a lot of decommissioned church realities such as St. Paul’s in Bristol, All Souls in Bolton, St. Laurence in Norwich or All Saints’ in Aldwincle are now, respectively, a circus academy, a community multifunctional space, a temporary space for workshops and a place where to camping6. The last one, in particular, is part of a wider project named Champing7, that manages 9 different churches, giving the possibility to people of booking and spending some nights within one of these buildings. Also, the National Churches Trust8, and the Friend of Friendless9 are two organizations which work in a similar way on a consistent number of decommissioned realities but, instead than the CCT, they care the religious heritage of English non-Anglican and Welsh communities. While the first Government actions were taken in the Fifties, England’s Church10 activates the Statutory Advisory Committee (SAC), an organization established only in 2008 after the Pastoral and Mission Measure of 2007 and composed by eight members from the Church Buildings Council11. Since these years the SAC substituted the role of the Advisory Board (from 1958) in collaborating with the CCT and

The cover-page of the program Champing, promoted by the Church Conservation Trust. www.champing.co.ukbuilding

12. F. Radice, op. cit., p.41. 13. www.churchnw6.co.uk/church/stjames/ 14. www.frh-europe.org/events/2018paris/ 15. Mail received from Becky Clark, 19.10.18 ‘We have changed the law so that large parts of open churches can be leased for other uses, with a section of the church kept for worship. We believe this balance offers the best chance of both the buildings and the faith surviving, side by side’. 16. www.thesherriffcentre.co.uk 17. From Longman dictionary, online resource. ‘Organization or group that has control over money that will be used to help someone else’. 18. F. Radice, op. cit., p.41.

the other Trusts regarding the future of churches that are going to close. The most interesting thing of this new authority is about its approach to the theme, that works through some specific instruments that evaluate the different features and attribute them some values in order to understand their attitude to change and the impact on the surrounded environment.12 One of the most valid cases, which gives an example of the effort that the Church of England is spending in supporting people who care for their churches and their cathedral is the church of St James in West Hampstead in London13, that is characterized by a mixed use. In this situation, during a conference on the theme14, the Director of Churches and Cathedrals’ division, Becky Clark, states that UK’s law allows the coexistence of profane function within a church that is still used for the religious purpose15. As a matter of fact, a part of the church close to the altar, and the presbyter are still devoted to the mass, that is scheduled twice per week. The interesting thing is that, while the celebration takes place, the space is devoted only to this, but during the other moments of the week the Sheriff Centre16, a social enterprise organization, manages the post office of the neighborhood, a café, a playground for children and a gift shop. To sum up, the United Kingdom’ situation of decommissioned churches can be schematized in this way: a part of them is under the care of the different Trusts17, a part is traded and privatized, and another part has been demolished during the second half of the Twentieth century18.

The sheriff centre at the church of Saint James in London.

19. www.churchcare.co.uk/churches/ closed-and-closing/criteria-policiesprocedures 20. www.churchcare.co.uk/images/PDF/ SAC/SAC%20Criteria%20revised%20 6-Jul-2010.pdf 21. www.churchcare.co.uk/images/PDF/ SAC/SAC%20Site%20Evaluation%20 Notes%20revised%20May-2011.pdf

Which are their tools? Whether the closure of a church is inevitable, or it’s possible to do something to avoid it19, the procedure start with the intervention of the Statutory Advisory Committee, that provides the Trusts with informations and advice on heritage matters relating the buildings, considering their future, including alternative use, preservation or demolition. The SAC works through two tools: the Critical Information Summary (CIS), which provides a digest of the ‘critical’ information relating to the heritage and planning considerations, and the more detailed Informed Change Assessment (ICA). Of these two, the most relevant is the ICA, which is composed by two documents that have to be considered in sequence: the Assessment of Significance and Overall Heritage Value20 and the Scopes for change and potential impacts on significance21. The first document’s aim is to provide a detailed framework of the church that is being considered, regardless if it is listed or not. It is based on the division of the building in five ideal areas. The context, the churchyard, the church, the content (decoration and furniture) and the secondary environments (such as the choir) are evaluated according to different criteria in order to give them an assessment of significance: High (H), Moderate (M) or Low (L). These level of significance constitute the base for the second document, which, as its name suggests, wants to investigate the potential impacts of a hypothetic intervention. This second tool is organized in four tables (change within churchyard or curtilage, change to exterior/interior of the church and change to fixtures,

Guidelines for the reuse of churches in the United Kingdom. www.churchofengland.org/more/ church-resources/churchcare/advice-andguidance-church-buildings/sharing-yourbuilding

fittings, seats and furnishings) that gives to who fill out the data a not exhaustive, but very detailed, list of architectural elements of the church and of possible actions about potential changes, notable constraints, areas of potential impact and potential mitigations. At the end of the analysis, the criteria of significance define the scope for changes: a high significance means that an intervention will have a high impact on the building and so, it means very hard to do something, a moderate relevance means that something is possible and a low impact means that it is possible to intervene. The interesting part in these documents is that the building is not considered as a simple container that needs just to be adapted or filled, but they return a precise study which defines a more clear frame for the next steps that the Trusts will have to undertake in order to find economical, social and architectural strategies for the future of a consistent part of the English’s religious heritage.

Relevant personalities Peter Aires is the Chief Executive of the Churches Conservation Trust. Since 2007 his specific roles have been realted to the sensitization of the communities in the care for their religious heritage and in the research of sustainable solutions for historic churches through grant aid and commercial development. www.visitchurches.org.uk/what-we-do/ about-us/directors-at-the-cct.html Becky Clark is Director of Churches and Cathedrals at the Church of England and Secretary of the Church Buildings Council and Cathedrals Fabric Commission for England.

Netherlands

Consistency 6000 total churches 780 decommissioned churches between 2000 and 2011 25% reused - 69% abbandoned - 6% demolished

30% of the remaning churches are gonna close with a speed of 2/week

Actors Church initiatives

absent Government initiatives Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science

Cultural Heritage Agency

Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science - online resource

Toekomst Religieus Erfgoed Private initiatives

Association of Administrators of Monumental Church Buildings SOGK - Foundation for old churches of Groningen Online platform for monitoring religious heritage

Reliwiki

Association focused on the trade of religious buildings

Reliplan

Overview The Netherlands show a developed awareness regarding the issue of the decommissioning process of sacred buildings. The religious heritage of this country can be best summarized as one of pluralism, which comes from different relationships between Government and Church through the century, but which seems to deal with a strong secularization since the second half of the 1900. In 2012, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics, the Dutch population was identified in: 27% as Catholic, 17% as Protestant, 10% as a mix between different religious denominations (Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam) and 44% as not belonging to any religious denomination1. This 44% find confirmation in the research work of a Dutch architecture historian, Wies van Leeuven, who in 2006 tried to carry out a clear framework of the secularization process that interested his country2. Between 1940 and 2000 around 370 churches have been lost without being substituted by new buildings and, in the next five years, between 2000 and 2005, 104 churches closed, out of which 55 have been demolished. After the date of his publication, the ‘decommissioning trend’ for churches buildings improved in a negative way. Nowadays it seems that the construction of new places for worship is stopped, but it does not seem the same for the desertion of the existent ones.

3. 4.

5. 6.

B.J. Garstka, Holy renovations: Adaptive re-use and dependent stakeholder opinion of converted church buildings, Thesis submitted to the faculty of of Geosciences of Universiteit Utrecht, 2012. W. van Leeuven, ‘Believing in churches’, church buildings in the Netherlands. Conservation and new functions, in L.K. Morisset, L. Noppen, T. Coomans, Quel avenir pour quelles églises? / What future for which churches?, Montréal, Presses de l’université du Québec, 2006. www.frh-europe.org/events/2018paris/ ANBI, algemeen nut beogende instelling: public benefit organization. www.reliwiki.nl/index.php/ Hoofdpagina www.bhre.nl/

According to the Museum Catharijneconvent’s Guidelines on ways of dealing with religious objects (2012), at that time there were more than 5,660 churches still in use, but in four year (2008-2012) more than 600 had already been closed. www.catharijneconvent.nl www.frh-europe.org/netherlandsguidelines-on-dealing-with-religiousobjects/

A relevant overview of the Dutch situation comes from Frank Srtolenberg, member of the Cultural Heritage Agency, who, during a debate about the future of Europe’s religious heritage held in October 20183, stated that the 30% of around 6000 used churches among all the Netherlands is expected to close within the next years, with an average speed of 2 churches every week. A not exhaustive, but reliable, proof of these previsions comes from a source from the web which allows to carry out more detailed estimations about 246 decommissioned churches during the last six years (2013-2018) and about 138 cases within the next five years (2019-2023). This is the case of the ANBI4 foundation Reliwiki5, which is the research division of the Dutch Foundation for retaining and redevelopment Religious Heritage6 and its purpose is to foster the knowledge towards former religious buildings, in order to sensitise communities to preserve and retain their heritage. More in detail, Reliwiki is a no-profit organization that works in a way similar to Wikipedia: in 2013 the users that contribute to keeping constantly updated the database were more than 50.000 every month, and the number of contributors was increasing. In the Netherlands, from a practical point of view, parishes and religious congregations own the churches, and the government affords to help with an economic contribution small maintenance intervention on only the listed buildings, that are a little bit more than the half of the total heritage of the country. As a matter of fact, analyzing the information from Reliwiki, It is possible to verify that, of the 246 decommissioned building, the 40% was listed7. To summarise the great amount of data that is possible to find out, considering both the past cases and the future estimations, all the 385 decommissioned churches lead towards two last relevant considerations. The first one is about the kind of heritage that is interested, which for more than the half is relatively modern, coming from the Twentieth century. The second one is, instead, about the future of all these buildings: 70% is still looking for a new purpose, 25% is on sale, sold or reused and 5% is demolished. Deepening this point, of all the 63 churches devoted to a new purpose, the main business is the privatization of the heritage, 57%, followed by a public utility, 29%. The trade market consists in the 11%, with seven churches 28

In the Netherlands there are two main grade for a listed building. The highest one is a Rijksmonument, which has a national relevance and it’s part of a list that gather all these buildings around the country. The second grade is for all those buildings with a local relevance, than might be provincial or municipal. For more information: www.culturalheritageagency.nl/en/ listed-monuments

Decommissioned churches between 2013 and 2018 Current situation of 246 cases

169 - Closed (69%) 62 - On sale/sold/repurposed (25%) 15 - Demolished (6%)

Planned decommission between 2019 and 2023 Estimation of 139 future cases

102 - Closed (73%) 32 - On sale/sold/repurposed (24%) 5 - Demolished (3%)

All the datas are from Reliwiki, an online platform which monitor the state of the religious heritage among the Netherlands. www.reliwiki.nl/index.php/Hoofdpagina

8. 9.

www.culturalheritageagency.nl/en www.culturalheritageagency.nl/en/ mission-statement 10. Toekomst Religieus Erfgoed, online platform which cares the future of religious heritage. www.toekomstreligieuserfgoed.nl/ 11. Verenging van Beheerders van Monumentale Kerkgebouwen (VBMK), National association for owners and managers of historical Church’s building. www.vbmk.nl/

on sale, and, last, only the 3% has been converted for other religious denomination.

Is there a way to face the situation? As in the United Kingdom, also in the Netherlands to manage this heritage is the aim of many organizations and associations which care churches. One of these is the Cultural Heritage Agency8, which is an executive body of the Ministry for Education, Culture, and Science. This Agency constitutes a link between policymakers, owners, investors, and communities. It providies advice, knowledge, and information focused to listing, preserving, protecting and sustainably developing Dutch buildings, sites, and works of art, giving particular care towards cultural historical value. It basically is ‘at the heart of heritage management in the Netherlands’,9 in order to preserve a recognisable past for the future. The Government promoted also the constitution, in 2014, of the Toekomst Religieus Erfgoed10 which plays an important role in keeping updated interested people. For instance, from its website it is possible to consult an updated list of more than 50 cases of repurposing of churches. A second character from the Dutch panorama is, since 1981, the Verenging van Beheerders van Monumentale Kerkgebouwen (VBMK)11, a private organization funded by its own members and by a lot of benefactors. Their purpose is to defend the interest of more than 180 owners and managers of religious

Religious property. Of the eight thousand churches and other religious houses in the Netherlands, around half are used by a religious community but churches and monasteries change owners every week. We guide these processes with an eye for value and dignity. Screenshot from the website of Reliplan, an association focused on the trade of religious buildings.

12. Stichting Oude Groninger Kerken (SOGK), Organization for old churches in Groningen. www.groningerkerken.nl/nl 13. www.reliplan.nl/

buildings through a process of conservation, administration and implementation of new activities, with particular care in making the societies comfortable with the idea of the reuse of their religious building. Relevant, at the city scale, is the role of the Stichting Oude Groninger Kerken (SOGK)12, which, since 1969, is specialized on buying, preserving, developing and managing old monumental churches in the province of Groningen. It is a private foundation that, thanks to donations and to 500 volunteers, is able to manage 90 buildings, all of them interested by a more or less advanced decommissioning process. In this scenario, it deserves a look also Reliplan13, a reality which was born as a consequence of the closure of churches and of the need of finding a future for them. It is a national organization that manages on the market the reassignment of former religious properties. A quick view on the website of the company is enough to get an idea of the consistency of the phenomenon: in the last months of 2018 around 30 churches are on sale and around 200 negotiations are recorded within

A 3d view from the project ‘Feest in Oost en West’, conceived as a series of social activities planned in the ancient church of Gramerwolde. The work is the outcome of a long collaboration between architect, designers, experts and supervisors coordinated by the SOGK. www.groningerkerken.nl/nl/sogk/ projecten/feest-in-oost-en-west

14. www.groningerkerken.nl/nl/sogk/ projecten 15. www.groningerkerken.nl/nl/sogk/ onderwijs

the archive. Reliplan’s service is not only focused on the trade of churches, but it also offers professional support in the mediation between the different personalities usually involved in this process: owners, users, and financiers.

Which are their instruments? Even if there is a developed sense of awareness about the theme, the Netherland seem to lack a defined approach about the closure of a church. In any case, what is very relevant are the efforts that the four just mentioned associations, plus individual researchers and universities are involved in carrying out, in order to sensitise not only the ‘workers’ but all the population of the country. An example comes from the research work of two members of the Cultural Heritage Agency, Frank Strolenberg and Albert Reinstra, that at the moment are writing a book about possible strategies for the future of churches in the Netherlands. During the mentioned debate3, their presentation started showing some experiences of worshippers that witnessed the demolitions, the bad conditions, or the denaturalization of important churches of their past. What emerges from their speech is a well-defined way of analyzing the phenomenon that acts through a shift of conditions: problems and restrictions become opportunities, an issue for religious institutions becomes an issue for civil society and subsidies for restoration become investments to create facilities for multiple uses. For the private organizations’ side, the VBMK has developed, for the buildings on which they are called to act, a specific vocabulary based on two main terminologies. Common use, multifunctional use, and transformation define the main purposes of the building, while cultural, social and commercial define a specific list of possible functions. SOGK, instead, works through collaboration with art and cultural associations, innovative research team, schools, and universities in order to design new futures for redundant churches14 and to inform and sensitise young people about the consistency of the Dutch historical religious heritage15.

Relevant personalities Agmar van Rijn is a strategic policy officer and project leader at the SOGC, that owns ninety churches in the area of Groningen. Education is at the base of her work and through a series of different initiatives she constantly promotes the involvement of local communities in the process, with a particular attetion towards the children. www.groningerkerken.nl Frank Strolenberg has been working for 30 years in heritage. The leading theme in his work is how heritage can be made of use in contemporary society. So, he turned the former heritage concept of ‘giving the past a future’ into ‘giving the future a past’. He now works for the Cultural Heritage Agency of Netherlands with a specific focus on religious properties. www.frankenvrij.net/blog

Belgium Flanders

Consistency 1800 total churches 500 churches risk to close

Actors Church initiatives Flemish dioceses + Catholic university of Leuven

CRCK - Center for religious art and culture Government initiatives Minister of Internal Affairs

Department for religious heritage Private initiatives

not relevant

Overview

For an overview of the situation it is important to introduce Belgium as a federal country which is subdivided in thee regions: Flanders (north), Wallonia (south) and Brussels (center). Due to a different consistency of the heritage among them, in 2001 the Government entrusted every region responsible for their own properties. From a quick historical overview, it is important to know that Belgium’s territory witnessed three main historical events which are relevant for religious heritage. In 1566 the Protestant Reformation led to the destruction, or the plunder, of hundreds of churches and chapels. In the late Eighteenth century, instead, due to the French revolution, many religious buildings become property of the Government and were the objects of a trade market which converted some of them into profane places. The last historical milestone is in 1801, when Napoleone established a Concordat according which all the cathedral and the parish churches that were not yet alienated, remained property of the State, but were put at disposal of the Roman Catholic bishops, for worship. This law led to the constitution of a public administrative figure for the parishes, the Church Committees, composed of five laymen instructed with the task of caring maintenance issues. Moreover, regarding the economic issues, there were defined two important aspects: new public places of worship, for the recognized faiths, were built with public money1 and, after the construction, potential deficits in the budget of the single parishes had to be covered by the local municipalities or the provinces2. Nowadays, even if with small modifications through the years, this law still constitutes the baseline of the relationships with Government and Church. Of the three administrative areas, the region of the Flanders (the Dutch-speaking part) could be taken as example of the national situation for its great heritage, which consists in 1800 parishes churches that, unlike the Netherlands, are characterized by a strong homogeneity of religious denominations: the 99% is Christian Catholic. The Belgian worshippers are, nowadays, the protagonist of a crisis of identity that, according to the European Value Study (EVS)3, decreased the amount of Catholic from 72% in 1982 up to 50% in 2009. Moreover, deepening the percentage C

The light from above. Modern religious heritage in the Netherlands in Do_co,mo.mo_newsletter 15, year 8, September 2008, pp. 22-24. J. Danckers, J. Jaspers, D.S Stevens, The future of parish churches in Flanders, Belgium: a dialogue on municipality level, contained in Università di Bologna, op.cit.. The European Values Study (EVS) is a large-scale, cross-national, repeated cross-sectional survey research programme on basic human values. for more informations: www.europeanvaluesstudy.eu

4. 5.

6. 7.

of the Flemish Christians, only a very small percentage of them frequent mass at least once a month, while the majority participates in a sporadic way4. Thanks to these assumptions it is possible to observe that also in the Flanders the secularization and the dwindling church attendance are responsible for a great concern on what to do with all the buildings which constitute the religious heritage of several communities. This danger is particularly relevant because, during the Nineteenth and the Twentieth century a large amount of new Catholic schools, hospital, and churches were built all over the country. According to a survey carried out by the Vlaams Instituut voor Onroerend Erfgoed5, around 500 religious buildings that were built between 1914 and 2000 represent nowadays a great vulnerability: contrary to the historical churches, these modern ones are not even felt as important traces of the national heritage. Moreover, they are rarely used because of two main issues: the modest dimension of the communities and the oversized dimension of their spaces6.

J. Danckers, J. Jaspers, D.S Stevens, op. cit., p. 151. Vlaams Instituut voor Onroerend Erfgoed, institute for Flemish’s heritage. www.onroerenderfgoed.be F. Radice, op.cit., p. 47. Centre for Religious Art and Culture. www.crkc.be

Is there a way to face the situation? In the Flanders and in Brussels a recognised important association which cares the future of religious heritage is the Centrum voor Religieuze Kunst en Cultuur (CRKC)7, founded in 1997 by the Flemish dioceses and the Catholic University of Leuven. The first official Government’s action is fifteen years later, in 2011, when the then Flemish Minister of Internal Affairs, Geert Bourgeois, decided to intervene. Starting from the observation that with growing secularization churches were less frequently used and local authorities continued to be obliged to pay the

The Re-use Churches Project Office is launching a sixth call for assistance with re-use or secondary use of parish churches. Municipalities and church boards can apply for a feasibility study from January 15 to April 15, 2019. Screenshot from the website of the CRKC.

8. 9.

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deficits of their Church Committees, the Minister reported a letter in which he invited both Government and Church representatives to reflect together on the future of parish churches on their territory by means of a Parish Church Plan. In order to create and control this plan and its outcome, the Department of Immovable Religious Heritagen was founded in 2012 and, since that year, the CRCK is a part of it. While the main organization defines rules and dispositions, the CRCK, through a collaboration with different religious archive, such as the KADOC-KU of Leuven, collects knowledge and shares expertise about religious material and immaterial culture, supports and advises the heritage managers (such as the Flemish Heritage Institute5), promotes interest and advocates for the active distribution of this valuable informations. The primary beneficiaries of this work are the Catholic Churches, but the scope of the centre encompasses all recognised religions in Belgium: Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, Anglicanism, Judaism, Islam and Orthodox churches8. The proof of an interest that is both, well spread and faced, comes also from other institutions, such as universities. Regarding this aspect, a valid example is the 5th EAAE9 workshop named ‘Conservation/adaptation’10, held in Hasselt in 2015, during which 73 participants from twelve different European countries presented a paper focused on the adaptation of the religious architectural heritage for contemporary uses and for a sustainable development. As a matter of fact, some examples of results come from Jonas Danckers, Jan Jaspers and Dimitri Stevens, that are three people who work in the CRCK and who, in occasion of a conference in Bologna held in 201611, wrote a detailed article about the situation in the Flanders. In the province of Westhoek, the initiative of Minister Bourgeois led to a pilot project that imagines, for the 18 municipalities involved, a series of shareduse environments. The church of Our Lady of Poelkapelle, for instance, was the object of ‘New Life @ Church’, a program that in 2014 involved the entire community in the search for a concrete future and which led to the decision to combine a liturgical function in the choir with a nursery in the nave and in the side aisles. Particularly significant, not for the outcomes but for the general condition of the religious heritage, is the municipality of Zwal, which witnessed the reduction of priests C

11.

J. Danckers, J. Jaspers, D.S Stevens, op. cit., pp. 147-148. European association for architectural education. www.eaae.be D. Fiorani, L. Kealy, S.F. Musso, Conservtion—Adaptation, EAAE 5th workshop in Hasselt, 2015, p.275. www.eaae.be/wp-content/ uploads/2017/04/Conservation– Adaptation-EAAE-65.pdf J. Danckers, J. Jaspers, D.S Stevens, op. cit., pp. 146-166.

from seven in 2007 to only one in 2015 and that is now dealing with ten churches out of twelve that need to be repurposed.

Which are their instruments? According to the report Bourgeois, the already mentioned Church Policy Plan constitute a locally supported long-term plan for all worship buildings of a specific recognised religion on the territory of a municipality or a province. This instrument consists in an elaborated dossier that is based on facts and on future previsions and which, once constituted, need to be approved by the bishop (or the representative organ of another religion) and by the City Council. As proof of the collaboration between Government and Church, the Minister emphasized

Church of Our Lady, Poelkapelle: Project “New Life @ Church” on partitioned use. Logo which indicates the combined future function of a nursery (little girl) and a liturgical space (acolyte). Picture of the maquette of the winner design for the project. www.facebook.com/nieuwlevenatkerk/

that this plan should be elaborated during an intense dialogue between the directly involved partners: fabric committee, municipalities, local priests, local socio-cultural associations and the entire population. Of all the process, the main document that needs to be produced is based on a sequence of information that should be elaborated following some guidelines. Starting from the identification of the church, it is important to get a precise framework for what concerns cultural and historical values, architectural characteristics and physical conditions. The second step is about the position of the church in its broader spatial context, with the descriptions of the neighborhood, the position within the town/ city, the presence of other buildings and the possibilities for mobility. Then it is the turn of the current functions that take place in the buildings, that might be religious or not religious, and, in the end, the most relevant point is on the future predictions. This last part should be based on a solid vision on the future use and function of the church and on an elaborated strategy, including a timetable, which constitutes the feasibility and the credibility of the whole project. In order to help the parishes in processing the Church Policy Plan, directly after the report of the Minister, the Flemish bishop elaborated for all Roman-Catholic churches in the region guidelines for their regular and extended use. In this way, it was proposed a uniform terminology which is nowadays generally adopted by all the involved partners. After defining the parish church as the home of a local faith community which forms part of the Catholic Church, the bishop identified four main Categories of extended use: enhancement, mutual use, shared use, and repurposing. With ‘Enhancement’ are intended all the initiatives (such as occasional tours) that, with respect of the normal use, can strengthen and enrich the significance of the church under religious, cultural and historical aspects. Even if they sound similar, a ‘Mutual use’ imagines the coexistence of different faiths communities while a ‘Shared use’ has to be taken in consideration when a parish church is still used for religious activities but is too big for the local faith community, so it can be used for other purposes: in terms of time with the ‘mixeduse’ (something else happens outside of the hours of religious C

12. www.crkc.be/immovable-religiousheritage 13. www.crkc.be/databankparochiekerken 14. www.crkc.be/praktijkvoorbeelden

activities) or in terms of space with the ‘partitioned use’ (the liturgical space is reduced and the church can host other activities). ‘Repurposing’, the fourth one, is about a complete changing in the function of the building and it is thought for all that cases in which a church is no longer suitable for religious activities. In this last situation, the bishop can decide that all the worship services may be permanently withdrawn from the building and a re-design can be conceived. The role of the CRKC is fundamental in order to help municipalities and church committees with the elaborations of the Church Policy Plan. The association elaborated a stepby-step plan, structured in five phases, which constitute a guideline for local authorities. First of all, the CRKC helps in the constitution of the ‘church inventory’ that gathers all the information needed for the Church Policy Plan. The most important support consists in the one of the elaboration of the future strategy for managing the church heritage. The first step is the pastoral plan, in which the religious community has to state how pastoral activities will be organized in the future. After the first ideas are gathered it is important to start a dialogue between an ecclesiastical working group (representative of the Church) and a civic working group (representative of the Municipality). Once consensus has been reached between the two working groups, it is important that a draft of the Church Policy Plan is presented to the larger public, in order to get feedback from all the involved communities. When a principal agreement is reached, the Plan can be sent to the diocese for the final approval of the bishop. In addition to this, three important instruments organized by the CRKC are online resources available for everyone: a website which explains all the possibilities about the future of parish churches in Flanders12, a first database which contains the basic information about around 1800 parish churches of the region13 and a second database that gathers more or less 150 examples from different kind of re-uses of church buildings14. These tools allow Flemish parishes to find out their own way in a conscious involvement within the process of the decommission of a religious building. 40

As the writers of the article11 stated, this procedure seems to be very effective because it’s able to make all the members of the community participating and, most important, it invites every parish to do not neglect the great consistency of the religious heritage of the country.

One of the design stimulated by the Church Policy Plan. Sketch of a design proposal for a municipal library based in the former church of Our Lady in Kortenberg. Project carried out by team Trace, Based in Hasselt. More project at: www.herbestemmingkerken.be/pages/ Projectbureau.aspx Relevant personalities Team Trace The University of Hasselt did not only hosted the 5th EAAE workshop, but it’s an improtant institution for the topic of the adaptive reuse. The Faculty of Architecture and Arts at Hasselt is the hometown of the research group Trace, composed by the professors Koenraad Van Cleempoel, Nikolaas Vande Keere, Saidja Heynickx, Bie Plevoets and Linde Van Den Bosch. The team aim to focus on the emerging discipline of adaptive reuse in architecture and heritage. Their work, which is deeply rooted within the academic field, is also based on 18 cases of adaptive reuse design proposals for parish churches, which are the proof of the general awareness of the Flemish region. www.uhasselt.be/UH/Fac-Ark-onderzoek/ Het-team-(Trace)

France

Consistency 70000 total churches 20 decommissioned churches are objects of trade every year 5-10% (3500-7000) churches expected to close by the end of 2030

Actors Private initiatives Funded by Government

Foundation for the Safeguarding of French Art Funded by Government

OPR - Observatory of religious heritage Heritage-in-blog Religious heritage in all its states Association focused on the trade of religious buildings

Patrice Besse

Overview

For what concerns the historical power of the religious heritage, France is one of the most relevant countries among all the European: nowadays, in terms of numbers, it can be compared only with Italy, with more than 70.000 buildings devoted to the worship1. For two other important aspect, instead, this country has similarities with the region of the Flanders, in the northern part of Belgium2. The first one is about the religious denomination (and, consequently, the legacy of religious buildings) which is mainly Christian Catholic, 64,3%, with 27% of atheist and the rest, less than 10%, is divided between Muslims, Protestant, Jewish and other faiths3. The second similarity is about an important historical milestone dated 1801: the concordat of Napoleone. From that year, the Government has become the only owner of all the religious buildings of the country, undertaking the costs regarding new construction and maintenance for all the four recognised faiths: Catholic, Protestant, Lutheran, and Jewish. In spite of what happened in the Flanders, in France, this condition ended a hundred years later, in 1905, with another law which abrogated Napoleone’s concordat. ‘Nous défendons moins le passé que l’avenir. Parlons clair et net, nous défendons l’éternel’4, with these famous sentence the opposition of Maurice Barrès, a French journalist and politician, was not enough to avoid the separation of the churches from the Government, from regions and municipalities, with the resulting suppression of all the public fundings for their issues. The Protestant and the Jewish communities followed these disposals with the institutions of many associations which could care the religious buildings and their maintenance. For what concerns the Catholic Church, instead, the negative reaction of the Pope led to another law, which in 1907 sentenced that all the parish churches built before that year were property of the municipalities, while the ones built after 1905 were property of the dioceses. As a matter of fact, the municipalities, and so, the French Government, are the owners of the majority of the Catholic parish churches, which in most of the cases are also listed. This aspect constitutes a great issue for the whole public economy and very often the city administration can not afford to cover the costs which the necessary interventions require. The sources C

3. 4.

Estimates and prediction on the future are from the Observatoire du Patrimoine Religieux. www.patrimoine-religieux.fr/ Estimates from: www.sapere.it/enciclopedia/Frància. html See the Belgian situation within the framework of this research. Translation from French: We defend the past less than the future. We clearly defend the eternal, contained in F. Radice, op. cit., p. 48, from C. Faltrauer, P. Martin, L. Obadia, Désacralisation, requalification, réappropriation: le patrimoine chrétien, Parigi, Riveneuve éditions, 2013.

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of the French’s concerns about the future of religious heritage do not come only from these economic considerations, but also from the legislature, which is actually very rigid about the repurposing of a church. The consequences of this situation are different and, very often, due to the negative outcomes, they arise the agitation of the local communities. In some cases, due to the legal limitations which do not allow the trade of the building, many churches become abandoned, vandalized or, even worst, demolished in order to prevent the previous two issues. In some other cases, when it is possible to sort out the legal procedure, the churches, after being abandoned, go on sale: a recent growing phenomenon is the trade of religious building, which led to a new dimension within the national market. As a matter of fact, Every year around 20 churches, or chapels, are sold to private or public associations and the future previsions on the theme claim that a consistent number of the whole religious heritage (5-10% of the total churches) will be object of a trade, of a demolition or of the abandon, before 20305.

Is there a way to face the situation? The French Government and the Church do not currently have a specific approach for facing the issues about the future of their religious heritage. An important renown non-profit organization, that in 2017 was recognised for public utility by the Government, is the Foundation pour la Sauvegarde de l’Art Français6, which since 1921 works in order to safeguard French artistic heritage. Even if the original aim of this association is not strictly the religious field, therefore not even the repurposing of churches, an overview on the role which it could play in the future comes from its general director, Lionel Bonneval. In 2018, during a conference on the future of the religious heritage7 he presented a recent project, ‘Le plus grans musée de France’, which aims to raise the interest of the communities towards the importance of preserving the culture through enhancing and sensitize young students, including them in real processes of conservations. For what only concerns churches, it’s central the role of the Observatoire du Patrimoine Religieux (OPR)1 from which most of the predictions regarding the future come. With a solid 44

The informations of this chapter come mainly from F. Radice, op. cit., pp.47-49. www.sauvegardeartfrancais.fr/ www.frh-europe.org/events/2018paris/

Advertisement of sale between 2000 and 2018 92 cases

All the datas are from the Observatoire du Patrimoine religieux. www.patrimoine-religieux.fr/

8. 9.

structure composed of relevant characters within the French’s panorama and around 700 members and contributors, this association works since 2006 in order to preserve more than 70.000 religious buildings. Through consistent facilitations and fundings from the Government, the OPR’s fundamental manifesto is organized in three points. The first one is to supervise all the religious heritage of the country, in order to build a common database of it which is intended to be freely consulted (and upgraded) by everyone. The second one is about a more deep analysis of these buildings which is focused on their actual state of conservation and use. In particular, in order to contribute to a general awareness of the community, these analysis works mainly through reporting a monthly updated list of three special categories of cases: closed or soon to be closed churches, sold or still on sale churches and repurposed churches. The last point is the effort and the support (under legal, economic and design aspects) that the OPS provides to owners, investors, and representatives of the public administration in order to find out valid solutions and fundings for long-term projects of maintenance, decommissioning or reuse. Another online resource which cares the religious heritage and tries to collect news from all over the country is a blog named ‘Patrimonie-en-blog, le patrimoine religieux dans tous ses états’,8 founded in 2006 by Benoît de Sagazan, a passionate journalist. In a way very similar to the one of OPS, this portal gathers pieces of information and news about the happenings of religious buildings coming from interested French contributors. Surfing on these two websites, and through many others blogs and newspaper pages it is possible to get a proof of how great is the business that has arisen around the trade of churches in the recent past years. As Reliplan in the Netherlands, the estate agency Patrice Besse9 managed to open, among the usual ones, a new category of property on sale: religious buildings. In the end of 2018, on its website, it is possible to find out more than 500 detailed advertisements of French former churches which have been already repurposed or which are just closed but in both the cases, which need to find a new owner. For such an extended country, it is hard to get precise data, but analyzing the pieces of information from the online sources it is clear that also France suffers the European common problems due to the weakening of the faith and the high costs that the 46

www.patrimoine.blog.pelerin.info/ www.patrice-besse.com/

religious heritage’s maintenance needs. Resuming the three ‘categories’ through which OPS divides it cases, it is possible to acknowledge 202 churches (128 only in 2018) which risk to close or which the closure is already scheduled, 93 (27 from 2018) churches which are on sale and 66 (35 from 2018) churches that have been re-used.

Relevant personalities Observatoire du patrimoine religieux (OPR) is an interfaith association that works to safeguard and promote the French religious heritage. Founded in 2006 by Béatrice de Andia, it now has more than 720 members with an exceptional program of activities. www.patrimoine-religieux.fr Francois Decoster was born and Raised in Saint-Omer and since 2014 he is the major of the city. In the same year he was also appointed the President of the Communaté d’agglomeration du pays the Saint-Omer, with 105000 inhabitants. As a major of the city he manages the old Chapelle des Jesuites, nowadays a reused church.

Italy

Consistency 65000 total churches no informations about the phenomenon of the decommissioning of churches

Actors Church initiatives CEI - Conferenza Episcopale Italiana

BeWeb online platform

CEI - Conferenza Episcopale Italiana

Guidelines for the reuse of churches

Overview Among the traditionally Catholic countries, Italy, which is also the location of the papacy, is certainly the most representative case and for this reason, it is interesting to figure out if and how it faces the theme of this research. Nowadays also the Italian peninsula is not exempted from the general crisis of identity which is insisting on the whole of Europe. The loss of influence of the religion in the contemporary society is well shown by a series of typical signals: the drastic decrease of new vocations, the ageing process of the clergy, the reduction of the worshippers, the little exposition of young people to the religious socialization, and so on. However a particular paradox characterizes the Italian case: in spite of these facts, it seems that the Church is still a strong reality that resists and it is still able to play an important role within social and public dynamics. As a matter of fact, the network of Italians dioceses and parishes constitutes an institutional presence that is comparable only to the Government itself and while, for example, there are 45 dioceses in Poland, 70 in Spain, 98 in France and 29 in Germany, Italy, with its 224 owns the 34% of the total European amount. Another important aspect is also that the same processes which were recorded in the rest of Europe are here considerably slow: only 10% of the population claims to be ‘without religion’ while, instead, 25% claims to attend the mass with weekly regularity. There’s another 50%, a very consistent number of the population, who defines its relationship with the Church not regular but still present: they still have a connection (even a very small one) with the religion, they frequent church a few times per year and they are in favor of providing financial support to charity and solidarity religious organization1. Under the legal point of view, the regulations which govern Italian’s religious heritage is based on both civil and ecclesiastical rights. For the civil right, different articles, mainly from the late Twentieth century, claim that the only aspect which safeguards a church is its purpose, no matter who is the owner, but if it is devoted to the public worship, it can not be used for anything else. This approach finds a correspondence also in the results of the Episcopal’s Italian Conference, held in 2005, from which it is possible to deduce that also for the Church there is no space for any other use or activity different from the worship one. Even if occasional events or activities C

F. Radice, op. cit., pp. 10-12.

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are conceived behind the approval of the Church, nowadays only the conclusive decision of repurposing a sacred building for a profane use, which can be taken by the diocesan bishop, allows different purposes and uses from the original one. What defines a potentially critical situation in the Italian’s frame is mainly this particular rigidity towards future possibilities of the religious heritage: if it is not taken any position regarding underuse or abandon conditions, only after 100 years a church is ‘free’ from his sacred duty2. Another important feature that determines the Italian heritage is about the property of the churches, which is divided between public and religious characters. An important contribution, in order to clarify this aspect comes from Paolo Cavana, a professor of Right, Religion and Canonical right at the LUMSA in Rome3. As an effect of the nineteenth century’s laws, hundreds of churches, convents, and abbeys are currently property of the State, of the Regions or of the Municipalities, which care for their maintenance through the Fondo Edifici di Culto (FEC)4. In this way, almost 3000 buildings are not direct properties of the Church but are entrusted to the dioceses in order to allow the celebrations. On the other hand, for what concerns the biggest part of the religious heritage of the country, which is property of the Church and, more precisely, mainly of the dioceses and the parishes, there is an important source of public funding that comes from a percentage of the taxes that Italian citizens can decide to address to Catholic Church. In spite of this favourable normative frame, Italy seems to share, even if still in an early stage, the European concerns related to the great consistency of the heritage, to the enormous economic weight of the interventions and the to the previsions of a growing number of decommissioned churches and of the reduction of religious characters who safeguard it.

Is there a way to face the situation? As opposed to other Northern countries, in Italy, an accountable organization that cares specifically the closure and the re-use of churches does not exist. Moreover, the procedures that govern this process are not well-defined nor clear. A first signal of the concerns on the topic comes from 2012, when, during the Episcopal Conference, a document named ‘Le chiese non più utilizzate per il culto’ 5 aimed to define some 50

Ibid., pp.52-58. P. Cavana, Chiese dismesse: uno risers per il futuro, contained in Università di Bologna, op.cit., pp. 50-53. Fondo degli edifici di culto, Fund for worship buildings. www.interno.gov.it/it/ministero/ dipartimenti/dipartimentoliberta-civili-e-limmigrazione/ direzione-centrale-lamministrazionefondo-edifici-culto/patrimonio-fondoedifici-culto Le chiese non più utilizzate per il culto: The churches no longer used for worship

Andrea di Martino, The Mass is Ended, photographic project carried out within Italy between 2008 and 2013. www.andreadimartino.com/churches/

V. Russo, Sacred architecture as space of present time. Recent experiences in conservation and reuse of the churches in the historical centre of Naples, contained in D. Fiorani, L. Kealy, S.F. Musso, op.cit., p.275. 7. CEI, Conferenza Episcopale Italiana. www.chiesacattolica.it 8. For a geographical localisation: www.beweb.chiesacattolica.it/ edificidiculto/ 9. For informations: www.chieseitaliane.chiesacattolica.it/ chieseitaliane/index.jsp The project faced a very fragmented territory and it was not compulsory. Some of the dioceses saw in the census an opportunity to clarify the consistency of their heritage, some other, instead, just complete a list in order to get fundings for preservation interventions. In the end of 2018, the official website of the census report that out of 225 total dioceses, 219 of them collaborated. 10. L. Bartolomei, Le chiese abbandonate d’Italia. Cause, significato, prospettive di gestione, contained in Università di Bologna, op.cit., pp. 5-7. 11. www.spaziokor.it 12. www.diavolorosso.it

guidelines regarding the decommission and the repurposing of churches. As a proof of the solidity that the Church still demonstrates in Italy, the will of this work is to keep as much as possible the original use of places of worship even if it failed the original purpose. According to the document when the liturgical use is no longer practicable, conversion for social purposes is considered the most appropriate way of ensuring the preservation of the building: recourse to associations, migrant communities, services and commercial sectors, voluntary and cultural organisations are the primary choices, while the sale of the church is intended as the extreme solution6. In order to preserve and keep monitored Church’s buildings and their contents, in 1992 the CEI7 instituted the creation of an office for sacred art and religious cultural heritage in every diocese. In the following year, thanks to this decision it was also started a census which led to the constitution of a very important online resource, a database with endless possibilities of implementing data, which nowadays gathers various information and pictures of more than 65.000 public churches8. Apart from the valuable informations, which are the outcome of the efforts of 219 dioceses9, this project allows for the first time to identify and to represent the totality of the churches of every diocese under the image of a cloud of points, located on the territory thanks to precise geographical coordinates and queryable thanks to a precise historical framework which relates every building to its context. Even if it was not the initial aim of this national work, the perception of an unquantifiable decommissioned religious heritage is progressively being substituted by a series of indisputable data which could support general operations of repurposing and maintenance within a clear and conscious panorama10. In spite of the absence of a precise regulation and of a precise line of action, the country is not estranged by re-used churches. A valuable concrete example comes from the north-west, in Asti, where two interesting cases of good re-use of religious heritage for creative and cultural purposes are the former San Giuseppe’s church11 and the former Church of San Michele12, which have been transformed into a theater and into a multifunctional space which works also as music hub during the night. More than the projects and the re-uses, what is relevant are the ways in which two different organizations (Spazio Kor and Diavolo Rosso) 52

13. https://in_bo.unibo.it/issue/view/580 https://in_bo.unibo.it/issue/view/640 14. EAAE, European association for architectural education. www.eaae.be 15. www.eaae.be/wp-content/ uploads/2017/04/Conservation– Adaptation-EAAE-65.pdf 16. www.bce.chiesacattolica.it/wpcontent/uploads/sites/25/convegno_ final.pdf 17. www.cultura.va/content/cultura/it/ pub/documenti/decommissioning.html

carried out the projects in a similar way, dealing with the local communities. On the other hand, the contribution of the academic world is consistent. Main proofs of the awareness of the existence of this contemporary issue are the symposiums which the professor Luigi Bartolomei, from architecture university Bologna, organized in 2016 and 201713. Thanks to this precious collection of contributions, which describe conditions and initiatives to deal with the future of churches, it is possible to gather a consistent amount of approaches and case studies coming not only coming from Italy, but also from other European countries. Another additional proof is coming from the participants of the 5th EAAE14 workshop named ‘Conservation/adaptation’15, held in Hasselt in 2015. In this case, 26 essays, out of the 37 which are published, are coming from Italians universities. An example of the developed level of the Italian research, which emerged in this situation, is the work of Donatella Fiorani, professors of preservations from the Sapienza architecture university in Roma, which carried out a detailed investigation about 100 examples of repurposed churches among all the regions of Italy. At the end of 2018 also the Church seems to look for a more rigorous approach to the theme. The convention ‘Doesn’t God dwell here anymore?’ 16, held in November 2018, was organized by the Pontifical Council for Culture in order to get in touch with realities and researches about the theme of the churches decommission and, most important, also to allow a series of meeting among the delegates of the episcopal conferences in order to delineate more precise guidelines about the general country’s approach. Started with a message from the Pope, who was encouraging to do not underestimate the theme and do not feel weak in considering what to do with underused churches, the outcome of the meeting are a series of guidelines for the decommissioning and ecclesial reuse of churches17.

Relevant personalities Luigi Bartolomei was born in Bologna in 1977, he’s a professor of Architecture from the university of Bologna and since 2003 he attends international seminars reharding the theme of the sacred architecture. In 2016 he organized and internationa symposium focused on the decommissioning process and the reuse of churches in Italy and among the world. Aldo Buzio is consultant in the fields of training, capacity building and cultural planning. Expert in strategies, fundraising and management in the sectors of culture, creativity and business startup. He collaboratew with various public and private institutions at national and international level. One of the main relevant activities in which he’s involved is the Spazio Kor’s cultural activities. www.aldobuzio.it/portfolio/chi-sono/

D The decommissioning process

What happens when a church seems to loose its role?

100% of use

Celebrations are planned for every day. A consistent part of the community attend the celebrations.

Celebrations are planned once per week. Less worshippers attend the celebrations.

A. Celebrations are an occasional event. B. The church is used as a warehouse.

Introduction of a mixed use. Another activity takes place within the church.

Phase 1 Phase 2

The church is

3b abandoned

Possibilities for the future of a decommissioned church

Trade. A new activity will be designed for the building

4b 54

Demolition

Still based on the analysis of the five European realities, a first important assumption is outlined: the one of the existence of a common and typical scheme, which concerns the state of progress of the phenomenon and which in the context of this thesis is called ‘Decommissioning process’. This approach is often triggered by a reduction in the frequency of participation of the worshipper to the Mass, but which is also very much affected by the decrease in vocations, is characterized in its first phase by a weakening of the state of religious use , which expects the celebrations from taking place every day to become an occasional event. In the second phase, the decommissioning process evolves according to four typical situations: mixed-use, abandonment, sale, and demolition. Precisely reflecting on these results, Opportunities starts from the desire to conceive an adaptive reuse strategy aimed at preventing the loss of that collective patrimony constituted by the churches which, especially where there is less awareness, is often caused by an ungoverned practice of reuse, which ignores the values.

Phase 1: weakening of the state of religious use

Regular mass

Mass up to 5/7 days

Mass up to 2/7 days

Occasional Decommissioned mass church

Phase 2: the four typical results of the process Mixed use

Abandon

Trade

Demolition

How does the process work? ‘We cannot return to the early cathedrals and take up their interrupted discipline once more. […] The great realities of the cathedral are no longer real to us. This does not mean that “in themselves” they are no longer true. No, they are as true to us as on their first day and they move us deeply. But even so we D

2. 3.

can no longer build these things because life has gone on and the reality which is our task and which is given in our hands possesses completely different form1’. This quotation from the book of Rudolf Schwarz ‘Vom Bau Der Kirche’ (1938) compare the church to a walk that proceeds across the ages of the world2, highlighting a continuous process of evolution of forms that, despite the differences, never have to forget the intersection between the story of the man and the divine act. The efforts of the German architect were focused on the design, trying to throw light on the topic of churches construction in one of Germany’s darkest hour3, but the thought behind can represent a guide rail for the contemporary need of repurposing of sacred heritage, every year more and more at the center of the architectural and religious debate. In this research field the frame is focused on one specific aspect of this need. During a meeting held in September 2018, titled ‘Dare voce nuova, voce pura, voce forte all’arte cristiana’4, with the topic of the adjustment of churches, Maria Antonietta Crippa, author of many essays on the sacred theme and member of different scientific committees of journals, called it ‘the emergency of the reuse’. In this context, the key point orbits around the idea of continuity. The liturgy is read as an homogeneous mix of a mutual influence between spatial quality and activities: a functional form (the one that simplify our life) and an expressive form (the one that feeds our spirit) are merged with a gestures form (the one that allows a shared communication with God)5. Overlapping this rough definition of Hans van Der Laan with the outputs of M.A. Crippa’s speech, it is possible to find a common point in between: gestures come from the society, exactly like a language, they does not change with a short single act of break. Words have to be pronounced from everyone’s mouth and must be understood by a whole community. Time evolves and gestures as well, but they evolve together with their community. In this way they become promotors of a continuity with the past and they constitute the bridge towards the future. The matter becomes now: What is the sacred? ‘What is the sacred? That which unites many souls. Architecture erects the temple; sculpture places the image of the god within it; but the fundamental element is the community. The true temple is formed by the gathering of the community. The church represents the energy of this coming-to-gather, of this

4. 5.

R. Schwarz. Sacralità e arte del costruire. Casabella n640 dicembre1996-gennaio1997. p.82. Romano Guardini, introduction for R.Schwarz, Vom Bau der Kirche, Würzburg 1938, R. Schwarz, op.cit. L.Mies Van der Rohe, introduction for R.Shwarz, the Church Incarnate, Henry Regnery, Chicago 1958, English translation of Vom Bau der Kirche, Würzburg 1938, in R.Schwarz, op.cit. To give new voice, pure voice, strong voice to christian sacred art. Hans van der Laan, Liturgia e Architettura, Casabella n640 dicembre1996-gennaio1997. p.8385.

7. 8. 9.

concentration of the multiple in one. Ecclesia, Church, has this essentially spiritual meaning’.6 In all the three monotheist religions a place of worship it’s not sacred because of itself, but because of its assembly. Until man addresses God on its own, the relationships with nature and society can be enough to reach the contact: this specific inner worship does not requires any liturgy or any particular external appearances. But if more man together address God, these external forms become necessary in order to share a spiritual connection. It is essential that all the images that each of the worshippers create in his view have the possibility to find a direct comparison within the reality7. A place of worship that in the first case, according to Hans van Der Laan, could be defined without the need of a specific construction, in the second case need to be organized within a sacred place characterized by a specific nature. This specific nature is different from the ones of the buildings that are called sacred only because of a respect matter (the examples of this kind of places are religious and not, such as a niche or a monument or a grave). A temple should be perceived as the spiritual center of the worshippers, therefore it can’t be conceived without some specific featuring that can evolve from place to place, but there’s a deep root that reach an “imaginal space” where all the religions refer to the approach of god8. Within the emergency of reuse field, gestures seems to fail. In a scenario that is widespread in the north of Europe, but that is constantly growing up also in Italy, they cannot be anymore considered the bridge towards the future, since the presence of a community has been lost and the liturgy has become redundant. At this point the matter is about questioning the idea of continuity, deepening whether is it still possible to speak about it and, most important, how its meaning changes when the gestures, which where the bridge able to unites so many souls, seem to disappear from the equation (function+expression)+(gestures). From the Italian dictionary Treccani one of the meanings of the word continuity is ‘a logical connection between different parts’9. Consequently, the thesis investigates a shift of meanings that, in order to respect and enhance a consistent heritage, is necessary to face a decommissioning process which, regardless its consistency, seems to be typical among all the continent.

Quote from Hegel, contained in M. Cacciatori, Ecclesia, Casabella n640 dicembre1996-gennaio1997. p.9. Hans van der Laan, op. cit. A. Cornoldi, introduzione, in A. Cornoldi, op.cit., p.11. Dictionary Treccani, online resource. The quality of being continuous, an extension not interrupted in time or in space. / Succession of a tradition or a thought from an historical period to another one. / Logical connection between different parts.

E Anamnesis of a church How do we know it?

The strategy is organized in two phases. The first one is focused on the comprehension of the church building, based on the study of the work of two architects1 experts on the theme of the sacred architecture. A place devoted to the celebration of the liturgy is a complex and many-sided reality. The aim of this work is not to investigate where these architectures come from and how they evolved through the centuries, and it is not even to operate a clear distinction between the three monotheistic religions. The will of this work is, instead, to clarify which are the main general aspects that go beyond the specific characteristics of every historical period or even every single construction and that govern the spatiality of such architectures, with a specific focus on the Christian society’s tangible cultural heritage, that is, church buildings. The reason of this restriction of the study field is that in all the countries analyzed within this work, there are individual mosques and synagogues that are listed and defined as a common social heritage, but they are in a clear minority. A solid contribution regarding the understanding of the architecture of celebrative spaces comes from Adriano Cornoldi, that, through the book ‘The architecture of the sacred building’, gathers a series of essays about some different aspects of such a complex reality and which, putted all together, try to picture a clear frame of the broader meanings related to the theme. Within the frame of this thesis, which is focused on the adaptive reuse of a church, the starting point becomes the comprehension of the main architectural and semantic values by means of an exploration of Cornoldi’s publication and of the related bibliography. The second contribution comes from Tino Grisi, an expert of christian architecture, who published ‘Architettura Liturgica’ an essential dictionari which gathers and argument a series of keyworkds related to the constitution of a church.

A. Cornoldi, l’Architettura dell’Edificio Sacro, Officina, Roma 2000. T. Grisi, Architettura Liturgica. Un dizionario essenziale, Lettera Ventidue, Siracusa 2019.

Main architectural features

‘It is not about the essence of the sacred functions, because it is reduced to a minimum, and it can be carried out in any environmental arrangement as long as the space is sufficiently large. [...] But beyond the essence, there is a whole choreographic, spectacular ceremonial development, full of meanings, symbols, aesthetic suggestions, which has been formed and perfected [...] over centuries of tradition’.2 Once passed the threshold of a church a christian worshipper feel the need of doing the sign of the cross. This need is of course according to the christian habits, but also who’s not a christian worshipper in somehow feel something: a respect and a seriousness sensation. “Architecture arouses sentiments in man. The architect’s task therefore, is to make those sentiments more precise”.3 A church is a building thought with a very precise will and its image is the one of an organism in which every organ collaborates with the other in a pursuit of completeness. If it’s true that in a reuse scenario the gestures form related to the tradition of the celebrations seems to fail, it’s also true that it’s not possible to analyze this kind of construction without a deep understanding of the original meaning of all the features. The first step toward their understanding is the consultation of the guidelines4 for the design of new church (1993) and for the adjustment of existing one (1996) from CEI (Conferenza Episcopale Italiana). From these two document it is possible to get a series of essential notions5. _The church is the house of the celebrant community. The parish complex establishes a dialogue with the rest of the territory, enriching it. At the same time the church must not be confused with the other buildings. The inclination of being recognizable it’s the first importance aspect of a church. Tis condition comes from adequate architectural pauses, such as a parvis, a porch, a garden.. _The general organization of a church should give the idea of an assembly brought together for the celebrations of the holy mysteries. Because of nature and habits, the inner space of a church is designed in order to express and support the harmony of the assembly. _The Eucharistic assembly has a hierarchical structure that is expressed in different tasks and according to the different

3. 4.

‘Non si tratta dell’essenziale delle funzioni sacre, perchè l’essenziale si riduce a un minimo, e si può eseguire in qualsiasi sistemazione ambientale purchè il vano sia sufficienetemente ampio. [...] Ma al di là dell’essenziale, c’è tutto uno sviluppo cerimoniale coreografico, spettacolare, carico di significati, di simboli, di suggestioni estetiche, che si è venuto formando e perfezionando [...] lungo i secoli della tradizione. In G.Valentini, G.Caronia, Domus Ecclesiale, l’edificio sacro cristiano, Casa editrice prof. Riccardo Patron, Bologna 1969, p.83. Quote from A.Loos. Pastoral notes from the Conferenza Episcopale Italiana, Ufficio Liturgico Nazionale. ‘La costruzione di nuove chiese è un problema sempre attuale per la comunità cristiana. Lo è soprattutto in questo tempo in cui le forme e le funzioni dello spazio liturgico chiedono di essere ripensate in base alla riforma voluta dal Concilio Vaticano II e al cammino di fede delle comunità che celebrano il Mistero di Cristo’. All the informations come from the guidelines of CEI. The translations are made by the author of the thesis.

5. 6. 7.

parts of the celebration (mysteries). It’s also important to know that every space within the church has a specific user. The first two figures that take part to a celebrations are: worshippers and schola cantorum. The place in which they take part to the celebration is usually the hall, (or the nave) and their participation should be active. The third figure is the celebrant and its ministers, that participate to the celebration from the presbytery. _The inner environment is oriented towards the center of the liturgical action and articulated according to specific dynamics. Approaching a church from a phenomenological point of view, the typical succession is: parvis (outside), atrium (entrance), hall (gathering of worshippers) and presbytery (place of the celebrants). Important to note that they are not separated, the entrance and the circulation systems should simplify the movements of the celebrations. The liturgy is composed by many-languages: word, silence, gesture, movement, music, song. All these dimensions find harmony and coexistence within a church. After this quick introduction, an important contribution comes from the book ‘Domus Ecclesiale, l’edificio sacro cristiano’,5 written by G.Valentini and G.Caronia, and expecially from the chapter ‘concrete function and expression’6, which might be considered as a good introduction to all these aspects which influence and determine the experiene of the worshipper.

Typology ‘The architect [...] has various possibilities: he can assume the longitudinal plan with an apse, or in any case with the presbytery arranged so that the clergy surround the altar from the east, while the people look at it from the west; it can revisit the central plan with an altar in the middle or in any case a plan that, in itself or with the position of the various pews, allows the whole community to converge’.7 The first and the main typological distinction is about the plan system, which, can be longitudinal or radial. A typical 60

G.Valentini, G.Caronia, op. cit. Funzione ed espressione in concreto. Ibid, p.83. ‘L’architetto [...] ha varie vie aperte: può assumere la pianta longitudinale absidata, o comunque con il presbiterio sistemato in modo che il clero circondi l’altare da oriente mentre il popolo lo guarda da occidente; può rirpendere la pianta centrale con altare al mezzo, o comunque una pianta che di per sè o con l’oppotuna disposizione delle bancate consenta il convergere della comunità intera’. Ibid, p.84.

situation within a church is the one which positions the main altar close to one of the edges of the hall, surrounded by the schola cantorum and by the worshippers. Due to the different consistency between the choir and the rest of the community, to the great capacity of hosting a consistent community, the longitudinal plan is the most common. Although this type of configuration shows different possibilities and variations (according to the historical period, dimension and needs of the building) the natural presence of a central focal point in the position of the presbytery is the key element which explains the typical layout of a church.

Nave [...] The division of the hall into a nave and few aisles. It can be admitted that it has a historical origin of simple derivation to the classical basilica, which was covered portico; it can also be admitted that for the early Christian and Romanesque builders, the division into aisles was the most obvious because it was easier to cover. However, it often happens that what was of random origin, or material need, is then exploited and becomes [...] functional’.8 The question of the naves, often related to the dimensions of the church, is the second aspect which collaborates in defining the experience of the worshippers. The division of the hall in different parts, called nave (the central one) and aisles (the lateral ones) ended up to represent a perfect device in supporting the celebrations, allowing a more dynamic movement within the inner space of the church.

Ceiling ‘The tradition, and therefore the constituted language, is built with straight or curved line of various regularity or rationality. [...] the curved line, more varied, more ductile, more E

‘[...] La divisione dell’aula in navate. Si può ammettere che essa abbia una origine storica di semplice derivazione della basilica classica, che era poi un portico coperto; si può anche ammettere che, per i costruttori paleocristiani e romanici, la suddivisione in navate fosse la più ovvia, perchè più facile nella copertura. Tuttavia spesso avviene che quello che fu d’origine casuale o d’esigenza materiale viene poi sfruttato e diventa [...] funzionale’. Ibid, p.86.

picturesque, in the history of Christian architecture has had very wide use in plan, elevation and in the ceiling-roof’.9 Another important aspect which influences the experience of the users of a church is the consistency of the ceiling, which can be simplified in a quick and schematic way in flat, pitched or vaulted. Depending on the historical period and on the geographical position, the ceiling, and consequently also the roof, is treated in many different ways. Among these three, the more common and, often, the most meaningful is the last one, the vaulted, which is characterized by a harmony of curved lines that very often evolve in a cupola, representation of the ideogram of perfection.

‘Rimangono, nella tradizione, e quindi nel linguaggio costituito, la linea retta e la linea curva di varia regolarità o razionalità. [...] la linea curva, più varia, più duttile, più pittoresca, nella storia dell’architettura cristiana ha avuto in pianta, in elevato e in copertura un larghissimo impiego’. Ibid, p.94.

The four fundamental properties

Through the chapter ‘Characters of the building’, part of the book ‘The architecture of the sacred building’,1 Adriano Cornoldi looks for a series of recognizable characters of an ideal sense of appropriateness able to contrast the arbitrariness of shapes that interested the architectural panorama of the contemporary age. According to this thought, he sets the guidelines for the comprehension of the multiple aspect of the nature of a religious place2. His theoretical approach is based on a series of Twentieth century best and bad practices and it leads towards the definition of the real meanings of this kind of building, regardless the shapes or the very specific constructive elements. Reflecting on four main aspects: Figure, geometry, parts and light it is possible to identify four fundamental and invariable properties.

The terminology regarding the theme follows the research work of Adriano Cornoldi: Sacred place, every space with a spiritual value. Religious place, every space for the meeting with the ‘Other’. Holy place, specifically the liturgical space of Christians. From A. Cornoldi, op.cit., p.77.

Double scalability

‘The church is an high building. The hight is the sign of its gratuitousness: all the volume which is over our heads is completely useless. When a church is decommissioned, it is usually filled, it is lofted and the original ‘topogenesis’ of the liturgical architeture is led to the massive functional allocation, rejeting the presence of vacuity and proximity’.2 The first important notion comes trying to explain the main need that a holy place1 needs to satisfies: it must be a place for a human community that is projected towards a great perspective, the divine one. This need defines the presence of two scales that express a distance between the man and the representation of its faith. According to this idea, ‘to gather’ and ‘to expand’ are the keywords for better understanding these places, that, in a metaphorical view, are not houses, but not even monuments. The presence of the human scale does not define them as comfortable as the first one, but the out of scale does not defines them as uncomfortable as the second one. In other simple words, there is a dynamic component that is coming exactly from this coexistence of scales3. Cornoldi set as one of the possible examples of this first property the theme of the entrance, that among the analyzed practices is always sorted out with one or two small openings usually framed in impressive facades. Moreover what does really matters, both in great cathedrals and in small chapels, is the copresence of elementary and powerful overall gestures with tiny and precious significative portions of details: the double scalability is a ‘presentiment’, it is something that is thought to be perceived involuntarily, just looking up4.

T. Grisi, op.cit., p.13. ‘La chiesa è un edificio alto. L’altezza è il segno della sua ‘gratuità’: tutto quanto il volume che sta sopra le nostre teste è prettamente inutile. Quando una chiesa viene dismessa, si tende a riempirla, soppalcarla e la ‘topogenesi’ aperta dell’architettura liturgica è ricondotta alla massiva allocazione funzionale, rigettando la simultanea presenza di vacuità e prossimità’. A. Cornoldi, op.cit., p.77. T. Grisi, op.cit., p.14.

The aim of this examples is to highlight the difference of scale between the churches’ volumes and the human figure.

Transversal section. Sigurd Lewerentz, Church of St Peter, Klippan, Sweden 1963-66. A. Cornoldi, op.cit., p.230-31. Section. Concattedrale of Lamezia Terme, Italy. T. Gisi, op.cit., p.12. Transversal section. Rudolf Schwarz, Church of St Anna, Düren, Germanny 1951-56. A. Cornoldi, op.cit., p.200-01. Longitudinal section. Gottfried Böhm, Church of St. Gertrud, Cologne, Germany, 1963-65. A. Cornoldi, op.cit., p.240-41

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Spatial orientation ‘The center of gravity will be marked thanks to the altar, as well as the value, the hierarchy of things. In music there is a key, [...], an harmony. It is the altar, the sacred place for excellence, which gives that note, which must trigger the work to radiate’.5 Defining a worship environment, an important contribution comes from the presence of a spatial tension triggered by few geometrical dispositions. In pursuit of the expression of its meanings, the first fundamental of the space is its orientation towards a focal point. The two main plan schemes at the base of a church are based on two completely different organizations: a cathedral, with its axial configuration, express an initiatory prospective, while a tholos, with its radial configuration, express the gathering of the celebrant community6. Regardless of these substantial differences of form, both the cases are characterized by the presence of a precise focal point, that in the first case it is simply given by the plan, but in the second one it does not correspond with the middle of the scheme, it rather is a specific breach in its geometrical configuration. The final result is that the ideal graphical scheme able to represent both the plan schemes can be a line with endless possibility of expansion, that connect every point with the focal one.

Quote from Le corbusier, in A. Cornoldi, op.cit., p.103. E’ con l’altare che il centro di gravità sarà marcato, così come il valore, la gerarchia delle cose. Esiste in musica una chiave, un diapason, un accordo. E’ l’altare, luogo sacro per eccellenza, che dà quella nota, che deve innescare l’irradiarsi dell’opera. A. Cornoldi, op.cit., p.77.

The aim of this examples is to highlight the existence of a shared focal point among the worshippers.

Direction of the focal point

Plan. Rudolf Schwarz, Church of St. Fronleichnam, Aachen, 1928-30. Plan. Rudolf Schwarz, Church of St. Mary Konigin, 1952-54. A. Cornoldi, op.cit., p.93. Plan. Mario Botta, Évry Cathedral, Évry, Paris, 1988-95. T.Grisi, op. cit., p.74. Plan. Louis I. Kahn, First Unitarian Church and School, Rochester, New York, USA 195869. A. Cornoldi, op.cit., p.236-37.

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Spatial articulation ‘We experiment a delicate work of light and life by means of passing through a spatial construction where the liturgical action is distributed along a path that invites us to focus eyes and heart toward a futher destination’.7 The just introduced dynamic tension itself it’s not enough to define a religious building, indeed the presence of a focal point is a condition that acts in many other different profane building such as a theatre or a meeting room. Besides the purposes, which of course are all different, what really changes is how and from whom the building is lived, that also defines how it’s organized. Therefore, the key to understand a church is the presence of a strong relationship between the liturgical pole and the celebrant community. Describing an ideal condition, the experience within a holy place is governed by a precise succession of environment, with different purposes. Starting from the ritual of the ‘passage’, the evolution of the space aims to gather all the worshippers under a shared comunication with God8. Once in the main hall, the place of the community, the spatial tension with the liturgical pole reach its maximum value and all the other spaces become relevant by means of a delicate shift of the focal point that operates in the precise moment during which the celebration expects their support.

T. Grisi, Op.cit., p.17. ‘Attraverso una costruzione spaziale ‘passante’ dove l’azione liturgica si dispiega lungo il cammino che invita a dirigere cuore e occhi verso una meta ulteriore, sperimentiamo una delicata opera di luce e vita’ Reference to the note number 5 of the prevuoius chapter of the thesis.

The aim of this examples is to highlight the dynamicity of the celebration accordin to different moments of the Christian liturgy.

The profession of faith

The Biblical readings

The rite of the Communion

The rite of the Confession

Direction of the focal point Celebration in the chapel Plan. Rudolf Schwarz, Church of St. Fronleichnam, Aachen, 1928-30.

10mt

T. Grisi, Op.cit., p.101. ‘La trasparenza letterale dell’ambiente liturgico sembra da escludersi: la chiesa di vetro, a differenza dell’impercettibile periodo della casa di vetro, è cinta da un diaframma opalino che solo verso l’alto si apre. Si fanno alcuni tentativi di lasiare proseguire lo sguardo oltre l’altare, sostituendo l’abside con una vetrata, ma l’apertura delude le attese, rinchiudendosi di nuovo nel muro di un improprio giardino o nella parete dell’edificio appresso. Lo sguardo non dovrebbe vagare all’infinito, bensì percepire un’esistente oltranza’. 10. A. Cornoldi, op.cit., p.111. 11. T. Moro, Utopia, Edizioni Laterza, Roma-Bari 1988, p.126, contained in in A.Cornoldi, op.cit., p.122.

Controlled brightness ‘The literal transparency of the liturgical environment seems to be excluded: the glass church, unlike the imperceptible perimeter of the glass house, is surrounded by an opal diaphragm that opens upwards only. Some attempts are made to let the view continue beyond the altar, replacing the apse with a glass, but the opening disappoints the expectations, ending in the wall of a garden or in the walls of the buildings around. The view should not wander to infinity, but rather perceive an undefined end’.9 The research of appropriateness for a religious building cannot do without a controlled presence of the natural light. For supporting this thesis Cornoldi uses as an example Louis Kahn’s thought about the definition of architectural themes differentiated by their structural meaning. With this precondition, the American architect designed synagogues, Catholic churches, Protestant churches and mosques which are always characterized by the same quality of light10. The main issue is the relationship between the religious building and its context: speaking about the exchange between inner and outer space the light should be indirect and moderated. The purpose of a religious building is a sacred horizon, therefore the light can pass through the openings, but the same is not for the view, that has to focus on what is happening inside. Moreover, it’s also important to control the brightness: ‘too much light disperses the thoughts, while a more uncertain light enhances the religious feelings’.11It’s for that reason that, in a practical point of view, in pursuit of these two effects, the glasses are very often located in higher positions and they are treated with opal or colored finishing.

The aim of this examples is to highlight the position of the higher position of the church’s souces of natural light.

Source of natural light

Transversal section. Alvar Aalto, Church of Riola, Bologna, 1966-78. A. Cornoldi, op.cit., p.113. Longitudinal section. Rudolf Schwarz, Church of St Michael, Frankfurt, Germany 1954. A. Cornoldi, op.cit., p.198-99. Longitudinal section. Mangiarotti e Morassutti, Church of Baranzate, Milano, Italy. G.Valentini, G.Caronia, op. cit., p.481. Transversal section. Louis I. Kahn, First Unitarian Church and School, Rochester, New York, USA 195869. A. Cornoldi, op.cit., p.236-37.

10mt

F Repurposing

How does it change?

‘The official and main Christian sacred building is called precisely church because it is essentially the place of the meeting of that society which is called Church in the first and proper sense. Here it is [...] always kept in mind that the Church is not properly the complex of Ecclesiastical Authorities [...], but of all the faithful [...] where there must be no isolation‘.1 After the introduction of the main architectural features of the church building, the second phase of the research concerns the re-use, and is introduced by some considerations taken from the book ‘Domus Ecclesiale, l’edificio sacro cristiano’,2 published in 1969 by the experts Caronia and Valentini. In particular, their reflections are interesting because the idea of the legitimacy of the re-use of a building devoted to worship, supported by a look at the original meaning of a church: which was used to gather the community not only on the occasion of celebrations but also for other socially useful activities, which over the centuries have been relegated to other spaces outside the sacred one. Starting from this point and relying on the theoretical support of the proceedings of the Hasselt workshop and the Bologna conference3, the purpose of the second part of the strategy is to analyze a selection of case studies by testing a qualitative evaluation method that works by dividing the reuse intervention into two themes: program and spatiality. The first theme is linked to the program, and in particular, to the relationship between sacred and profane that is triggered in response to the need for change introduced by the decommissioning process. In this context, where the development of programs that take into account the cultural and artistic heritage in which they will be inserted is fundamental, an interesting idea comes from Paolo Cavana, professor of canon law at the LUMSA of Rome, who presented a reflection at Bologna4 relative to an higher level of pertinency of some activities with a cultural background, compared to others with an economic background. In support of his theories, even the most recent guidelines for the decommission of churches5, drawn up at the end of 2018 by the Pontifical Council for Culture, contemplate the possibility of reusing a religious building for charitable and/or cultural purposes, suggesting to exclude economic activities with

2. 3.

‘L’edificio sacro cristiano ufficiale e principale si chiama precisamente chiesa perché è essenzialmente il luogo dell’adunanza di quella società che si chiama Chiesa in senso primo e proprio. Va qui […] tenuto sempre presente che la Chiesa non è propriamente il complesso delle Autorità Ecclesiastiche […], ma di tutti i fedeli […] dove non ci deve essere isolamento’. G.Valentini, G.Caronia, op,cit. Ibid. _Donatella Fiorani, Loughlin Kealy, Stefano Francesco Musso, Conservation-Adaptation. Keeping alive the spirit of the place. Adaptive reuse of heritage with symbolic value, organized by EAAE, Hasselt 2015. _Università di Bologna, The future of churches, organized by prof. Luigi Bartolomei, Bologna 2016-2017. P.Cavana, Chiese dismesse: una risorsa per il futuro, contained in Università di Bologna, op.cit. www.cultura.va/content/cultura/it/ pub/documenti/decommissioning.html

speculative purposes, possibly accepting those for solidarity and social purposes. On the base of these ideas, some characteristics aimed at defining the type of reuse are defined. These are the target for which it is thought and the type of activity, which may be religious or disconnected from the sacred context and, therefore, linked to commercial activities, social, educational, cultural or private purposes. Through their subsequent interpretation, it is then possible to arrive at a partial qualitative evaluation, which concerns the theme of the program and which is based on three different levels of appropriateness of the activities.The second theme concerns the spatiality, and in particular, it is related to the evaluation of the impact of a re-use intervention that must dialogue with an extraordinary space, governed by laws that go far beyond functionality and characterized by low flexibility. In this context, after the observation of a series of examples found thanks to the proceedings of the Hassel 2015 workshop, and to the Bologna 2016, Paris and Rome 2018 conferences, it was possible to outline three characteristic typologies of the architectural intervention, which are that of light additions, that of architectural modifications and that of profound transformations. Getting an idea of the type of intervention thus becomes the starting point for starting the considerations that lead to a second partial qualitative evaluation which, this time, questions the spatial impact of the new additions. Based on respect or alteration of the four fundamental properties of the church building the second partial qualitative evaluation leads to three different results, which are: a dissonance of dialogue, with no respected property, a very respectful dialogue, with all the properties preserved and, finally, a dialogue that leads to a conscious modification of the space. The final goal of the evaluation is the crossing of the two parameters (program and spatiality) through the use of a square diagram that sees on the horizontal axis the level of appropriateness of the activities and on that vertically the spatial impact.

Legend for the analysis of the adaptive reuse of a church

I theme Activities

II theme Spatiality

Target of users

Type of architectural intervention

Partial quaitative evaluations I theme Level of appropriateness of the activities

+ Public

Light addition

Appropriateness of the activities III level When the target of users and the planned activities respect the original meaning of a curch

Private with public access

architectural modification

Private

Profound transformation

Activities

Fundamental properties respected

Christian faith

Double scalability

Mitigated appropriateness of the activities II level When the target of users and the planned activities are a mix of aspect which still respond positively if compared to the original meaning of a church

When the original sensation of the presence of a double scalability is still present within all the church, or at least in its main spaces

Inappropriateness of the activities I level

Spatial tension

II theme Impact on the space

When the target of users and the activities planned don’t respect the original meaning of a curch

Commercial

Social infrastructure

When the focal point of the design is conceived in the same position of the original one and the space is still oriented according that specific spatial tension

Culture and education Dissonance of dialogue 0/4 fundamental properties respected

Spatial articulation Private repurposing

The design considers the church as a simple container. No fundamental property is respected, hence there is a contrast between the cultural heritage of the church and the ‘strong’ voice of the intervention.

When the design does not alter the original articulation and fruition of the space

Controlled brightness When the design does not alter the original nature of the natural light within the church

Respectful dialogue 4/4 fundamental properties respected All the fundamental properties are respected and the impact of the design on the original environment is very light.

Conscious dialogue 1/4, 2/4, 3/4 fundamental properties respected The design starts a dialogue with the inner space of the church. Some of the four fundamental properties are respected and they play a role in defining the new identity of the building.

Diagram for a qualitative evaluation

I theme Level of appropriateness of the activities

III The diagram for a qualitative analysis aim to combine the ambivalence of the theme, based on spatial issues and activities. By means of intersecting the two aspects is it possible to locate the design which is being analyzed and, in this way, is it possible to get a general idea regarding its quality.

4/4

II theme Impact on the space

3/4 2/4 1/4 0/4

Target:

Private

Public

Possible positions of the analyzed design

Quality of the design

European examples of repurposed churches

United Kingdom

France

07. Saint James, London 08. All Saints, Aldwincle 09. All Saints, Hereford 10. Swiss Church, London Saint Paul, Bristol All Souls, Bolton Saint Lawrence, Norwich Saint Mary at the Quay, Ipswich St John, Hackney St Mary the Virgin, Ashford, Kent Christopher’s Church, Birmingham St. Mary the Virgin, Stannington, Newcastle Saint Peter’s Church, Swainsthorpe Saint Cuthbert, Copnor, Portsmouth Saint Peter’s, Notting Hill, London Saint Oswald King & Martyr, Bradford Saint Mary’s, Cloughton Saint Hilda’s, Hartlepool, Durham Saint Giles, Langford, Chelmsford

04. Sainte Marie, Sarlat-la-Canéda 05. Chappelle Corneille, Rouen 06. Chappelle des Gesuites, Saint Omer Observance Church, Montpellier

Belgium 11. Baudelo Chapel, Gent 12. Sint Augustinuskerk, Antwerp 13. Sint Amandskerk, Roeselare Somerset chapel, Gent Kerk van Mlem, Gent Parnassus, Gent Sint Alfonsuskerk, Leuven Les Brigittines, Brussels

Netherlands 14. Sint Gertrudis Nijvelkerk, Heerle 15. Sint Jan de Dooper, Sprundel 16. Kruisheren Complex, Maastricht Selexyz church, Maastricht Jakobus Church, Utrecht Saint Jacobus, Utrecht Buurterkerk, Utrecht Francescan Monastery, Limburg Bonifatiuskerk, Dordretch Annakerk, Breda Mea Huis van de Heuvel, Breda Posthoornkerk, Amsterdam Sint Martinuskerk, Baak

Italy 01. San Giuseppe, Asti 02. San Rocco, Trapani 03. San Vittore e Quaranta Martiri, Milano Sant’Agostino, Bergamo Sant’Agata, Bergamo San Michele all’Arco, Bergamo San Paolo Converso, Milano Matri Divinae Gratiae Dicatum, Napoli Sant’Aniello, Napoli Santi Marcellino e Festo, Napoli San Giovanni Maggiore, Napoli Santa Maria Donnaregina, Napoli San Carlo ai Barnabiti, Firenze San Giorgio, Ruzante, Padova San Simeone e Giuda, Roma San Niccolò, Spoleto San Francesco Saverio, Genova

Scotland Elim Pentecostal church, Edinburgh

Germany Sint Bernarduskirche, Oberhausen Sint Bartholomaus, Koln Kulturkirche Altona, Hamburg Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Kerk, Dortmund Sint Elisabethkerk, Monchengladbach Sint Paulikerk, Soest Sint Konrad, Marl Sint Michael, Rheine Sint Bartholomous, Ehrefeld

Spain Escuela Pias, Madrid

All these examples have been find thanks to the reading of the documents of the workshop of Hasselt and of the three mentioned convention: Bologna 2016, Paris and Rome 2018. In bold, the case studies analyzed with the qualitative evalution method.

Map of the analyzed case studies

08 07 10

1415 1112 16 06 13

02 Mixed use

Completely new activities

San Giuseppe di Asti

Piazza San Giuseppe, Asti, Italy. Architectural features

State of religious use Decommissioned church

Program

Spatiality

Target of users

Consistency of the intervention

Since 2016 Spazio Kor, a project born with the aim of creating a new identity to the small theatre Giraudi in Asti, runs its activities within the space of the former church of San Giuseppe di Asti, property of the municipality and entrusted to the association CRAFT until the end of 2019. The axe of the theatre is the opposite than the classical one, therefore the design consists in a series of technical adaptation of the space in order to host an audience within the former presbytery and a scenography in the main hall. Spazio Kor is a theatre different from the classical ones, its purpose is to give a shared house to who recites and to who enjoy to watch the show.

Architectural modifications

Private with public access

Fundamental properties respected

Activities

Culture and education

Level of appropriateness

Impact on the space

Mitigated appropriateness of the activities

Dissonance of dialogue 0/4

Qualitative analysis Level of appropriateness of the activities 4/4

Impact on the space

3/4 2/4 1/4 0/4 I

www.spaziokor.it

III

San Rocco

Oratorio San Rocco

Via Turretta 12, Trapani, Italy. Architectural features

State of religious use Decommissioned church

Program

Spatiality

Target of users

Consistency of the intervention

The former church of San Rocco is the witness of a series of profound transformation which, after its decommission, have alterated the original sacred space in an unrecognizable way. Since 2012 the building is managed by a social and religious foundation named Pasqua 2000 and it is transformed into a multifunctional space devoted to art, culture and worship. With the name of Oratorio San Rocco it hosts a series of cultural events which higlight the ideal reconnection between worship, culture and real life, aiming to improving the life in one of the most degraded neighborhoods of Trapani.

Profound transformation

Public

Fundamental properties respected

Activities Social infrastructure Christian faith Culture and education

Level of appropriateness

Impact on the space

Appropriateness of the activities

Not possible to evaluate

Qualitative analysis Level of appropriateness of the activities 4/4

Impact on the space

3/4 2/4 1/4 0/4 I

www.diocesi.trapani.it/content/ view/1981/549/

III

San Vittore e Quaranta Martiri Space for occasional events

Via Lucania 18, Milano, Italy. Architectural features

State of religious use Decommissioned church

Program

Spatiality

Target of users

Consistency of the intervention

The small church of San Vittore e Quaranta Martiri was built in 1927 in the larger complex of the Parish of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. Today deconsecrated, it is being restored and temporarily used for a series of cultural and social activities which involve the inhabitants of the neighborhood.

+ Public

Light addition

Fundamental properties respected

Activities Social infrastructure Culture and education

Level of appropriateness

Impact on the space

Appropriateness of the activities

Respectful dialogue 4/4

Qualitative analysis Level of appropriateness of the activities 4/4

Impact on the space

3/4 2/4 1/4

www.facebook.com/pages/ Chiesa-di-San-Vittore-e-Quarantamartiri/1409259179294731

0/4 I

III

Sainte Marie Food market

3 Rue Victor Hugo, Sarlat-la-Canéda, France Architectural features

State of religious use Decommissioned church

Program

Spatiality

Target of users

Consistency of the intervention

The church of St. Mary of Sarlat had not received any religious services for years and did not keep more liturgical furniture of its devout past. The project commissioned from Jean Nouvel was to convert the space into a covered market and transform the old bell tower into a point of view that would dominate the surroundings and part of the city. The project respects the Gothic structure as much as possible and all the new elements, as well as the stand displays or the bell tower lift, are in steel, contrasting with the Gothic stone and avoiding any visual confusion. This material duality is already announced from the main steel door, which allows the contrast to become patent even before entering the building. Inside, the natural light abounds thanks to the large opening by the rosette of the facade.

Architectural modifications

Private with public access

Fundamental properties respected

Activities Social infrastructure Commercial

Level of appropriateness

Impact on the space

Mitigated appropriateness of the activities

Conscious dialogue 2/4

Qualitative analysis Level of appropriateness of the activities 4/4

Impact on the space

3/4 2/4 1/4

Ateliers Jean Nouvel www.jeannouvel.com/projets/eglisesainte-marie/

0/4 I

III

Chapelle Corneille

Auditorium de Normandie

30 Rue Bourg l’Abbé, Rouen, France Architectural features

State of religious use Decommissioned church

Program

Spatiality

Target of users

Consistency of the intervention

Private with public access

The Chapelle Corneille, a listed heritage building built in the 17th century in a Baroque style through which the spirit of the Counter Reformation clearly transpires, has been home to high quality musical events for a number of years now, notably during festivals held during the summer and in October, gathering large audiences. Conscious of this success, the Région Normandie wished to reinforce the chapel’s role as a designated concert venue for non-amplified music, offering upgraded facilities to meet modern day requirements in terms both of acoustics and accessibility, and providing professional amenities on a par with the musicians’ talent.

Architectural modifications

Fundamental properties respected

Activities Culture and education

Level of appropriateness

Impact on the space

Mitigated appropriateness of the activities

Respectful dialogue 4/4

Qualitative analysis Level of appropriateness of the activities 4/4

Impact on the space

3/4 2/4 1/4 0/4 I

Atelier Architecture King Kong www.kingkong.fr/en/

III

Chapelle des Jésuites

Space for cultural activities

Rue du Lycée, Saint-Omer, France Architectural features

State of religious use Decommissioned church

Program

Spatiality

Target of users

Consistency of the intervention

A typical baroque building with a monumental five-story facade, this church was built to replace a first chapel that had become too small for the pastoral and educational activities of the Jesuits of the Belgian-Gallo province (southern Netherlands) who ran the nearby college whose architecture it was part. When the Jesuits were expelled from France in 1763, the chapel still served religious services until the period of the French Revolution. It is then desacralized and emptied of her religious furniture. Throughout the nineteenth century, it is used as a workshop, shed, garage. After the renovation, it was taken over by the Heritage Department of Saint-Omer which created its offices and makes available for cultural activities.

+ Public

Light addition

Fundamental properties respected

Activities Culture and education

Level of appropriateness

Impact on the space

Respectful dialogue 4/4

Mitigated appropriateness of the activities

Qualitative analysis Level of appropriateness of the activities 4/4

Impact on the space

3/4 2/4 1/4 0/4 I

www.lachapelledesjesuites.fr

III

Saint James

The Sherriff Centre

Sherriff Road, London, United Kingdom Architectural features

State of religious use Mass up to 2/7 days

Program

Spatiality

Target of users

Consistency of the intervention

Public

The Sherriff Centre was born out of the desire to retain a Post Office in the area when the post master at the West End Lane site wished to retire and close his branch. Father Andrew, who until the summer of 2017, was the vicar at St James’, saw a tweet from local estate agents Dutch and Dutch who were looking for alternative venues to host the Post Office. St James’ church was suggested and subsequently accepted as a viable site. The addition of a café, shop and soft play were soon part of the planning process and business model as it was clear from the outset that to ensure its long term financial sustainability our project had to have a wide appeal and varied income streams. The doors opened for the first time at 1pm on 18th July, 2014 and with the church bell ringing out to announce the beginning of a new era for St James and West Hampstead.

Architectural modifications

Fundamental properties respected

Activities Christian faith Social infrastructure Commercial

Level of appropriateness

Impact on the space

Mitigated appropriateness of the activities

Conscious dialogue 3/4

Qualitative analysis Level of appropriateness of the activities 4/4

Impact on the space

3/4 2/4 1/4 0/4 I

www.thesherriffcentre.co.uk

III

All Saints

Champing program

1 Thorpe Rd, Aldwincle, United Kingdom Architectural features

State of religious use Decommissioned church

Program

Spatiality

Target of users

Consistency of the intervention

An impressively large church with a stonking great tower on top of a very steep hill, All Saints looks down over the pretty Somerset village of Langport. Built mainly in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, it overlooks the remains of a Benedictine abbey. The church’s bold, pinnacled west tower, covered with gargoyles known locally as ‘Hunky Punks’, is a local landmark. However, its most special treasure is its east window, containing the largest collection of medieval stained glass in Somerset. Champing is the unique concept of camping overnight in historic churches, brought to the world by The Churches Conservation Trust, the national charity protecting historic churches at risk.

+ Private

Light addition

Fundamental properties respected

Activities Culture and education Commercial

Level of appropriateness

Impact on the space

Respectful dialogue 4/4

Mitigated appropriateness of the activities

Qualitative analysis Level of appropriateness of the activities 4/4

Impact on the space

3/4 2/4 1/4 0/4 I

www.champing.co.uk

III

All Saints

Community center

Bewell St., Hereford, United Kingdom Architectural features

State of religious use Mass up to 2/7 days

Program

Spatiality

Target of users

Consistency of the intervention

Public

The project, with it’s inspired design and ground breaking ideas won an RIBA Award, one of the highest accolades in the spectrum of architecture. The intervention in based on some alterations of the space in order to add a barrestaurant within the church. The church is characterized by a mix of worship and secular activities. Parish Mass takes place every Sunday at 9:30am.

Architectural modifications

Fundamental properties respected

Activities Christian faith Commercial

Level of appropriateness

Impact on the space

Mitigated appropriateness of the activities

Conscious dialogue 3/4

Qualitative analysis Level of appropriateness of the activities 4/4

Impact on the space

3/4 2/4 1/4 0/4 I

www.westherefordteam.org.uk/ allsaints/

III

Swiss Church

Multifunctional space

79 Endell Street, London, United Kingdom Architectural features

State of religious use Occasional mass

Program

Spatiality

Target of users

Consistency of the intervention

Private with public access

The Swiss Church Building in Covent Garden, over 150 years old, underwent a major renovation and transformation in the past few years. The project, designed by Christ & Gantenbein, aims at both restoring and enhancing the building in terms of attractiveness and functionality. The new building is versatile and extends far beyond the traditional use of a church. A central and striking feature of the renovation is the new, fully mechanical organ, built by the renowned firm, Späth Orgelbau from Rapperswil. Späth organs are famous for their impeccable craftsmanship and their full sound. It enables the Swiss Church to hold organ and choir concerts of the highest standing.

Architectural modifications

Fundamental properties respected

Activities Christian faith Commercial

Level of appropriateness

Impact on the space

Mitigated appropriateness of the activities

Conscious dialogue 1/4

Qualitative analysis Level of appropriateness of the activities 4/4

Impact on the space

3/4 2/4 1/4 0/4 I

www.swisschurchlondon.org.uk

III

Baudelo Chapel Holy food Market

Beverhoutplein 15, Gent, Belgium Architectural features

State of religious use Decommissioned church

Program

Spatiality

Target of users

Consistency of the intervention

Private with public access

The 16th century Baudelo Chapel, previously a church, cloister, library and arts campus, is now a temple to gastronomy with its own bar. The adaptations consist in creating a series of box within the space of the laterl nave, which host the different restaurants kitchens. Stop by for delicious street food – from a croquette stall to Japanese or Russian delicacies – and maybe for seafood or oysters. On Thursday, Saturday and Monday evenings, the Holy Food Market is transformed into an exclusive dance club.

Architectural modifications

Fundamental properties respected

Activities Commercial

Level of appropriateness

Impact on the space

Respectful dialogue 4/4 Inappropriateness of the activities

Qualitative analysis Level of appropriateness of the activities 4/4

Impact on the space

3/4 2/4 1/4 0/4 I

www.visit.gent.be/en/see-do/holyfood-market

III

Sint Augustinuskerk

AMUZ - Augustinus Muziekcentrum

Kammenstraat, Antwerpen, Belgium Architectural features

State of religious use Decommissioned church

Program

Spatiality

Target of users

Consistency of the intervention

Private with public access

The current concert hall of AMUZ was once the monastery church of the Augustinians. The restoration and the redevelopments were accompanied by a number of new construction projects such as the public access building in the Kammenstraat. As a concert hall, the church is today the heart of the Augustine Music Center. This re-use required some adjustments. Sound insulation now ensures a quiet room in the middle of the urban bustle. The acoustics have been optimized. In this way, the Saint Augustine church has become the framework for careful handling of art and cultural history within a contemporary and public-oriented policy.

Architectural modifications

Fundamental properties respected

Activities Culture and education

Level of appropriateness

Impact on the space

Mitigated appropriateness of the activities

Conscious dialogue 3/4

Qualitative analysis Level of appropriateness of the activities 4/4

Impact on the space

3/4 2/4 1/4 0/4 I

www.crkc.be/amuz-augustinusmuziekcentrum

III

Sint Amandskerk Local food Market

De Coninckplein 5, Roeselare, Belgium Architectural features

State of religious use Decommissioned church

Program

Spatiality

Target of users

Consistency of the intervention

The center of Roeselare had three churches until a few years ago. At the request of the dean, proceedings started to repurpose one of the three in 2016, the Sint-Amandskerk that was owned by the city. ‘We wanted to make it an open house for all residents and associations,’ says ships Nathalie Muylle, responsible for buildings and spatial planning. ‘In recent years, contacts with citizens and organizations, polls and participation projects have raised three questions. One, the need for a new exhibition space, because from 2019 the Director’s home will no longer be available. Two, the question to a market on the weekend. Three, the demand from shopkeepers and shoppers for childcare during the weekend.’

+ Public

Light addition

Fundamental properties respected

Activities Social infrastructure Commercial

Level of appropriateness

Impact on the space

Mitigated appropriateness of the activities

Respectful dialogue 4/4

Qualitative analysis Level of appropriateness of the activities 4/4

Impact on the space

3/4 2/4 1/4 0/4 I

www.lokaalmarkt.be/nl

III

Sint Gertrudis van Nijvelkerk

Medical center and community center

Herelsestraat 100, AH Heerle, Nederland Architectural features

State of religious use Decommissioned church

Program

Spatiality

Target of users

Consistency of the intervention

Private with public access

The purpose of the redevelopment of the St. Gertrudis van Nivelles church was to maintain and improve the level of facilities in Heerle, a village in the municipality of Roosendaal. The church dates from 1864 and is a national monument. It is a rare example of neo-Gothic forms in the work of architect Paul Bellot. The church could not be sustained in its current form for financial reasons. The parish board, therefore, handed over the church to AlleeWonen for the symbolic amount of 1 euro. Subsequently, the church was converted into general practice, a village house and a place for the church administration.

Architectural modifications

Fundamental properties respected

Activities Commercial Social infrastructure

Level of appropriateness

Impact on the space

Mitigated appropriateness of the activities

Conscious dialogue 1/4

Qualitative analysis Level of appropriateness of the activities 4/4

Impact on the space

3/4 2/4 1/4

Oomen Architecten www.oomenarchitecten.nl/alleprojecten/herbestemming-kerk-heerle

0/4 I

III

Sint Jan de Doper

Dorpshuis De Trapkes - community center

Kloosterplein 3, Sprundel, Netherlands Architectural features

State of religious use Occasional mass

Activities

Spatiality

Target of users

Consistency of the intervention

Public

Built during the second half of the XIX, against the old tower of the previous church, Friday, November 9, 2012, the church had its final celebration. Since 2014, it has been home to the De Trapkes community center. It’s a mixed-use reality because Church services take place in the Sint Janskapel every week. The pastor called it ‘painful decision. Something had to happen financially and in this construction, the village has its own place to celebrate the faith. The combination with other community activities can be fruitful.’

Architectural modifications

Fundamental properties respected

Activities Christian faith Social infrastructure

Level of appropriateness

Impact on the space

Appropriateness of the activities

Dissonance of dialogue 0/4

Qualitative analysis Level of appropriateness of the activities 4/4

Impact on the space

3/4 2/4 1/4 0/4 I

www.skwsprundel.nl

III

Kruisheren Complex

Kruisherenhotel Maastricht’s hall

Kruisherengang 19-23, Maastricht, Netherlands Architectural features

State of religious use Decommissioned church

Activities

Spatiality

Target of users

Consistency of the intervention

Dating back to the 15th century, the former Kruisheren monastery and adjoining Gothic church have been transformed into a spectacular five-star design hotel, located in the heart of Maastricht’s historic centre. A member of Design Hotels™ and awarded the Dutch Hotel Award 2017, Kruisherenhotel Maastricht combines thought-provoking architecture with original features throughout the 60 ultra-modern guestrooms, each with their own individual quirks and details.

Architectural modifications

Private

Fundamental properties respected

Activities Commercial

Level of appropriateness

Impact on the space

Dissonance of dialogue 0/4

Inappropriateness of the activities

Qualitative analysis Level of appropriateness of the activities 4/4

Impact on the space

3/4 2/4 1/4 0/4 I

www.oostwegelcollection.nl/en/ kruisherenhotel-maastricht/

III

Conclusions

The end point for the definition of the evaluation method is a diagram that cross-checks the assessments relative to the level of appropriateness of the activities with those concerning the spatial impact of the architectural project. Dealing from the assumption that all cases represent a better alternative than demolition and represent a positive response in comparison to abandonement, the experimentation of the analytical model on the 16 selected cases has led to four significant results. They are all aimed at identifying some best practices that can be used as references for a reuse project.

CONCLUSIONI Il punto d’arrivo per la definizione del metodo di valutazione è un diagramma che incrocia le valutazioni relative al livello di appropriatezza delle attività con quelle riguardanti l’impatto spaziale del progetto architettonico. Partendo dal presupposto che tutti i casi rappresentano un’alternativa migliore rispetto alla demolizione e che costituiscono una risposta positiva rispetto all’abbandono, la sperimentazione del medoto di analisi su 16 casi sudio selezionati ha condotto a quattro risultati rilevanti, volti ad individuare alcune best practices che possano essere usate come riferimenti per un progetto di riuso.

Location of the 16 analyzed cases on the diagram

13 06

07 09

10 14

15 02

01.San Giuseppe, Asti 02.San Rocco, Trapani 03.San Vittore e Quaranta Martiri, Milano 04.Sainte Marie, Sarlat-la-Canéda 05.Chappelle Corneille, Rouen 06.Chappelle des Gesuites, Saint Omer 07.Saint James, London 08.All Saints, Aldwincle 09.All Saints, Hereford 10.Swiss Church, London 11.Baudelo Chapel, Gent 12.Sint Augustinuskerk, Antwerp 13.Sint Amandskerk, Roeselare 14.Kruisheren Complex, Maastricht 15.Sint Jan de Dooper, Sprundel 16.Sint Gertrudis van Nijvelkerk, Heerle

PRIMO RISULTATO Il primo risultato riguarda il 6% della totalità dei casi, ovvero quelli identificati dall’azione architettonica: profonde trasformazioni. Questo tipo di intervento va escluso a priori dalle possibilità per il riuso adattivo in quanto, stravolgendo totalmente la spazialità del bene, porta alla perdita quasi totale del patrimonio artistico e culturale. L’oratorio di San Rocco a Trapani, grazie al suo importante ruolo di luogo aggregativo aperto a tutto il quartiere costituisce un ottimo esempio per quanto riguarda l’appropriatezza di programma, ma a causa degli interventi nel corso degli anni risulta molto difficile capire che ci si trova all’interno di una ex chiesa.

First result The first result concerns 6% of the overall of the cases, namely those identified by the architectural action named ‘profound transformations’.

02.San Rocco, Trapani

This type of intervention should be first excluded from the possibilities for an adaptive reuse since it leads to the almost total loss of the artistic and cultural heritage by totally distorting the spatiality of the good. The Oratorio of San Rocco in Trapani, thanks to its important role as a gathering place open to the whole neighborhood, is an excellent example about the appropriateness of the program, but it is very difficult to understand that we are located inside a former church, because of the interventions occurred over the years.

02. Oratorio San Rocco, Trapani

SECONDO RISULTATO Il secondo risultato riguarda il 18% dei casi, ovvero quelli che si collocano nella parte alta/destra del grafico, intersezione di un buon programma con buon rapporto spaziale, che sono identificati dall’azione architettonica: aggiunte leggere. A causa del loro carattere temporaneo ed intermittente questi interventi non sono spesso in grado di farsi carico degli oneri legati al mantenimento di una chiesa e, quindi, non costituiscono una vera e propria soluzione. Per esempio, nel caso della Chapelle des Jesuites, che è di proprietà del comune ed è usata per eventi temporanei a sfondo culturale, il sindaco Francois Decoster ha affermato di essere alla ricerca di una nuova attività permanente in grado di contribuire in maniera più efficace al mantenimento del bene.

Second result The second result concerns 18% of the cases. It’s about those that are placed in the top/right part of the chart. Intersection of a good program with a good spatial relationship, which are identified by the architectural action named ‘light additions’. 13 06

03.San Vittore e Quaranta Martiri, Milano 06.Chappelle des Gesuites, Saint Omer 13.Sint Amandskerk, Roeselare

Because of their temporary and discontinuous nature, these interventions are often not able to bear the burdens related to the keeping of a church and therefore do not depict a real solution. For example, in the case of the Chapelle des Jesuites owned by the municipality and exploited for temporary cultural events, mayor Francois Decoster stated he was looking for a new permanent business that could contribute more effectively to the keeping of the good.

03. Chapelle des Jesuites, Sait-Omer

TERZO RISULTATO Il terzo risultato riguarda il 43% dei casi, che risultano localizzati nella parte bassa/sinistra del grafico e che sono caratterizzati da uno sbilanciamento troppo elevato tra i due parametri di valutazione. Molti dei progetti di riuso analizzati sono caratterizzati da una buona qualità architettonica degli interventi, che però è spesso destinata a programmi a sfondo commerciale che anzichè puntare sull’aspetto sociale e solidale sono finalizzati al ricavo economico. Ne è un esempio la chiesa di All Saints ad aldwincle, destinata ad un servizio di camping indoor molto suggestivo, ma che, nonostante veda tutte le proprietà fondamentali rispettate, risulta sottratta dalla sua valenza di patrimonio collettivo al servizio della comunità.

Third result The third result concerns 43% of the cases, located in the lower/ left part of the graphic and which are featured by an excessively high displacement between the two parameters of evaluation.

01.San Giuseppe, Asti 08.All Saints, Aldwincle 10.Swiss Church, London 11.Baudelo Chapel, Gent 14.Kruisheren Complex, Maastricht 15.Sint Jan de Dooper, Sprundel 16.Sint Gertrudis van Nijvelkerk, Heerle

10 14 16

Many of the analyzed reuse projects are featured by a good architectural quality of the interventions, but however it is often destined to programs with a commercial background, naturally aimed at an economic revenue instead of having a social aspect. An example is the church of All Saints in Adwincle, devoted to a very suggestive indoor camping service. The consequence is that, even if the project is a very respectful one, the church is deducted from its value as a collective heritage serving the community.

08. Church of All Saints, Aldwincle

QUARTO RISULTATO Nell’ultimo risultato rientrano il 30% dei casi analizzati, collocati nei quadranti centrali/alti del grafico. In questi casi sono ravvisabili un buon equilibrio tra l’appropriatezza delle nuove attività e la realtà sacra, ed un dialogo consapevole tra le aggiunte del progetto ed il contesto chiesa. Questi progetti rappresentano delle realtà di uso misto (attività religiose affiancate da attività a sfondo sociale-culturale) , come nel caso della chiesa di Saint James a Londra, oppure di uso totalmente nuovo (nel quale la dimensione spirituale viene meno), come Sainte Marie a Sarlat. Nell’ambito di questa tesi i casi sopracitati rappresentano dei buoni esempi di realtà in grado di rendere sostenibile il futuro di una chiesa sottoutilizzata e, allo stesso tempo, di mantenere collettivi quei valori artistico-culturali legati alla tematica.

Fourth result The last result includes 30% of the analyzed cases. They are placed in the central/upper quadrants of the chart. In these cases it can be found a good balance between the appropriateness of the new activities and the sacred reality, as well as a conscious dialogue between the additions of the design and the church context. 05 12

07 09

04.Sainte Marie, Sarlat-la-Canéda 05.Chappelle Corneille, Rouen 07.Saint James, London 09.All Saints, Hereford 12.Sint Augustinuskerk, Antwerp

These projects represent such mixed-use realities (religious activities side by side with social-cultural background activities) just like the case of Saint James Church in London, or represent realities concerning completely new use (in which the spiritual dimension seems to fade away) such as Sainte Marie in Sarlat. In the context of this thesis, the afore mentioned cases clearly represent some good examples of realities in which it seems to be sustainable the future of an underused church and, at the same time, to keep collective those artistic and cultural values related to the subject.

04. Church of Sainte Marie, Sarlat

07. Church of All Saints, Hereford

05. Chappelle Corneille, Rouen

12. Sint Augustinuskerk, Antwerp

07. Church of Saint James, London

part II - project

G Context

The last part of the thesis is the experimentation of a reuse project in Città Alta, Bergamo, supported by the notions acquired during the definition of the evaluation method. This decision derives mainly from the fact that thanks to the support of some people, it was possible to find the information needed to approach the topic and, if they were not present, it was easier to build them. The first step is to analyze the state of religious use1 of the 72 public churches included in the 29 parishes of the city, which led to the conclusion that, with 77% of buildings officiated every week, and even 50% every day, Bergamo is a city in which STATE OF RELIGIOUS USE OF participation in celebrations is BERGAMO still very high.

State of religious use Regular mass Mass up to 5/7 days Mass up to 2/7 days Occasional mass Decommissioned church

Field of experimentation

Bergamo, Lombardia, Italy 120.287 inhabintant Public religious heritage: 29 parishes > 72 churches

SantʼAntonio di Padova

Valverde

Fontana

San Gregorio barbarigo al Monterosso

Santa Teresa di Lisieux Valtesse

Santa Maria al Bosco

Castagneta

Redo SantʼAndrea

SantʼAlessandro in Cattedrale Santa Grata in Borgo Canale

102 SantʼAlessandro della Croce

Santa Caterina

STATE OF RELIGIOUS USE OF BERGAMO

Bergamo, Lombardia, Italy 120.287 inhabintant Public religious heritage: 29 parishes > 72 churches

State of religious use of Bergamo

13%

37%

SantʼAntonio di Padova

San Gregorio barbarigo al Monterosso

Valverde

Fontana

50%

Santa Teresa di Lisieux Valtesse

Castagneta

Santa Maria al Bosco

Redona SantʼAndrea

Santa Caterina

SantʼAlessandro in Cattedrale Santa Grata in Borgo Canale

San Francesco dʼAssisi

SantʼAlessandro della Croce SantʼAnna in Borgo Palazzo

Santa Lucia Longuelo

Celadina

Santa Croce della Malpensata

San Paolo Apostolo

Boccaleone

Santa Maria Immacolata delle Grazie

Campagnola San Tommaso Apostolo

Sacro Cuore

San Giuseppe

Colognola Grumello del Piano

The informations come from: Edges of the city a- Raccolta Parrocchie della Città di Bergamo, info book made by Parish the Church system of Bergamo. b - www.parrocchiemap.it c - Direct phone-survey to the parishes of the town. Legend:

13% STATE OF RELIGIOUS USE Frequence of the celebrations

37% 7/7 days

50%

Edges of Bergamo until 5/7 days

until 2/7 days

Occasional

103

Decommissioned church

Parish system

Overall situation

Parish

State of religious use Church

Boccaleone Campagnola Castagneta Celadina Colognola Fontana Grumello del Piano Longuelo Redona Sacro Cuore Sant’Antonio di Padova Malpensata S. Francesco d’Assisi San Giuseppe Santa Grata in Borgo Canale

San Gregorio B. Santa Maria al Bosco San Paolo Apostolo S. Teresa di Lisieux Valtesse Valverde

SS. Pietro e Paolo Immacolata San Giovanni Battista nuova San Giovanni Battista vecchia San Rocco Beata Vergine di Caravaggio San Pio X San Sisto SS Pietro e Carlo San Rocco Beata Vergine della Castagna Beata Vergine immacolata e San Vittore Beata Vergine immacolata S. Maria Immacolata e S. Antonio di Padova San Lorenzo Martire maggiore San Lorenzo Martire minore Sacro Cuore Sant’Antonio di Padova Ex chiesa di Sant’Antonio Santa Croce San Francesco d’Assisi San Giuseppe Santa Grata San Vigilio sul Monte San Sebastiano San Martino della Pigrizia Santa Maria e San Giuseppe Sant’Erasmo Madonna della Pietà San Giuseppe Natività della Beata Vergine Maria San Paolo Apostolo Santa Teresa del Bambin Gesù San Colombano Cristo Re Santa Maria Assunta 104

Sant’Alessandro in Cattedrale

Sant’Alessandro Santa Maria Maggiore San Pancrazio Sant’Agata del Carmine San Lorenzo San Matteo

Sant’Alessandro della Croce

Sant’Alessandro della Croce SS. Bartolomeo e Stefano Santo Spirito San Bernardino San Pietro Sant’Alessandro in Colonna San Leonardo San Bernardino Beata Vergine dello Spasimo San Rocco Beata Vergine del Giglio Beata Vergine Immacolata e San Giorgio Sant’Andrea San Michele al Pozzo Bianco Sant’Anna Purificazione di Maria Vergine e Ognissanti San Fermo e San Rustico Santa Croce Sacro Cuore Beata Vergine della Neve San Tommaso Apostolo Madonna di Lourdes Santa Lucia e SS Nome di Gesù Cuore Immacolato della Beata Vergine Maria Santa Caterina Santuario della Beata Vergine Addolorata Beata Vergine Immacolata delle Grazie

Sant’Alessandro in Colonna

Sant’Andrea Sant’Anna in Borgo Palazzo

San Tommaso Santa Lucia Santa Caterina Santa Maria Immacolata

105

State of religious use of Città Alta

Despite the high frequency of participation that characterizes the city, the attention was captured by the situation of the two parishes of the historic center: Sant’Alessandro in Cattedrale and Sant’Andrea Apostolo, which are characterized by a high concentration of churches, eight , of which only two are officiated every day, which is not the case of the other equally dense realities such as, for example, the nearby parish of Sant’Alessandro in Colonna. Deepening the exploration, Città Alta proved to be a very interesting study ground which, in addition to the eight realities initially outlined, hides four other churches, three of which are reused, while one is totally abandoned. At this point, from the inspiration of Frank Strolenberg1, Opportunities has become the keyword at the base of the design process experimented in the thesis. Taking up Strolenberg’s words, the need to face the decommissioning process of religious building requires a shift in conditions for which problems and restrictions must be seen as opportunities. It was from this optimistic suggestion, after having ascertained the situation in Città Alta, that comes the will to look at the six underused churches as important resources for the future of the neighborhood and the entire city was born.

106

Frank Strolenberg, dutch researcher. See p.35 of this thesis. The title of the thesis comes from a speech of the dutch researcher Frank Strolemberg: ‘In our work we operate a shift of conditions: problems and restrictions become opportunities, an issue for religious institutions becomes an issue for civil society and subsides for restoration become investments to create facilities for multiple uses’. Paris, 12.10.18.

Opportunities STATE OF RELIGIOUS USE OF CITTÀ ALTA

Sant’Alessa

Santa Mar

05 04

Sant’Agata

09 12 10 05 08

06 03

San Lorenz

San Michele

Sant’Agata

10.

San Michel

11.

San Matteo

scale 1:2000

20mt

50 mt

107

The twelve churches of Città Alta

o Bianco

Sant’Andrea apostolo

Sant’Alessandro

2. Santa Maria Maggiore

up to 5/7

7/7 3.

Sant’Andrea apostolo

Sant’Alessandro

occasional

up to 2/7 up to 5/7

7/7 2. 4. Santa Maria Maggiore 3. Sant’Agata del Carmine

7. San Matteo

Sant’Andrea apostolo

8. San Pancrazio

ore

mine

up to 5/7

7/7

5. San Lorenzo

occasional

up to 2/7

6. 4.

San Michele del al Pozzo Bianco Sant’Agata Carmine

San Matteo

occasional

up to 2/7

8. 7. San Matteo 5.

decommissioned

San Lorenzo

San Pancrazio

12.

Sant’Agata

Sant’Agostino

6. San Michele al Pozzo Bianco

San Pancrazio

10.

San Michele all’Arco

108 decommissioned 11.

2. Santa Maria Maggiore

iore

up to 5/7

7/7 3. Sant’Andrea apostolo

occasional

up to 2/7

ore

occasional

Sant’Agata del Carmine

7. San Matteo

rmine

8. San Pancrazio

5. San 8. Lorenzo San Pancrazio

up to 2/7

occasional

6. San Michele al Pozzo Bianco

7. San Matteo

mine

o Bianco

decommissioned 8. San Pancrazio

decommissioned

12.

Sant’Agata

Sant’Agostino

12. Sant’Agostino

10.

o Bianco

San Michele all’Arco

decommissioned

11. San Matteo

12. Sant’Agostino

109

Duomo of Sant'Alessandro1

Piazza del Duomo, Bergamo, Italy

45°42'11.6"N 9°39'46.9"E

State of religious use and celebrations Mon - Fry 7.30, 8.15 AM, 6PM Saturday 6PM Sun 7.30, 9, 10.30AM, 6PM

12mt

110

The construction of the Duomo of Sant’Alessandro started in the XV century, on the place of the old church of San Vincenzo, dated 690, which was demolished after the decision of the bishop of moving the Cathedral of Bergamo from an old church located in the hill of Città Alta. The first project, designed by the architect known as Filarete, was for the new Duomo of San Vincenzo. After two years the works stopped until, at the beginning of the XVI century, the six lateral chapels were consecrated. In the same years the old Duomo was demolished, all the relics were moved in the new construction site and the whole cathedral was devoted to Sant’Alessandro while only the biggest chapel was dedicated to San Vincenzo. After a period characterized by the discontinuance of the works, in 1688 a new project was presented in order to finish the church through maintaining the previous perimeter, increasing the height and opening a series of windows above the trabeation. In 1853 the cupola was finished, after a complete reconstruction and, at the beginning of the same century, also the inner decorations were finished. The last intervention was in 2005 when the liturgical adjustment of the presbytery was designed. Approaching from Piazza del Duomo the church is introduced by a complex facade divided into two orders: the lower one consists in a portico divided into three parts by three round arches while the upper one is characterized by a central window, two lateral niches and concludes by a triangular tympanum. The inner plan, a single nave Latin cross, is divided into three spans thanks to big pilasters which are leant on high basements and bears the trabeation and, consequently, the barrel vault that constitutes the ceiling. Six chapels, three for each side of the nave, articulate the space and, after the nave, a modest transept is characterized by the presence of two more chapels at its edges. The central environment is covered by a fully painted cupola and it ends with a seven steps elevated apse. The decorative setup of the building is rich of frescos, paintings and furniture mainly from the XVIII century and its relevant the presence of a big organ. Nowadays the church is one of the most visited places of Città Alta and it is used every day for celebrations.

The informations about this church come from: a - Azienda Autonoma di Turismo, Bergamo Città, Bergamo 1971, pp.78-105. b - www.chieseitaliane.chiesacattolica.it/chieseitaliane/AccessoEsterno.do?mode=guest&type=auto&code=30931 Plan Azienda Autonoma di Turismo, op. cit., p.95.

111

Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore2

Piazza del Duomo, Bergamo, Italy

45°42'11.7"N 9°39'43.0"E

State of religious use and celebrations Mon - Fri 8.45, 10AM Sunday 11AM, 12PM

12mt

112

At the beginning of XII century the citizen of Bergamo expressed the will of building a city monument devoted to the Madonna. The construction started in 1137 in a central place of Città Alta, which will be later named as piazza del Duomo due to the construction on the same site of the Duomo of Sant’Alessandro. The original project was based on a typical Romanic style and, as it is possible to observe from the walls of the church, due to economic reasons it was built during different periods: big and squared rock elements characterize the basement and smaller and irregular blocks compose the upper parts. In 1353 a Gothic adaptation was carried out with the construction of a marble portal, which faces piazza Vecchia, and the insertion of other detail within the inner space. The XV century started with a relevant changing in the design. In order to build the Colleoni chapel, the old sacristy and a secondary apse were demolished, with some consequent adaptations in order to create a new functional space for the celebrations, built at the left of the main apse before the end of 1400. The church appears as a multilayered artifact organized in a short cross plan, almost similar to a radius configuration, which is composed by three naves and two main axes: the first one, east-west, for the worship, while the second one, north-south, for the circulation. Due to the fact that the church was originally part of the Episcopal Curia, a particularity is the lack of a central entrance at the beginning of the main nave, therefore there are four accesses aligned with the second ax which connect piazza Vecchia with Piazza Rosate, in the back. The inner space is characterized by strong Baroque modifications of the decorations which are dated from the XVII century. The most important proof of the Gothic style period is a fresco located on the south facade at the left of the entrance, named ‘The Tree of Life’. From the baroque period are instead very important some wooden decoration made by the Italian artist Lorenzo Lotto around 1520. Together with the Duomo, the church of Santa Maria Maggiore is one of the main touristic attractions of the historical center, the mass takes place every day of the week, apart for Saturday, and it also hosts the tomb of two famous personalities: the musicians Gaetano Donizetti and Simone Mayr. G

The informations about this church come from four sources. a - Azienda Autonoma di Turismo, op. cit. b - F, Magnoni, Santa Maria Maggiore. Un profilo storico, Bolis Edizioni, Bergamo 2014. c - B. Caccia, P. Dolci, La Casa del Vescovo. Scoprire qualcosa di Bergamo Alta da un particolare punto di vista, Bolis Edizioni, Bergamo 2017, pp.156-171. d - E. Roncalli, Bergamo. Insolita e segreta, Edizioni Jonglez, 2018, pp.144-145. e - www.fondazionemia.it/it/basilica Plan Azienda Autonoma di Turismo, op. cit., p.99.

113

Sant’Andrea Apostolo3

Via Porta Dipinta 37, Bergamo, Italy

45°42’03.5”N 9°40’03.8”E

State of religious use and celebrations Wednesday, Friday 5.00 PM Thursday 8.30 AM Sunday 10.00 AM

12mt

114

The church of Sant’Andrea was mentioned for the first time as a cemeterial basilica in a document dated 785. In 1592, after the construction of the Venetian walls, the building was enlarged and embellished and through the centuries it was enriched with relevant paintings. In 1805 the parish of Sant’Andrea absorbed the one of San Michele al Pozzo Bianco and, consequently, a wider number of worshippers led to the demolition of the building and the construction of a bigger new one. The project, made by the architect Ferdinando Crivelli, is dated 1837 and the new church was consecrated ten years after, in 1847. Nowadays, from outside, the building is characterized by a sober aspect, the main elevation, preceded by a small stone parvis, is characterized by a plaster cladding and is divided in three parts: the central one with the main entrance door and two lateral ones with the secondary entrances and an arch window upon each of them. Within the church, the space is organized according to a square plan which is divided into three naves thanks to eight columns and in likewise spans thanks to four pillars, all of them completed with Corinthian capitals. The columns characterize also the space of the apse and together with all the other vertical elements they collaborate to bear the trabeation which runs along all the walls of the central nave and of the presbytery. Looking at the altar, through the lateral naves the church is connected with the parish’s house on the left and with the sacristy on the right. Particular is the ceiling, which is characterized by the presence of a central cupola (object of a restoration in 1895) that is supported by the four double arches present in the four corners of the square. For what concerns the other spaces, the central nave’s ceiling is a barrel vault which ends in the apse, while in the two lateral ones is coffered. Through the years the space was enriched with various masterpieces from local artists and artisans and the last intervention was in 1975, with the adaptation of the presbytery after the Vatican Council II and the insertion of a new altar. Nowadays the church is at the center of an interesting project of social renovation which tries to generate inclusion by means of a series of cultural activities planned in a festival organized by the current priest, named ‘sinestesie’. Within this frame, is important also the space underneath the church, which, after a period of abandon is now entrusted to the theatrical association of the University of Bergamo. G

The informations about this church come from: a - www.chieseitaliane.chiesacattolica.it/chieseitaliane/schedaca. jsp?sercd=30954 Online resource of Italian Church. b - Informative plaque inside the church. c - A dialogue of the writer with don Giovanni Gusmini, priest of the parish of Sant’Andrea. Plan Azienda Autonoma di Turismo, op. cit., p.37.

115

Sant’Agata del Carmine4

Via B. Colleoni 29, Bergamo, Italy

45°42’19.2”N 9°39’38.1”E

State of religious use and celebrations Sunday 11.00 AM

12mt

116

Plan Azienda Autonoma di Turismo, op. cit., p.73.

Born from a small previous building dated 1357 the church of Santa Maria del Carmine was built in 1451 together with a monastery and it was successively consecrated in 1489 by the bishop of the city. Different interventions take place throughout the centuries, thirteen altars, various ornament, and small alterations enriched and modified the value of the inner space. A significant work carried out between 1719 and 1730, increased the height of the roof, introduced the current vaulted ceiling and modified the main elevation by introducing two lateral entrances. The main elevation was also the object of a successive project in 1883, which was based on a drawing of the painter Alessandro Fiorani and then, during the XX century, the church was restored in different occasions and supported with the construction of new service spaces. The actual name of the church was constituted between 1797 and 1799, when the close church of Sant’Agata was suppressed and accorpated in Santa Maria del Carmine, which was renamed Sant’Agata del Carmine. A small parvis introduces to the entrance volume which, from the end of XV century, is organized in a first order clad with stone, a cornice, a second order divided into three sectors by four Corinthian pilasters and a triangular tympanum that ends the composition. After a wooden entrance volume, which is four steps lower than the street, the church is organized in one nave covered by a barrel vault and divided into five spans by means of some Corinthian pilaster. Two rectangular chapels for every span, with the only exception of the one devoted to the Madonna which is a greek cross, articulate the inner space. At the end of the nave the presbytery is four steps elevated and the apse is characterized by a particular polygonal shape due to an intervention from 1627. The natural light comes from five big windows located upon the cornice and the central one of the main facade. Particularly relevant is the value of the paintings located in the ten chapels and in the presbytery, which in some cases were removed from other religious building of the city at the time of Napoleon. Nowadays the holy mass takes place on Sunday morning, but due to its central position along the main ax of Città Alta, the church is always crowded by tourists during all the day. G

The informations about this church come from an online resource of Italian Church. www.chieseitaliane.chiesacattolica. it/chieseitaliane/AccessoEsterno. do?mode=guest&type=auto&code=31007

117

San Lorenzo5

Via della Boccola 1, Bergamo, Italy

45°42’20.8”N 9°39’50.4”E

State of religious use and celebrations Sunday 9.30 AM

12mt

118

San Lorenzo, already present in 1044, was demolished and rebuilt between 1561 and 1591, due to the works for the Venetian walls. In particular, close to the site it was built the door of San Lorenzo, which takes the name from the presence of the old construction. Approaching from via della Boccola, the church, preceded by a small parvis, appears as a simple white plaster facade with only one door framed by a stone portal and tympanum and an arch windows with the sill. The inner arrangement consists of one rectangular nave which, by means of Corinthian pilasters, is divided into four spans. These lateral pilasters also serve to bear the trabeation and, consequently, also the cross vaults which constitutes the ceiling. While two chapels take place in the third span, one devoted to the Sacred Heart and the other to the Sorrowful Madonna, in the fourth one it is relevant the presence of the organ and of a wooden pulpit. At the end of the nave, a triumphal arch constitutes the threshold between the space of worshippers and the presbytery. Other additional spaces are a warehouse and a chapel devoted to pest deaths linked with the first span and the bell tower and the sacristy linked with the presbytery. A relevant environment is the Fontana del Lantro. Underneath the church, it’s present a water tank which was already reported in a document dated 928 and which was restored together with the construction of the new building in the XVI century. This pool is an underground stone construction that works with arches and a big column in the center of the tank. Used through the centuries for different purposes and completely neglected for forty years in the second half of the XX century, this space is now restored and open to free visit.6 For what concerns the church, nowadays the mass is weekly planned every sunday ad 9.30 in the morning.

The informations about this church come from an online resource of Italian Church. www.chieseitaliane.chiesacattolica. it/chieseitaliane/AccessoEsterno. do?mode=guest&type=auto&code=30996 E. Roncalli, Bergamo. Insolita e segreta, Edizioni Jonglez, 2018, pp.112-113. Plan Archive of the church.

119

San Michele al Pozzo Bianco7

Via Porta Dipinta 45, Bergamo, Italy

45°42'14.4"N 9°40'11.1"E

State of religious use and celebrations Thursday 5.00 PM

12mt

120

San Michele al Pozzo Bianco, originally dated from the VIII century, but successively re-built between the XII and XIII century and strongly renewed in XVI century, is actually considered a treasure of the city due to a relevant presence of a series of frescos which come from an arc of time included between XII and XVI century. Approaching from a pebbles parvis it’s possible to read the church as a part of a complex of buildings which constitute the block. It’s for this reason that the only visible elevation is the one of the entrance, which was strongly modified in 1915, through a total redesign made by a stone cover, and in 1925, with the introduction of the bell tower, and it’s now composed by an arch that introduces to a small entrance porch. The inner space is organized in one large nave which is articulated through ogee arches in three main spans and which is covered by a two pitches roof characterized by a visible wooden structure. In the bottom, introduced by the last ogee arch and protected by iron fences, the square apse space together with two lateral chapels constitutes the main artistic value of the church. In fact, a lot of well-conserved frescos are present in all the apse part and on all the perimetral walls and, within this frame, is very relevant the contribution of the Italian artist Lorenzo Lotto, who in 1525 painted the left-side chapel. Other frescos are present also in the oldest part of the church, the crypt, which is located beneath the apse and is composed of three chapels served by a narrow common space. In 2016 a mass everyday was planned, but nowadays the church is mainly used for marriages, while the ordinary celebrations is scheduled only for one day of the week. The church is open every day but the artificial lights of the inner space work thanks to coins from tourists and interested people.

The informations about this church come from: a - www.chieseitaliane. chiesacattolica.it/chieseitaliane/ schedaca.jsp?sercd=30999 Online resource of Italian Church. b - R. Ferrari, L. Lucchetti, Chiesa di San Michele al Pozzo Bianco, Little Mercury Edizioni, Bergamo 2009. c - Informative plaque outside of the church. d - E. Roncalli, Bergamo. Insolita e segreta, Edizioni Jonglez, 2018, pp.144-145. Plan Azienda Autonoma di Turismo, op. cit., p.39.

121

San Matteo8

Via Tassis 12, Bergamo, Italy

45°42’20.9”N 9°39’44.9”E

State of religious use and celebrations Occasional

12mt

122

Originally from 1100, the church of San Matteo, due to bad maintenance conditions, was rebuilt under the parish of San Michele all’Arco at the end of the XVI century. Through the years it was the object of different interventions planned in order to improve the quality of the space, such as the design of a new marvel pavement by the Italian architect Luigi Angelini in 1960, the restoration of the main elevation in 1980 and the design of a new artistic glass for the window in the entrance’s facade in 2008 by the artist Mino Marra. Preceded by a modest parvis made by pebbles of river, the main elevation of the church appears clad with stones, for the lower part, and with white plaster, for the upper one. The geometry is very simple, a pitched roof ends the composition which is made only by the entrance door with stone architrave and a rectangular window. Also, the inner articulation is essential, a rectangular single nave is divided into three spans by pilasters which also bear the trabeation and the barrel vault which constitutes the ceiling. The presence of the presbytery, that is three steps higher than the rest of the church, is enhanced by a triumphal arch which marks the threshold. The natural light comes from the single window in the main elevation and from two additional windows located in the walls of the second span. At the right of the main entrance, in the first span, there is a secondary door which connects the church with the spaces of the ‘Seminarino’9, the oratory of Città Alta that works as a meeting point for the young communities of the neighborhood and as a home of a theatrical association named Teatro SI10. Moreover, due to a growing number of students, in the last period, the Univerity of Bergamo rented some spaces within the inner courtyard in order to arrange lectures. Nowadays the church is mainly used for oratory purposes.

The informations about this church come from an online resource of Italian Church. www.chieseitaliane.chiesacattol9. ica.it/chieseitaliane/schedaca. jsp?sercd=30998 10. www.facebook.com/OratorioSeminarino/ www.santalessandro.org/2014/06/ teatro-si-grande-squadra-nel-cuorecitta-alta/

123

San Pancrazio11

Via San Pancrazio 5, Bergamo, Italy

45°42’13.2”N 9°39’52.3”E

State of religious use and celebrations Occasional/summertime

12mt

124

The church, documented since 888, was enlarged in 1280 and, successively, re-built before the end of the XV century. In 1726 some restoration works, which started in 1625 but stopped for many years, led to the improvement of the presbytery and to the construction of a sacristy and of a bell tower. During the XX century and at the beginning of the XXI the church was the object of different restoration interventions devoted to interiors and exteriors structural elements and artistic presences. Approaching from a small piazza which is the meeting point between via San Pacrazio and via del Gombito, the main elevation is governed by a very simple aspect. A flat surface, covered by white plaster and shaped only by the inclination of the pitched roof, is characterized by an entrance door finished with a pointed arch, dated between XIV and XV century, two lateral windows and an oculus in the upper part. The inner space is organized in only one nave which ends in a semicircular apse with Corinthian pilasters. The space is divided into five spans which generate five chapels, enhanced by an arch based on Corinthian pillars. The natural light comes from a cupola which is located above the presbytery and from the windows at the level of the vaulted ceiling. The church contains an artwork which consists of a series of frames that show the Via Crucis (Way of the Cross), realized in 2012 by a group of artists named Ferrario Freres.12 Nowadays in San Pancrazio the celebrations are planned only during summertime, therefore, the church is underused for religious purposes and during most of the time is visited by tourists.13

11. The informations about this church come from: a - www.chieseitaliane.chiesacattolica.it/chieseitaliane/schedaca. jsp?sercd=31000 12. Online resource of Italian Church. 13. The information comes from a plaque inside the church which explains the artwork. www.ferrariofreres.it

125

Sant’Agata14

Vicolo Sant’Agata 19, Bergamo, Italy

45°42’18.7”N 9°39’41.7”E

State of religious use and celebrations Decommissioned

12mt

Cooperativa Città Alta, Liceo artistico statale Pio manzù, op. cit., p.116.

126

The Sant’Agata church was mentioned for the first time in a documented source in 908. In 1575 the archbishop visited the church and in the related acts is reported that the building had four altars though for only two of those the title is mentioned: a secondary one of the Virgin Maria and the main of the Body of Christ. In the beginning of the XVIII century The Pope Paolo V consign in an official way the Sant’Agata’s church to the Teatini’s order, which in 1610 started the works for a new monastery and for modifications and restorations to the building. In this period the artist Andrea Salmeggia painted on canvas two important artwork: the representation of the Sant’Agata’s martyrdom in 1620 and the death of Sant’Andrea Avellino in 1624. In 1796 Napoleone’s troops entered in Bergamo and one year after, in 1797, the monastery is suppressed. In 1799 this provision is canceled, but due to very bad conditions the church remained closed and successively deconsecrated and all the artistic works were moved to the close Santa Maria del Carmine, which for the occasion was renamed Sant’Agata del Carmine. From the beginning of the XIX century untill the 1977 the whole complex was used as the main prison of the city. In 1983 the association ‘Cooperativa di Città Alta’ 15 opened the restaurant Circolino in an already modified and completely denaturalized church, due to a project of the architecht Leopoldo Pollack, dated 1802. Since that year the association is taking care of the church and also of a part of the former monastery under management and economical aspects. The former sacred space, a curtyard and some spaces of the old cells are not only treated as a restaurant, but, through the years they become a point of reference for the social issues of the citizens of Città Alta. Some planned works are, at the end of 2018, already started with the aim of restoring the upper floor, characterized by the original vault, and including it in the Circolino in order to let citizens and tourists enjoying the whole environment16.

14. The informations about this church come from: Cooperativa Città Alta, Liceo artistico statale Pio manzù, S.Agata. Immagini dal passato, Bergamo 2012. www.issuu.com/consulta_pdf/docs/ libro_sant_agata_bassa_risoluzione 15. www.cooperativacittaalta.it/home www.cooperativacittaalta.it/ home#homepage 16. www.ilcircolinocittaalta.it/cantiere Plan From a desig carried out during the first year of master in architecture at Politecnico of Milano.

127

San Michele all’Arco17

Piazza Vecchia 1-5, Bergamo, Italy

45°42’14.1”N 9°39’45.4”E

State of religious use and celebrations Decommissioned

12mt

128

17.

The first knowledge about the church of San Michele all’Arco is dated 897. According to historical sources, the name of the building comes from the presence of an old roman triumphal arch built for celebrating the imperator Nerone, but which is nowadays completely disappeared. Around the X century, the church gained importance and has slowly become the center of a growing parish, which during the XVII was populated by an important community within the town and nine priests were managing an oratory and two schools of which. Between 1606 and 1608 the building was occupied by the Teatini’s order which, successively, moved to the close church of Sant’Agata. In 1743 some important works of modification were started under the guidance of the architect Giovanni Battista Caniana and gave to the building a new baroque aspect and a new orientation north-south. In spite of the renovation, which was at the end of the works, two years later, the church suffered from a contrast with the municipality of the city and slowly lost spaces within the building of the downtown, up to 1805 when the parish was suppressed. Reduced to a subsidiary of the cathedral of Sant’Alessandro, the church started to be underused and, in the end, it was deconsecrated in 1955 and transformed into the current warehouse of books of the adjacent public library, the Angelo Maj. Nowadays, even if the church is not open to the public, the alterations and the interventions were characterized by a light impact. The added elements are only moveable shelves, easily reversible, and the painted vault, enriched by the painter Carlo Innocenzo Carloni in 1757/60, was recently restored. Recently the building, which was a property of the Church, was the object of an exchange between the first character and the municipality of Bergamo, which on his side, owned a church located in the lower town that was still used. The plans for the future re-think the inner space of the church always as a part of the library, but not any more a closed warehouse.1

The informations about this church come from: a - www.beweb.chiesacattolica.it/beniarchivistici/fondo/40100001200500100019 b - www.bergamopost.it/vivabergamo/un-gioiello-solo-intravisto-su-piazza-vecchia-tour-in-esclusiva-dentro-san-michele-allarco/ c - A conversation with Maria Elisabetta Manca, the director of the library Angelo Maj. Plan Azienda Autonoma di Turismo, op. cit., p.81.

129

San Rocco18

Pzza. Mercato delle Scarpe, Bergamo, Italy

45°42'11.6"N 9°39'55.0"E

State of religious use and celebrations Decommissioned

12mt

www.santalessandro.org/2014/05/ lex-chiesina-san-rocco-scoperta/

130

The church of San Rocco, originally devoted to the Madonna, was built above a XIV century fountain during the beginning of 1500, taking the place of the Tribunal of Merchants. Renewed at the end of the XVI century and consecrated to San Rocco, the church was the object of two interventions in 1600 and in 1800. The current configuration of the space, which consists in a single longitudinal nave of modest dimensions covered by a decorated wooden roof and a small bell tower, was the object of the first restoration, dated 1630. In 1967 the church was deconsecrated, but more than one hundred years later, in 1797 it was reopened for private worship thanks to the support of a noble local family. Probably due to the disgrace of the benefactors the church was abandoned for the second time and, finally, deconsecrated for the second time during the Fifties. The artistic value of its inner space is almost completely lost, two main artwork, a painting from 1588 and another one from 1856, are actually located in the warehouse of the Dome of Sant’Alessandro. Due to very bad conditions of maintenance, the decorations of walls and ceiling are completely ruined and there are no traces of pieces of furnishing apart the rests of the organ and of the altar. Nowadays San Rocco is a Municipality’s property and it is completely neglected. The building is not open, the entrance is located on the back and, the main elevation appears at the first floor of an existing building and looks exactly as a normal house and the bell tower is almost completely hidden by the built surroundings. The program of development of Bergamo19 includes this building within the list of places which need to be valorized and reopened for the citizen of the city, according to this idea in 2015 the church was the scenario for an installation designed by cultural association ONLUS Contemporary Locus.

18. The informations about this church come from: a - www.santalessandro. org/2014/05/lex-chiesina-san-rocco-scoperta/ b - www.bergamopost.it/vivabergamo/riaperta-san-rocco-ottantanni-dopo/ 19. Documenti del PGT - Relazione del Documento di Piano, p.159. www.comune.bergamo.it Plan Hypotized from google maps, cad of the city and pictures from www. santalessandro.org

131

Sant’Agostino20

Piazzale Sant’Agostino, Bergamo, Italy

45°42’17.8”N 9°40’17.1”E

State of religious use and celebrations Decommissioned

12mt

132

The church of Sant’Agostino, at the border of Città Alta, is an example of Gothic architecture from the XVII century, which belonged to the monastic order of the Eremites of Sant’Agostino. In the XVI century the church and its complex were so important that the drawings for the Venetian walls was adapted in order to include them into the perimeter of the high town. A crucial event for the story of Sant’Agostino was in 1797, when all the religious orders were suppressed by the French occupancy and all the complex of the monastry become a military quarter for French, Austrian and, in the end, Italian armies. This condition lasted untill 1966, when the church and all the adjacent constructions were ceded to the municipality for cultural purposes. In the following twenty years of discussions, different hypotesis were carried out, but in the end, after a restoration, the whole complex was adapted in order to host the division of human and social sciences of the University of Bergamo. Focusing now on the chuch, the building is a single nave with massive transversal pointed arches supporting the roof and with lateral chapels along the walls. The artistic value of the inner space of the church is very relevant, with a series of frescos which are not complete but well conserved thanks to recent works of restoration and with the cieiling of the nave, that shows the fully decorated wooden structure of the pitch roof. In September 2015, thanks to the support of the City Council and after ten years of works, the building was inaugurated as the Main Hall of the whole Univerity. The adaptation works were mainly devoted to the insertion of the seats of the hall, an action which was possible by laying a new floor that also satisfy the requirements for the heating system. Another inedit object was a completely transaprent glass volume at the main entrance door, for insulation reason, and for the rest, the effort was the one of consolidating the magnificence of the preexistence.

20. The informations about this church come from: a - G. Mirabella Roberti, The ancient church of st. augustine as ‘aula magna’ of the university of bergamo, contained in D. Fiorani, L. Kealy, S.F. Musso, op.cit. p.191-200b - www.rettorato.unibg.it/santagostino/web/it/immagini/1793/san-rocco Plan Azienda Autonoma di Turismo, op. cit., p.19.

133

The church of Sant’Andrea Apostolo

Subsequent to an in-depth study of all twelve realities present in Città Alta, attention was focused on the church of Sant’Andrea Apostolo which, from being very close to a situation of abandonment, has been at the center of a series of activities not only with a religious background and, thanks to the constant efforts of the Parochial Vicar Don Giovanni Gusmini was able to establish a special relationship with the community. It is located in Via Porta Dipinta, in the lower part of Città Alta, which is the street that connects the university center of Sant’Agostino with the heart of the historic center. Sant’Andrea Apostolo is part of the homonymous parish, which also includes San Michele al Pozzo Bianco. It was designed in 1840 and completed in 1847 by the architect Andrea Crivelli and was built in order to meet the needs of a growing parish, for which the old basilica dated 1592 was no longer sufficiently large. Today the church is externally characterized by a sober appearance. The main façade, preceded by a modest parvis, is plastered and is divided into three parts, which recall the internal conformation: the central one with the main door and the two lateral ones, lower and marked by a cornice and characterized by the presence of an arch window over the entrances. The inner space is governed by the neoclassical style and is organized around a square plan whose central space is however longitudinal following the division into three naves. In the aisles, the ceiling is flat, while in the central one four pillars and eight columns support a barrel vault and the dome, which reaches the height of 23 meters. The interior environment, in addition to being characterized by a very rich decorative setup, also houses some works of art of great value, which are mainly a series of paintings dated between 1500 and 1600 and a fresco, dated 1600, which depicts the life of Sant’Andrea. Finally, the last aspect to carry out concerns the state of conservation, which, following a survey carried out by the University of Bergamo, proved to be excellent for the structure, while good for the material aspect, with some problems linked to infiltration and humidity in the part of the dome.

The drawings of Città Alta and of Bergamo comes from the Geoportale of the city of Bergamo. The information about the church of Sant’Andrea Apostolo in Bergamo comes from don Giovanni Gusmini, priest of the parish of Sant’Andrea. The CAD drawings, bases for the elaborations, comes from the architect Ralf Becker.

134

Sant’Andrea Apostolo

Church of Sant’Andrea Apostolo Via Porta Dipinta 37, Bergamo, Italy Parish of Sant’Andrea

Mass

Wednesday, Friday 5.00 PM Thursday 8.30 AM Sunday 10.00 AM

Piazzale Sant’Agostino

Via

ta Por

Sant’Agostino University of Bergamo

ta ipin

Porta Sant’Agostino

San Michele al Pozzo Bianco SantʼAndrea Apostolo

To the city

To Piazza Vecchia

Viale

scale 1:2000

delle

Mur

20mt 0

20mt

HISTORICAL EVOLUTION Parish’s house

Church

135 Sacristy

Porta Sant’ ura

lle M

de Viale

Piazzale Sant’Agostino

Historical evolution

To Piazza Vecchia Via

785

ta Por

SantʼAndrea Apostolo Sant’Agostino University of Bergamo

inta

Dip

A notarial deed attests the construction of the Basilica Sancti Andree in 785. In 1401 was found, under the altar, a a tomb belonging to the founders: Domnio Mur delle San e l with the nephews Eusebia and Domnon, a Michele al i V who after fanciful reconstructions Pozzo were Bianco sanctified.

San Michele al Pozzo Bianco

To t

HIC REQVIESCVUNTPorta IN PACE BM DOMNIO Sant’Agostino CVM NEPOTIBVS SVIS EVSEBIA ET DOMNON DEP DOMNO AVVS XVIII K AVGVS EVSEBIA scale 1:2000 IIII 0 20mt NOVEMB DOMNIO NON IAN

SantʼAndrea Apostolo

HISTORICAL EVOLUTION To the city

1592

Due to the reconstruction of the Venetian Walls, the church was seriously damaged and, following compensation from the Venetian Republic, it was rebuilt and rededicated as an independent parish in 1592, breaking away from the nearby church of San Pancrazio. 20mt

scale 1:2000

r Po ta

HISTORICAL EVOLUTION

1592

1840

During the Napoleonic period, at the beginning of the 19th century, the parish of San Michele al Pozzo Bianco was merged with that of Sant’Andrea. Due to the high number of faithful and the growing importance of that portion of the city, it was decided to build a new one. After the first project by Giacomo Romilli, dated 1829, in 1840 a second project was completed by the architect Ferdinando Crivelli.

Parish’s house

a Vi

r Po

Church

t in ip

1592

1847

The old church of Sant’Andrea is demolished in 1841 and, after 7 years of construction, on 28 November 1847 the church is finished and consecrated. The community of faithful linked to the parish amounted to 1223 people. Some changes in terms of work partially modified the original project, which resulted without the portico originally designed.

1840 Parish’s house

1847 Church

Sacristy

Church for the winter period

1840

1847

136

868

Plan

state of fact

State of fa

2b 12

10 17

20 3 20 10b 5

18 21 6

20 4

590 to, 1525 Santi Eusebia, Andrea,

a da Tolentino, 1653 a, 1500 anti, 1630 630 elli in 1847

27 26 18 22

24 25

25 9

elli in 1847

ritti in 1933

ance doors

scale 1:100 0

Main sacred elements and artworks 1_Gian Battista Epis, Storie di Sant’Andrea,1868 2_Antonio Cifrondi, Ultima Cena, 1691 2b_Antonio Cifrondi, Cristo e l’Adultera 3_Jacopo Palma il Giovane, Natività,1628 4_Enea Salmeggia, Adorazione di pastori, 1590 5_Andrea Previtali, Compianto sul Cristo morto, 1525 6_Moretto, Madonna in trono col Bambino e Santi Eusebia, Andrea, Domneone e Domno, 1536-37 7_Gian Paolo Cavagna, Natività, 1605 8_Gian Giacomo Barbello, Storie di S. Nicola da Tolentino, 1653 9_Francesco Bassano, Incoronazione di Maria, 1500 10_Padovanino, Angeli musicanti, Angeli festanti, 1630 10b_Padovanino, Martirio di Sant’Andrea, 1630 12_Main altar, designed by Ferdinando Crivelli in 1847 13_New altar desgined by Elia Ajolfi in 1975 21_Lateral altars

2,5

2,5mt

Relevant objects 11_Choir seats, designd by Ferdinando Crivelli in 1847 14_Wooden sideboard 15_Ambo 16_Statue of the Madonna 17_Seat of the celebrant 18_Balaustrade 19_Niche with statue 20_Wooden confessional 22_Baptismal font designed by Alessandro Gritti in 1933 23_Wooden pulpit 24_Wooden entrance volume with main entrance doors 25_Wooden secondary doors 26_Organ designed by Serassi in 1849 27_Wooden seats

1,25

137

7,5

Entrance

state of fact

138

Lateral nave state of fact

139

Central nave state of fact

140

Sacristy

state of fact

141

Transversal section state of fact

Transversal section

State of fac

scale 1:100 0

142

1,25

2,5

2,5mt

7,5

Longitudinal section state of fact

Longitudinal section

scale 1:100 0

143

2,5mt 1,25

2,5

Relationship with the surroundings

Finally, the introduction of the church must be concluded by reconnecting to the particular relationship with the community, which was the main reason that led to the decision to experiment a re-use project. In addition to its status as a university chapel, Sant’Andrea has also started a process of approaching the whole community, not only to the worshipper’s one, proposing itself as a reference point for three extra activities. 1_The Sinestesie festival consists of a series of cultural events that take place on a monthly basis within the church. 2_The Theatrical University Center (CUT) manages the underground spaces, and invites students and enthusiasts to participate in theatrical initiatives. 3_The Italian Catholic University Foundation (FUCI) has created a study room on the ground floor of the parish house, which is currently open to everyone.

Festival Sinestesie during a piano concert.

144

Thanks to a series of activities and initiatives which take place within the space of Sant’Andrea’s complex, the church started to get closer to not only the community of worshippers, but to all the inhabitants of the neighborhood and beyond.

MASS

Weekly planned

FESTIVAL SINESTESIE

Monthly planned

STUDY ROOM

Managed by FUCI Open to everyone

THEATRE

Managed by CUT Open to students

_Festival Sinestesie

Theatre

Study room

145

H Program

Once the main features of Sant’Andrea have been understood, the next step, retracing the logical order of the qualitative evaluation method, is to define the two themes: program and spatiality. For what concern the program, the understanding of social dynamics has been fundamental in order to think of a future scenario that is not based on some activities chosen a priori from the appropriate ones, but that is aimed at satisfying some of the neighborhood’s needs. Following some interviews with important personalities in the social and third sectors and the retrieval of news mainly from local newspapers, it turned out that Città Alta is affected by an advanced gentrification phenomenon that led to a substantial increase in services to tourists (89 commercial activities for tourists against 29 for tourists1), following the reduction of those for the inhabitants and the consequent reduction of population. These initial problems were then analyzed by consulting the Piano di Governo del Territorio of the city, which, in addition to confirming the lack of services to citizens, also highlighted the need for meeting places, especially for young people.

Scompare anche l'ultimo minimarket, in Bergamo Amore, Semestrale dell'Associazione per Città Alta e i Colli di Bergamo, n.27 Giugno 2008, p.1.

www.associazionecittaalta.org/ PDFgiornali/Bergamore%2036%20-%20 2016.pdf

146

Users and needs

1980

2000

3711

2863

2019

Inhabited area

2424Inhabitants

Regular users Inhabitants

128

Commercial activites

20%

755

8650 Students

Tourists/day

80%

Public services Accessibility

Social infrastructure

Culture

Users Statistiche demografiche 2018. www.comune.bergamo.it L'associazione per Città Alta e i Colli ha stimato un numero di oltre 200.000 turisti annuali. 100 turisti/anno per abitante. N. Gandini, Città Alta in cifre, 2017. www.bergamonews.it Studenti iscritti alle facoltà con sede in Città Alta: dipartimenti di scienze umani e sociali e di lingue, letterature e culture straniere: 8000 www.anagrafe.miur.it www.dsus.unibg.it www.dllcs.unibg.it Studenti iscritti al liceo classico Paolo Sarpi: 500 www.it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liceo_classico_ Paolo_Sarpi Studenti iscritti al Seminario Vescovile Giovanni XXIII: 150 www.araberara.it Commercial activities in 2013. N. Gandini, op.cit.

Needs Main needs of Bergamo and, in detail, of Città Alta. Documenti del PGT - Relazione del Piano dei Servizi. p.419-423. www.comune.bergamo.it

Health services 3

Gathering point Education

Needs of Bergamo Needs of Città Alta

Green infrastructure

Primary importance Secondary importance

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Interviews

Don Giovanni Gusmini Priest of Sant’Andrea’s church 14.01.19 h.18.00 L. Lorenzo Sizzi DG. Don Giovanni Gusmini L. Who are you and what do you do for living? DG. I am Don Giovanni Gusmini, I was ordained in 2000 and then I went to Rome to complete my studies. After that, with a license and a doctorate in theology, I returned to teach theology in the seminary of Bergamo and in other institutions. For two and a half years I have been in charge of the university pastoral and this is the reason that led me to settle in this church, which for fifteen years has been recognized as a university chapel and whose parish house is recognized as the university center of Sant’Andrea, or rather a center university pastoral of the dioceses of Bergamo at the service of the university, of the students, of the technical-administrative staff not only of the University of Bergamo, but also of other universities. So basically this is why I am here. L. How was the situation when you arrived at Sant’Andrea? DG. When I arrived there was already a good study room used for student meetings, the FUCI, but not only. It was a study room at the service of students equipped with computer tables and chairs. The Christian community was already gathering here for the celebrations which I’ve continued on Sundays and weekdays. What I did was trying to continue to further develop this type of use of the church and of the surrounding spaces for the people of Città Alta and in particular for the university. So I modernized the study room by adding the coffee corner and wi-fi. In addition, we received a donation of books and other objects such as keyboards and pianos, with which we gradually equipped the area. In church, involving the local community, we began to arrange

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some little things, such asthe new lighting system, the restoration of the paintings and so on. I tried to set up this festival called Sinestesie - I simposi delle arti di Sant’Andrea, which is this series of cultural initiatives that our church hosts monthly. Moreover I found, providentially, for a chance meeting, to entrust the theater under the church to the theatrical university center, which started to renovate it and so this allowed to reopen the space that for many years, thirty more or less, had remained closed . Now, slowly, thanks to a donation that has arrived this Christmas, we can almost finish the project, giving back a space not only to those who enjoy it now, who are the students of CUT, but maybe even to a larger public that comes to participate to their proposals and also to others that the theater can host. In short, I tried to continue on the line set by my predecessor, to expand by trying to make Sant’Andrea a place to meet, exchange ideas for the city and for university. L. Leaving aside the aspect of the university, how is the point of view of the turnout of the faithful and how do you think it will be in the future at Sant’Andrea and in the other churches of Città Alta? DG. The churches are quite busy, mostly from people coming from outside, considering the geographical boundaries of the underlying parish. Inside the walls there are some churches that celebrate the Mass during the week and on public holidays, and people in the upper city move a lot, so there is a movement also due to the convenience that people have compared to the time of celebrations. There are people who come from other areas, there are people who go elsewhere from here. Clearly the most attached people are the older people who live here around the street, who would struggle to move to other churches and therefore they come here for convenience. Although they are most quite old people, in these two and a half years that I am here, some young families have arrived and so there is hope and possibility that these people will take part in the Mass celebrated here. But obviously this depends, because since the church considered as the church of the families, where the mass of the families is celebrated at 11 on Sunday, is the church of the Carmine, there is a tendency of the families H

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towards that church and towards that Mass, because it represents an occasion where children and young people meet each other. It happens instead that sometimes these families come to the closest church to their home. Città Alta since December 2018 has become a pastoral unit, so it is an integrated management that goes beyond the idea of the four autonomous parishes present within the hills and the walls of the city. Therefore, the creation of the idea of a unique community is emerging. L. What do you think about the destiny of the religious heritage of the city? DG. About the destiny of these places that have been places of worship, sacred places for many centuries, their finalization to social activities is certainly the most respectful seeing as their original vocation. Here, rather than an hybridization with commercial clothes which would be in contradiction with the original identity of these places, the main supporting idea is to host social activities, for example hospitality for the homeless, and therefore the use of the church for workshops which are consistent with this subject. This I see equally well for the other buildings of Città Alta, for example San Pancrazio or the church of San Lorenzo, and possibly, in the hypothesis not all in all so far of this imaginary future, where all these places no longer serve for worship because thinking of the numbers the cathedral would be more than sufficient, let’s put also Santa Maria Maggiore and all Christians could go to Mass there. Sant’Andrea church, however, in a particular way, has a connection that in my opinion could be interesting to reinsert in the thought of its destination: this church has a bond that has by now consolidated with the university, and therefore in my opinion it could be good to preservate even in a remote future. This special bond with the University of Bergamo, even when the university no longer recognizes a Catholic chapel, because it’s true that we move towards multiculturalism, it could become a space for comparison opened to inter-religious dialogue, where the activities aimed to this purpose. Among other things, as the University of Bergamo is a very solid and rapidly expanding reality, Bergamo could be thought as a 150

university city in the future. Bergamo will continue to play a role of primary importance, doing something that it has already done in the last years recovering spaces such as Sant’Agostino and other buildings in Città Alta and in città bassa. So this, among all the spaces and also due to its proximity to the Sant’Agostino center, would be the most desirable place for the university itself, to create a space aimed to meetings and dialogue of the students. If they want to Christian confession or of different religions they can still keep them, otherwise it can simply remain a center of cultural activities. So, consecrated or not, in my opinion in the future it is important that the church remains a point of reference on the level of cultural activity which is in its own way a form of charity, especially nowadays, because we are facing an increasingly widespread poverty even if maybe it is less noticed it than others problems.

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Pietro Bailo - Maite Gloria Gusmaroli - Città Altra 14.01.19 h.14.00 L. Lorenzo Sizzi P. Pietro Bailo G. Gloria Gusmaroli L. Who are you and what do you do for living? P. My name is Pietro, I am the president of the Maite foundation, which has been active in Città Alta since 2013. We were born in 2010 in a low vocation city for concerts, theater and meetings. Arriving in Città Alta we proposed the same identical thing, in the circle that is just outside in vicolo Sant’Agata. However, when in 2015, together with Zenit, we came up with the idea of trying to work in the spaces of Sant’Agata, our mission has also changed a bit, and without losing it, it has moved from making concerts, theater and music, so a cultural stuff, to neighborhood social issues. Although there has always been a social neighborhood, an aggregation space, we realized that reopening the space of ExSA has greatly favored this thing. In other words, we didn’t expect it either, it wasn’t born that way, it was born with a little different intentions, but in a very short time it became an interesting center for the neighborhood, or rather, a center towards which neighborhood shows interest. Perhaps we can also say that it is the demonstration that sometimes, as long as there is no space there is no interest, when there is space, then interest is also activated. From there to active citizenship is passing and it will pass quite a bit, but the idea that it is an enjoyable and an usable space, a container, is spreading quite enough. What we do now as an association is to coordinate on this space, as well as to continue our activity on the other side (Maite space) and also a little here, to create the right container for everything we want to develop together with the actors of this adventure. L. Much information can be found on Maite, while Città Alta is a bit more mysterious… G. 152

Of course, also because Città Alta is active only from a year. Well, I’m Gloria and I was part of the Maite association until recently. I was part of the Zenit association, with which Maite started the space reactivation (ExSA). Together we have continued this path of place for the arts in general, whereas we can say that the Città Alta project was born of a need of the neighborhood itself. All of this was born mainly from the desire to try to understand if there are important places for the citizens, for the associations and institutions of the neighborhood that the citizens themselves want to rehabilitate, to go against the idea that Città Alta is becoming very tourist and less welcoming for its residents. So it is a project that was born from an announcement, which is the 2018 voluntary call of tender and which involves the two social networks of the neighborhood, Maite, the parish, interior 13 which is an association that makes art, the Cif, theater and some others neighborhood associations. Briefly illustrating, the idea is to reactivate the neighborhood both generatively and artistically. In ExSa, for example, there are games, educational snacks, itinerant space, artistic-creative workers. Therefore Città Alta is a newborn project that derives and partly originated from Maite and ExSA. L. What are the projects that takes most of your energies right now? P. We have two kinds of projects. The first is cultural and artistic, institutional or otherwise, which go from the study room to the call for volunteering with Città Alta, the theater season, the concert season, children’s activities, educational activities, something that intersects with the announcement volunteering, many actions from here to the coming months. This is a big chunk of our business. The other more complicated part is the whole bureaucratic and administrative part. This organization, being innovative for the city of Bergamo and since there are no judgments in Italy to which reference can be made for reasons of practicability, security, mere administration, it really is a field on which to build a lot. Quite simply, there are now two fundamental problems to solve in these spaces, where anyone who has a similar project will be bumped into. H

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One is the entrustment. It is a very short and very fragile assignment. It is a foster care for only 5 years, which seems a lot but it is really scarse, because at the end of the five years you may have some good projects, and there is the possibility that the management will not be renewed. There are many possibilities, even if everything is confirmed or transformed into something more, the big problem that greatly limits the activity is that almost all competition notice provide for a medium-long term commitment on a space like this, whereas we are investing around 80-100 thousand euros, which is very little for this space, but not for an association like ours, especially compared to of a very short project duration. When we will be finished working will be missing two or three years at the end of the project entrustment, so they could last very little. From the first of January 2018 our 5-year contract started, while in 2016 and 2017 there was a direct assignment by the municipality in continuity of what had been done in 2015. So waiting for the approval of the regulation on the commons the administration has left us the management of the space, which then became a pact of collaboration. Now it is an unhappy period because there are only a few months left to the elections and therefore no one will ever discuss the type of contract we have, but it could turn into something else, and about this point we could open a very long chapter. Our greater protection, beyond the signed papers that in some ways are fundamental when you are part of an announcement, we think that it is the rooting on the territory and therefore those who defend you the space is who uses the space. On the other hand it is not obvious that it works, at the moment there are many situations in Italy of eviction notice, situations that I believe are legitimate but not completely legal and therefore terminated, it is clear that in general there is not much attention to social activities in the government. The projects that start from the bottom are not particularly protected or safeguarded. G. Città Alta, instead, has a much smaller size in terms of management, because it is really a new-born project. We invest most of our energy in greater inside contact, because it is born as a project that aims to implement what already exists. Although there is a lot of voluntary activity and associationism in the Città Alta, there is a difficulty in the generational turnover, 154

to bring new members into a network that is already established and therefore most of the time is in charge of managing these dynamics. When we create projects, we sit at the table and we say: okay now we try to fix all the bulletin boards in the neighborhood so that citizens can be much more involved in what is organized, it is easier because I repeat, even if it has been active for a long time, maybe there are busy dynamics for twenty or thirty years that are used to working in the same way and now are not open to new members or to a constructive criticism. So most of the time it is a fairly millimetric dialogue of balance and dynamics management, we often talk about associations and institutions, but also about single ones. Then there is always someone who arrives, stays a few years and then goes away, but we must aim for a continuity not only generational, but also of changing within the groups of work, because if the key element goes away you have to make sure that the reality doesn’t die. In the big group that is with the lead organization, the San Vincenzo association, there is me, the president of the association and another girl, and we all coordinate this big hat of activities and balances to manage. Each institution makes one or two willed members to sit at the work tables. From the table they discuss the projects about Città Alta and then they try to finalize certain activities. After that also for us it takes place the question of continuity, in the sense that the announcement makes the funds available for a year and a half until December 2019, and to start activities and projects that may have already been designed, we have to understand how to send them forward. L. What do you hope for the future? How do you hope this scenario will evolve? G. In my opinion there is really a possibility that this thing, Città Alta project, becomes an excuse to implement the whole social fabric theme that, inevitably with the increase of tourism, has suffered a bit. But not for a speech of lack by the residents, but because basically if you are invaded within a few years by a flow that you cannot control, it is clear and normal that the resident feels a little crisis. There is still a lot of people willing to work and even just to find out what are the places and the right H

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moments, different from those of tourists, in which citizens can find themselves, also because I think it is really bad living in a neighborhood and not being able to live properly good in it. Especially if that is a neighborhood as beautiful as Città Alta, which despite being the historic center of Bergamo is a bit like a small village, then the speech to make is with the generations, because in my opinion most people who have remained in the Città Alta are over 50 years old and just a few are those who as young people are returning to live in the neighborhood. But if we could invest in two or three things in their favor, people would be willing and happy to stay and live there like any other neighborhood. L. What kind of spaces would be needed in Città Alta, up to you? G. In my opinion it would be enough to have spaces where people can go and know that they would find someone to talk to. In Turin, for example, there are neighborhood houses, or in Bologna there are spaces where you can do everything, and those become reference points in people’s daily life. Someone has three free hours and goes there because he knows that other people will be there. It is reductive to call them cultural centers, because they are gathering points where people meet gladly, even just to chat. L. What do you hope for the future? How do you hope this scenario will evolve? P. That’s a difficult question: how I think is going to end is one thing, how I would like is another. I believe it will end that we will be defeated, because we act following a logic totally outside of what is the prevailing logic. Not only economically or ethically, but also at the level of our internal energy, we are too few people, we do a lot, we break for nothing and basically we are all volunteers. We have huge temporary satisfactions, few are truly concrete. It is precisely a constant effort guided only by wanting to change the world, ours, starting from our own little one and showing a model that is different. As well as all models, this must be tested too, modified and 156

maybe become a standard, but I don’t know if we’ll ever see it. I have been involved in the community for many years, which always takes a different form and change with me. The market logic destroys everything, as I mentioned we are in a hypertouristic context, but unfortunately it is not just that. The problem itself is that here the logic that controls everything is the trade, and when there is only and exclusively that, at that point the human being no longer counts. This ExSA project is totally out of this logic, so does anyone care if it closes? Or if there is a space for the children’s birthday party? Of course it matters, but five, ten parents, though not many, notice it. That stuff has a presence of reality clearly greater than the digital world, it’s a concrete world, ‘I like it’ means that I come and give a hand with the activities. So here it is me introducing what I would like: I wish this project could have sustainability because, pay attention, being uncommercial does not mean needing no money, but it is the way that changes everything. So I would like to have an economic stability and a recognition that allows us to keep a space, a formal recognition by the institutions. Because unfortunately, if you ask them they’ll tell you that it is possible, but then the facts won’t follow the words. Despite the events organized so far, more than 150, the restructuring works done and the calls won, if an article is published in the newspaper that talks about Sant’Agata, we never exist. It is not that we expect recognition, but it does mean that what we do is not widely considered or known. L. What kind of spaces would be needed in Città Alta, up to you? P. In Città Alta we need houses with a fair price and not houses to build because they already exist, we should just have a policy to repopulated the neighborhood in a sensible way. Simply to explain, there are more than thirty empty public housing units, and I know it good because I live in one of those too.Every evening I see that there are six empty apartments in my building, which no one knows why they are not used. One of the main needs is therefore to repopulate Città Alta in a meaningful way, which means for example, to use the accommodations that already exist. H

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Giuseppe Cattaneo Associazione per Città Alta e i Colli 15.01.19 h.9.30 L. Lorenzo Sizzi BC. Giuseppe Cattaneo L. Who are you and what do you do for living? BC. I’m Giuseppe Cattaneo and now I m retired. I have worked many years in the “Chamber of commerce” and in recent years I have been responsible for the communication, I was in charge of the office of relations with the public and the press office. Instead, at the moment, I do loads of business activities of volunteering and I continue to do what I already did before I retired and by that I mean following the neighborhood with the “Città Alta e Colli” Association. I was born in Borgo Palazzo and started immediately to interest in the local neighborhood activities, then came to Città Alta in 1989 and after a couple of years, joined this association that was recently born. L. Regarding the monitoring of the population activities led by the association, according to you, what are the reasons for the decline in population? BC. Città Alta is an ancient village, built with characteristics of the time, so there was a first great exodus in the years ‘ 50-’ 60, because many people lived in houses where today no one would live anymore, with toilets outside, often in common. A share of the population moved to the public housing district Monterosso, which was newly made and attracted people from other parts of the city. This phenomenon, which had a spike in those years, continued, because however living in the upper city became difficult. It was hard to find parking where to leave the car near home, expenses of substantial entities had to be made in the low city and then come back up and try to place the car as close to home, but it was not always possible. Then there are situations, I have also followed some, where some people have gone because they lived on the fourth or fifth floor of one of 158

the ancient buildings, which are without elevator, and get the possibility of realizing one from the Superintendency is often very Difficult. So there were a number of difficulties that, add up to the cost of rents, which, as the interest in the old town grew as a place for tourists, increased, attracted also fabulous people from outside the province to buy houses and then inhabit them only occasionally. From our recent analyses it emerges that still a significant share of the inhabitants is thinking of leaving Città Alta, and therefore a further abandonment is foreseen. L. What is the future scenario that you imagine? Can something be done to stop this exodus? BC. I do not know if there is a minimum point under which you can no longer descend, there are still many seniors living in the Città Alta but new families fail to compensate. The last year statistics say that there has been a positive fact, that however, after decades and decades of negative data, is not enough to do well enough to hope for a reversal trend. I think that therefore this exodus in the coming years will continue, even considering the large amount of apartments that are destined for the short period to the tourists. What could be done? I think what the municipal administration did several years ago, when with the architect Gandolfi, who was responsible for the urbanism of the municipality of Bergamo, and the architect Secchi, when were approved detailed plans of the historical villages in the city. What happened? The past administration identified some empty or almost empty buildings, which required some substantial interventions and proposed to the owners an IPRIP constraint type, an intervention of remarkable public interest, through which were allocated Funds to acquire the building, or to finance its interventions, in order to allocate them to social housing, with facilitated rents. I followed this story at the time and today the architect Gandolfi, who is retired, collaborates with our association, and we have had several meetings with officials of the administration in which we have proposed to intervene in the same way as before. The empty buildings are present, mostly of large properties like the Curia. The Pastor, whom we have heard on these issues, agrees with us, saying that, in his four parishes, the flats are destined to rent for H

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residents who need help, although he still remains a drop within the system. One important thing that I recall is that the town hall, two years ago, commissioned the National Association of Historical Centers ANCSA, which was born in Bergamo and with Giorgio Gori, the mayor, his vice president, a survey on Città Alta, comparing our reality also with other historical Italian cities, to understand what is happening in other situations and what has been done to try to improve the situation. At the end of the report that was presented to the municipality of Bergamo in July of 2018, are recognized the gentrification processes and are proposed a series of initiatives aimed at facilitating the settlement of residents in historical centres through actions of stimulus, discounts, housing incentives. How?This is the difficult part, because people are often tempted to sell or rent and earn in three months what they would gain in a year. Therefore this phenomenon must be governed, otherwise things remain exactly as they are. It is very important to bring young people here and give them not only a space to dwell, but also places where to work. Today it takes just a computer to work, so you don’t need much. It would be very interesting to create a sort of social housing where there are many common areas where people can carry out their activities without moving away from the neighbourhood. I believe that those things might be also possible. L. How do you hope that Città Alta will become? BC. Stop tourists from coming, shut the doors? It’s of nouse, but I think that to keep a city alive, without turning it into a museum or a Gardaland, you must ensure that there is a stable, real and permanent life within the neighborhood that is made of people who live there and walk around all the time, who do the shopping here, who find the doctor here, who find the pharmacy here and find the small craftsmen. And if they’re old, they have to have the chance to get someone to support them. In order to create these conditions, we can do so with these operations, there’s a need of intervention or direct or public (convenzionato mi sfugge al momento) to control phenomena in place, and to convince certain real estate holdings, even through discounts and tax benefit, to make this happen. 160

L. What do you think, in the context of reusing the propriety of the Church, of the realization of one out of those two proposals: temporary accommodations for people who are emigrating or students residences? BC. I tell you, although I think that firstly, we need new citizens, in the last restructured housing in via Gombito, five of them the administration decided to give to university students. I’m talking about things that are happening in these last few months. So, when five will be given as temporary housing to students, another five are given to a cooperative, called Pugnoaperto, with whom we are in contact. They introduced us to the project, and just the other day they’ve contacted me to inform me that there have been the first homeless settlements, who agreed to move in, attempting this autonomy experiment. We also thought about planning to organize a city visit with them in Città Alta to try to set them in. I am for the social mix, I support these initiatives and I do a lot of volunteering, but we must always remain in a balanced situation, because other housing should be made available for young families. This is how to rebalance the situation in Città Alta.

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Marco Sala Social services - Oratorio Seminarino 15.01.19 h.18.00 L. Lorenzo Sizzi MS. Marco Sala L. Who are you and what do you do for living? MS. My name is Marco Sala and I am a professional educator and work for a social cooperative. I am the second operator for the disable Territorial Service and minors and families service. I work on six projects, five of which are in Città Alta and one of them in the city centre in Borgo Palazzo. The Territory service to the disabled is distinguished for an employment training project, close to the dimension of the working world, which is the social garden. I also have a community project, used to create a path to activate resources within the community, to take care of people with viability, in their spare time. This then might develop in structured activities or in informal ones. We are in an oratory right now, so the Seminarino oratory is welcoming people with disabilities in a more formal context. Namely, that we spend our free time together, and they find themselves at home in this place, giving a service to the community also by doing some work for the oratory, such as secretarial work, bar service, animation during the summer Recreation centre, or can be more structured activities, not limited only to people with disabilities, but also opened to the whole neighborhood. In the adjacent room to the oratory there is an example of group activity, an exhibition of photographic panels through which the boys told their neighborhood, Città Alta, according to their impressions and their sensibility. Compared to minors, which is why I arrived in this oratory, I work for the protection of the most fragile minors and families. This often leads us to have to face uncomfortable situations and then try to solve them together with the services. By working within the territory I try to focus more one the preventive aspects. So if on the repairing side there are other professional figures involved, like social workers or psychologists, us educators, aim a 162

lot on prevention, a job that has to be done on the territory and through new opportunities of encounter and of proposal benefit the minors. For this reason I also collaborate within the schools, with the oratory itself and with other institutions and associations of the neighborhood, which together form the social network. L. What’s the project that takes most of your energy right now? MS. Well, it’s hard to answer because having most of the projects in Città Alta, for a set of reasons have been intertwined over the years. I can’t think of my presence here in Oratorium without thinking as well about the work with the people with disabilities It is true that The social garden itself works with cognitively disable people, but it’s also true that we engage also schools in educational activities, we welcome the neighbourhood bodies which make guided visits. For this reason, as a cooperative operator, the projects are all intertwined with each other. To some of them I’m more attached to because of affective bond, like the social garden, since is I’ve been doing it for so many years. But also, the other minor services are intertwining so much that I can’t unlock them. L. Projects for the future? MS. I would like to work more and more in the context of recomposition of the social fabric in città Alta. working on individual projects, enables me to cross paths with many associations, many agencies, many institutions, many spontaneous groups, many individual citizens. It’s a hard job working on the Web, because it assumes that everyone has a common idea, common interests, it’s a ever changing job, so the fact that you are making it doesn’t mean that you’re already there. I think there is still a lot to develop, especially at the level of trust within people, which then creates relationships. Therefore, helping this Oratorium reconstitute individual groups and people who live there would have a relapse both on families and minors. I think this is a horizon still to go.

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L. What kind of spaces would be needed in Città Alta, up to you? MS. I’ll answer from the point of view of an operator for service of the community, so not from a political point of view. There is a plan, which is that of physical spaces, and there is another plan, which is the one of spaces of relation, which can also be separated from the physical spaces. I normally work more on the second plan, using the physical spaces that are there, so it’s hard to imagine new spaces, since it isn’t my mandate. However optimizing the spaces that are present would be interesting. I think that Città Alta has a geographical conformation so that, if on the one hand it is a jewel inside the city of Bergamo, on the other it prevents further spaces from developing. I give an example: there are no sports facilities suitable for starting the local Polisportiva and thus you have to move to other neighborhoods of the city. For me then, managing to optimize what is here, this oratory, the field that under the door of San Lorenzo, the renovation of the Oratory of Borgo Canale, which could be a very welcoming space, already could be useful. In addition, from a reading of the networks that are in città Alta, one of the issues that often emerges as perceived by the citizens, is precisely the absence of some basic services. Residents complain about the absence of opportunities, people ask that some spaces can be reused. It is also true that, even when the proposal is high, the demand is not always commensurate. Communication is also very important. If once it was enough word of mouth, today you have to find other tools through which to tell an activity, an initiative, a meeting, missing that bond of good neighborliness that was once spontaneous that was not even nominated. But today it is set as a goal.

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L’Oratorio Sociale

Within the context that has emerged, thinking of a project that, in order to be coherent with the theme of the thesis, must be inserted into the perspective of strengthening the social infrastructure, an interesting starting point is the interview with Marco Sala1, social operator of Città Alta, linked to the reality of the Oratorio Seminarino. From his story it emerged how Città Alta was a very strong reality in terms of youth education, which was based on the presence of two Oratori, who are today, one abandoned and the other little frequented. Similar to how it happened at the beginning of the path, a question arises from this statement: what happens when a religious reality loses the values linked to it? Starting from taking into consideration the description of that reality created by San Filippo Neri2 at the end of 1500, it was interesting to delete the words that refer to the religious world and to see how this does not in any way modify the values linked to aggregation power and public and social utility. Thus was born the idea of Oratorio Sociale, which becomes the main input of the design, which sees the church repurposed as a public place open to the inhabitants of the neighborhood, citizens, and tourists. On the basis of this idea of a place that remains public and open, the church is organized around two environments, one permanently destined to be a cultural path that allows visiting the church from unusual points of view, while the other is thought of as a space that changes meaning during the week. Starting from some reflections related to the theme of infinite places3, faced by France in the Biennale of Venice in 2018, from Monday to Friday the church constitutes the interpretation of public space as a ‘stage for marginal art’, conceived as a practice able to invite every type of user, regardless of age or social status, to collaborate in building a new public identity around the idea of creativity and personal expression. On the weekend, on the other hand, the same space is transformed into a ‘social market’ of local products that gives artisans the opportunity to promote and sell their products, to people in need the opportunity to purchase goods at a reduced price, and, finally, to the inhabitants a neighborhood service

1. 2. 3.

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See p.164 of this thesis. www.it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filippo_ Neri Institut Francais, Lieux Infinis. Construire des batiments ou des lieux, French pavilion 16th international Architecture Exhibition, Venice 2018.

Welcome Meeting point

L’Oratorio Sociale

Social market Stage for marginal art express A THIRD PLACE Target and uses

which is now absent. MAP OF ACTIVITIES Together with these two environments, considering the vocation of the church as a university chapel, some places devoted ORATORIO to spirituality are also designed, which therefore does not abandon The “Oratorio” (also known as the building. These places are, one of “patronato”, individual confrontation parish’s center or with the priest and a chapel, both organized in theis,spaces of the youth center) in a modern interpretation, a building devoted former sacristy. to the life of worshippers Regarding the other areas of the Sant’Andrea complex, the of Catholic faith, where the greatest change occurs in the former parish house,(mainly whichyoung entertainers becomes a temporary social residence for about people inboys. people) educate6-7 children and Welcome Within the Oratorio the activities a situation of marginalization, who during their rehabilitation Meeting point are characterized by a religious period have the task of taking care of the church. background, such as the catechesis On the other hand, the theater and theofstudy room notkind of children and do many undergo any change in terms of program, they cooperate meetingasfor the fully worshippers. The leisure spaces make the Oratorio with the newly added values.

Cultural path

Nicola age: 6

an important gathering point for young people and its environments are often used for cultural or social events such as theatre, music, and festivals. Social market Stage for marginal art expression

ORATORIO

ORATORIO + SOCIALE

The “Oratorio” (also known as “patronato”, parish’s center or youth center) is, in a modern interpretation, a building devoted to the life of worshippers of Catholic faith, where the entertainers (mainly young people) educate children and boys. Within the Oratorio the activities are characterized by a religious background, such as the catechesis of children and many kind of meeting for the worshippers. The leisure spaces make the Oratorio an important gathering point for young people and its environments are often used for cultural or social events such as theatre, music, and festivals.

The “Oratorio” (also known as “patronato”, parish’s center or youth center) is, in a modern interpretation, a building devoted to the life of worshippers of Catholic faith, where the entertainers (mainly young people) educate children and boys. Cultural path Within the Oratorio the activities are characterized by a religious background, such as the catechesis of children and many kind of meeting for the worshippers. The leisure spaces make the Oratorio an important gathering point for young people and its environments are often used for cultural or social events such as theatre, music, and festivals. Chapel

ORATORIO + SOCIALE The “Oratorio” (also known as “patronato”, parish’s center or

Chapel

MARGINAL

Roberto residence Andr Temporary social age: 42

PEOPLE IN NEED

www.it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oratorio_ Theatre (centro_giovanile)

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age:

Diagram of the activities and target of users Program issues

A THIRD PLACE FOR THE CITIZENS, WITH A SOCIAL MISSION Target and uses

Angelica age: 24

Derin age: 16

Elisabetta age: 47

Vigan age: 24

Michele age: 72

Nicola age: 63

Carlo age: 30

Gianmarco age: 17

Khaleb age: 30

Greta age: 12

MARGINAL ARTISTS

STA GE

Roberto age: 42

ARY

P TEM

L CIA

R LTU

RTS

H PAT

IDE

RES

Mariateresa age: 65

SOCIAL MARKET’S CROWD

Andrew age: 31

Andrea age: 63

INTERESTED PEOPLE

SOCIAL MARKET

STUDENTS

CHAP

PEOPLE IN NEED Michele age: 72

Gianmarco age: 17

Mariateresa age: 65

THE AT

WHORSHIPPERS

Carlo age: 30

Derin age: 16

Vigan age: 24

PASSIONATED ACTORS

Existent activities New activities

168

MAP OF ACTIVITIES

ORATORIO

Welcome Meeting point

Welcome A THIRD PLACE FOR THE CITIZENS, WITH A SOCIAL M Meeting Target point and uses MARGINAL ARTISTS Nicola Social market age: 63 Stage for marginal art expression

Map of the activities

Nicola age: 63

Carlo age: 30

Gianmarco age: 17

Greta age: 12

atorio” (also known as ato”, parish’s center or enter) is, in a modern tion, a building devoted Welcome MAP OF ACTIVITIES A THIRD PLACE FOR THE CITIZENS, WITH A SOCIAL M ife of worshippers of Meeting Target point and uses MARGINAL ARTISTS Nicola Social market olic faith, where theWelcome age: 63 Stage for marginal art expression Meeting point ainers (mainly young Gianmarco Carlo Nicola GretaAndrew Roberto MARGINAL age: 17 age: 63ARTISTS age: 30 age: 12 age: 42 age: 31 ucate children and boys. Social market Cultural path eORATORIO Oratorio the Stage foractivities marginal art expression acterized by a religious atorio” (also known as d, such as the catechesis ato”, parish’s center or ren and many kind of enter) is, in a modern or the worshippers. The tion, a building devoted aces make the Oratorio ife of worshippers of STA MARGINAL ARTISTS tant gathering point for GE olic faith, where theWelcome Social market FO ung people and itsMeeting point RM PEOPLE IN NEED Stage for marginal art expression MARGINAL ARTISTS ainers (mainly young Roberto Gianmarco Carlo Nicola GretaAndrew ARG ments are often used formarket Social age: 42 age: 31 IN age: 17 age: 30 age: 63 age: 12 ucate children boys. art expression Cultural path Stage forand marginal or social events such as e Oratorio the activities , ORATORIO music, and festivals. Roberto Andrew Chapel age: acterized by a religious 42 age: 31 Cultural path atorio” (also known as d, such as the catechesis ato”, parish’s or ren and manycenter kind of enter) is, in a modern or the worshippers. TORIO + SOCIALE The tion, a building devoted STA aces make the Oratorio L GE CIA atorio” (also known as ife of worshippers of tant gathering point for FOY SO ato”,people parish’s center olic faith, where the or RAR R MA ung and its PO PEOPLE IN NEED RG M MARGINAL ARTISTS enter)are is, often in a modern TE ainers (mainly young IN ments used formarket Roberto Andrew Social age: 42 age: 31 tion, a building devoted ucate children and boys. or social events as art expression Cultural path Stage forsuch marginal Roberto Andrew of worshippers of PEOPLE IN NEED Oratorio activities ,eife music, andthe festivals. age: 42 age: 31 Chapel Cultural path olic faith, by where the acterized a religious ainers (mainly young d, such as the catechesis Temporary social residence ucate children and boys. ren and many kind of Chapel TORIO + SOCIALE e Oratorio the activities or the worshippers. The IAL STA OC acterized bythe a religious aces make Oratorio S GE ARY atorio” (also known as R d, such as the catechesis tant gathering point or for PO FOR ato”, parish’s center M E MA T renpeople and many kind ung its of RG PEOPLE IN NEED enter) is, inand a modern IN or theare worshippers. The ments often used for tion, a building devoted PEOPLE IN NEED aces make the Oratorio or events such ifesocial of worshippers ofas Roberto Andrew tant gathering point for ,olic music, and festivals. age: 42 age: 31 faith, where the Chapel Cultural path ng people and its ainers (mainly young Temporary social residence ments are often usedChapel for ucate children and boys. or social events such as e OratorioSOCIALE the activities TORIO , music, +and festivals.social residence Theatre IAL Temporary acterized by a religious OC S Y atorio” as d, such(also as theknown catechesis RAR PO ato”, parish’s center or M ren and many kind of TE V Carlo Derin enter) is, in a modern ag or the worshippers. The age: 30 age: 16 tion, a building devoted aces make the Oratorio PEOPLE IN NEED ife of worshippers offor tant gathering point olic faith, where the ng people and its ainers (mainly young ments are often usedChapel for Temporary social residence ucate children or social eventsand suchboys. as H 169 Oratorio the activities Temporary social residence ,emusic, and festivals. Theatre acterized by a religious

I Spatiality

Once the bases related to the theme of the program have been traced, the time has come to confront the spatiality of the church of Sant’Andrea, which thanks to the presence of a dome 23 meters high, is governed by double scalability1. The design choices, which have altered orientation and spatial articulation, which have preserved the original quality of natural light, have been aimed at establishing a dialogue with the main fundamental property, acting through the idea of compression and expansion. This idea arises thinking of the typical external-internal passage of a church: the parvis and the portico gather, the entrance volume compress and the interior of the church expand. The intention of the intervention is to take to extremes and extend the compression, so as to maximize the feeling of expansion that is experienced by accessing the main environment. To achieve this goal, a surface is placed in the aisles, at three meters of height, in order to reduce the volume above the head of those entering the church to a minimum and to extend the effect to the entire length of the aisles.

170

See p.66 of this thesis.

Relationship with the fundamental properties Spatial issues RELATIONSHIP WITH THE FOUR FUNDAMENTAL PROPERTIES RELATIONSHIP WITH THE FOUR FUNDAMENTAL PROPERTIES Double scalability

Double scalability

state of fact

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state of fact

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Spatial orientation

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Spatial articulation

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Spatial issues

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Spatial articulation Spatial articulation

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Controlled brightness Controlled brightness

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J Design

Based on the defined aspects of the program and of the spatial approach, the project evolves according to four main themes: sense of welcome, ambivalence of social activities, cultural path, and spirituality. The link among these four themes, which are characterized by four different positions within the church of Sant’Andrea, is the language chosen for all the additions, which is based on the inclusion of black stereometric volumes, in clear contrast with the decorative artistic complexity of the neoclassical style of the church. In the parvis, the vocation of a place of welcome is renewed through the design of a space for meeting and short permanence, which works thanks to two long seats and an informative system that captures the attention of the passer-by, describing the activities that take place every week within the church. The entrance becomes the point where the action of gathering is transformed into that one of compressing, by replacing the original doors with two entrance volumes slightly protruding from the edge of the facade. It follows the cultural path, which works thanks to the preservation of the main elements of symbolic value. Located in the two side aisles, it is characterized by the compression situation created by the addition of a mezzanine level, at a height of three meters, which also allows visitors to observe the building from an unusual point of view. At the end of the aisles, the path ends in the apse, which becomes the new main ax of movement of the church, making it possible to step to the upper floor, to access to the rooms adjacent to the church or, finally, to access to the central nave, place characterized by the ambivalence of the program: stage for marginal art and social market. At this point, all the other additions, except for the elevated passerel, are conceived as a series of devices designed to support the activities. It are a heated floor platform and a series of objects containers that allow storing everything that is not needed and that, at the same time, stand the supports of the mezzanine floor obtained in the aisles. The last aspect is finally that one of the spirituality, which is carried out by focusing on the relationship with natural light, which is filtered through the use of opal polycarbonate, becoming the determinant element for the experience of the worshippers. 174

Lower plan

future scenario

Future scena

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Sense of welcome

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Main elevation future scenario

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Sense of welcome D 01

D 02

Sense of welcome

D 01

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D 02 3

1_External seat: Steel frame of square profile 80x80mm, h.480mm Lateral cladding, metal sheet, black Upper cladding, metal plate of satin steel th.20mm 2_Vertical structure: 4 Steel frame of square profile 80x80mm Cladding, metal sheet, black 3_Primary horizontal frame: Steel frame of square profile 60x60mm Cladding, metal sheet, black 4_Secondary horizontal structure: Steel frame of square profile 60x60mm Cladding, metal sheet, black 5_Lighting system: Led linear light, warm 6_Info panel system: Letters, plastic, smooth finishing, whitw Fixing system, aluminium profile U shape, 20x20mm 7_Double bottom vase: Steel sheet, black, th.10mm Rock pebbles 8_Entrance volume: Steel frame of square profile 80x80mm,1750x3300mm Cladding, metal sheet, black Rock wool panel th.80mm 9_External entrance door: Steel frame of square profile 60x60mm,700x3250mm Cladding, metal sheet, black Rock wool panel th.60mm 10_Internal entrance door: Double opening hinge MDF panel th.40mm, smooth finishing, black, 600x3250mm Handle, MDF panel th.20mm, smooth finishing, black, 100x300mm 11_Entrance volume’s pavement: Steel sheet, black, th. 10mm 12_Existing parapet 13_Existing floor: Rock tiles, variable dimensions

scale 1:20

0,5mt

6_Info panel system: Letters, plastic, smooth finishing, whitw Fixing system, aluminium profile U shape, 20x20mm 7_Double bottom vase: Steel sheet, black, th.10mm Rock pebbles 8_Entrance volume: Steel frame of square profile 80x80mm,1750x3300mm Cladding, metal sheet, black Rock wool panel th.80mm 9_External entrance door: Steel frame of square profile 60x60mm,700x3250mm Cladding, metal sheet, black Rock wool panel th.60mm

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0,25

10_Internal entr Double opening MDF panel th.40 Handle, MDF pa 11_Entrance vol Steel sheet, blac 12_Existing para 13_Existing floo Rock tiles, variab

Entrance

D 02 3

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0,5mt 1_External seat: Steel frame of square profile 80x80mm, h.480mm Lateral cladding, metal sheet, black Upper cladding, metal plate of satin steel th.20mm 2_Vertical structure: Steel frame of square profile 80x80mm Cladding, metal sheet, black 3_Primary horizontal frame: Steel frame of square profile 60x60mm Cladding, metal sheet, black 4_Secondary horizontal structure: Steel frame of square profile 60x60mm Cladding, metal sheet, black 5_Lighting system: Led linear light, warm

1_External seat: 6_Info panel system: Steel frame of square 80x80mm, Letters, plastic, smoothprofile finishing, whitw h.480mm Lateralsystem, cladding, metal sheet, black Fixing aluminium profile U shape, 20x20mm Upper cladding, 7_Double bottommetal vase:plate of satin steel th.20mm 2_Vertical Steel sheet,structure: black, th.10mm Steel pebbles frame of square profile 80x80mm Rock Cladding, metal sheet, black 8_Entrance volume: 3_Primary Steel framehorizontal of square frame: profile 80x80mm,1750x3300mm Steel framemetal of square Cladding, sheet,profile black 60x60mm Cladding, metal sheet, black Rock wool panel th.80mm 4_Secondary horizontal structure: 9_External entrance door: 60x60mm Steel frame of square profile 60x60mm,700x3250mm Cladding, metal sheet, black Rock wool panel th.60mm 5_Lighting system: Led linear light, warm

10_Internal entrance door: 6_Info panel system: Double opening Letters, plastic,hinge smooth finishing, whitw MDF panel th.40mm, smooth finishing, black,20x20mm 600x3250mm Fixing system, aluminium profile U shape, Handle, MDF panel th.20mm, smooth finishing, black, 100x300mm 7_Double bottom vase: 11_Entrance pavement: Steel sheet,volume’s black, th.10mm Steel sheet, black, th. 10mm Rock pebbles 12_Existing parapet 8_Entrance volume: Steel frame of square profile 80x80mm,1750x3300mm 13_Existing floor: Cladding, metal sheet, black Rock tiles, variable dimensions Rock wool panel th.80mm 9_External entrance door: Steel frame of square profile 60x60mm,700x3250mm Cladding, metal sheet, black Rock wool panel th.60mm

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10_Internal entrance door: Double opening hinge MDF panel th.40mm, smooth finishing, bl Handle, MDF panel th.20mm, smooth fini 11_Entrance volume’s pavement: Steel sheet, black, th. 10mm 12_Existing parapet 13_Existing floor: Rock tiles, variable dimensions

Cultural path

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Upper plan

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Transversal section future scenario

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Cultural path D 04

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Cultural path 4

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1_ MD 12 2_ Co 20 Cla dim 3_ Clo fin 1_Lateral beam/parapet: MDF panels th.90mm (30+30+30, glued), smooth finishing, black,4_ Ste 1222m x variable Ste 2_Slab: Coffer structure of MDF panels th.30mm, smooth finishing, black, 200/250mm x variable Cladding, MDF panels th.20mm, smooth finishing, black, variable dimensions 3_Left vertical support: Closet 900x900x3400mm, made of MDF panels, th.30/20mm, smoot finishing, black 4_Right vertical support: Steel cable and connectors for suspended structure Steel plate th.20mm, black, 100x300mm

0,5mt

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05 1_Lateral beam/parapet: 1_Lateral beam/parapet: MDF panels th.90mm (30+30+30, glued), smooth finishing, black, MDF panels th.90mm (30+30+30, glued), 1222m smooth x variable finishing, black, 1222m x variable 2_Slab: Coffer structure of MDF panels th.30mm, smooth finishing, black, 2_Slab: 200/250mm x variable Coffer structure of MDF panels th.30mm, smooth finishing, black, x Cladding, MDF panels th.20mm, smooth200/250mm finishing, black, variable dimensions variable 3_Left vertical support: Cladding, MDF panels th.20mm, smooth finishing, black, variable dimensions Closet 900x900x3400mm, made of MDF panels, th.30/20mm, smooth finishing, black 3_Left vertical support: 4_Right vertical support: Closet 900x900x3400mm, made of MDF panels, th.30/20mm, smooth finishing, Steel cable and connectors for suspended structure black Steel plate th.20mm, black, 100x300mm 4_Right vertical support: Steel cable and connectors for suspended structure Steel plate th.20mm, black, 100x300mm

5_Lighting 5_Lighting system: system: Led linear light, warm Led linear light, warm 6_Elettrical supply: 6_Elettrical supply: Sockets Sockets 7_Support for addittional activities: Bended steel sheet th.15mm, black, 400x1200x150mm 7_Support for addittional activities: 8_Wooden door Bended sheet th.15mm, black, 9_Gian Battistasteel Riva (Bergamo, 1830-1910), way of the 400x1200x150mm cross painting 10_Wooden confessional 8_Wooden door 11_Balaustrade 9_Gian Battista Rivafrom (Bergamo, 1830-1910), 12_Lateral altar and paintings Alessandro Bonvicino known as ‘ilway of the cross painting Moretto’, Madonna col bambino e i SS Andrea, Domno, Domneone 10_Wooden confessional ed Eusebia, 1537.

11_Balaustrade 12_Lateral altar and paintings from Alessandro Bonvicino known as ‘il Moretto’, Madonna col bambino e i SS Andrea, Domno, Domneone ed Eusebia, 1537.

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Ambivalence of social activities

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Longitudinal section future scenario

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Ambivalence of social activities D 03

SPATIAL ARRANGEMENT

Ambivalence of social activities D 03

SPATIAL ARRANGEMENT

_stage for marginal art

2 1

_Exhibition 3

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1_F Rad Plat 2_C Clo 3_S

1_Floor system: Radiant floor for heating and cooling, dry system Platform made of MDF panel, smooth finishing, black, variable dimensi 2_Container of objects: Closet 900x900x3400mm, made of MDF panels, th.30/20mm, smooth 3_Set of tools for supporting the activities. Easel, movable table made b

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Spatial arrangements SPATIAL ARRANGEMENT

Central nave

_stage for marginal art

_social market of local product

_social market of local product _Exhibition

_Occasional mass

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Central nave _stage for marginal art

_social market of local produc

_social market of local product _Exhibition

_Occasional mass

1_Floor system: Radiant floor for heating and cooling, dry system Platform made of MDF panel, smooth finishing, black, variable dimensions 2_Container of objects: Closet 900x900x3400mm, made of MDF panels, th.30/20mm, smooth finishing, black 3_Set of tools for supporting the activities. Easel, movable table made by OSB panels, 110x40x80cm

_Occasional mass

190

Spirituality

191

Spirituality D 06

D 07

Spirituality D 06

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2 1

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1_Transluc Alveolar p Aluminium Steel cable 2_Cross: Steel hollo 3_Altar: MDF pane 4_Entranc MDF pane Handle, A Sliding sys

1_Translucent partition: Alveolar polycarbonate panel th.30mm, opal finishing Aluminium profile C shape 80x80mm Steel cable and connectors for suspended structure 2_Cross: Steel hollow square profile, black, 40x40mm 3_Altar: MDF panels th.20mm, smooth finishing, black, 1000x400x900mm 4_Entrance door: MDF panels, smooth finishing, black, 1800x3000x40mm Handle, Aluminium C shape profile, black, 25x25x100mm Sliding system hidden in the C profile and with a rail on the floor

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Sacristy

D 07

5 6

scale 1:20

1_Translucent partition: Alveolar polycarbonate panel th.30mm, opal finishing Aluminium profile C shape 80x80mm Steel cable and connectors for suspended structure 2_Cross: Steel hollow square profile, black, 40x40mm 3_Altar: MDF panels th.20mm, smooth finishing, black, 1000x400x900mm 1_Translucent partition: 4_Entrance door: Alveolar polycarbonate panel th.30mm, opal finishing MDF panels, smooth finishing, black, 1800x3000x40mm Handle, Aluminium C shape profile, black, 25x25x100mm Aluminium profile C shape 80x80mm Sliding system hidden in the C profile and with a rail on the floor

Steel cable and connectors for suspended structure 2_Cross: Steel hollow square profile, black, 40x40mm 3_Altar: MDF panels th.20mm, smooth finishing, black, 1000x400x900mm 4_Entrance door: MDF panels, smooth finishing, black, 1800x3000x40mm Handle, Aluminium C shape profile, black, 25x25x100mm Sliding system hidden in the C profile and with a rail on the floor 5_Lighting system:

0,25

5_Lighting system: Backlight of polycarbonate, led linear light, warm Backlight of the cross, led spotlight, warm Ceiling, led linear light, cold 6_Floor: Original tiles 7_Chair of the celebrant: MDF panels th.20mm, smooth finishing, black, 450x450x450mm Backlight of polycarbonate, led linear light, warm 8_Tabernacle: Backlight of theblack, cross, led spotlight, warm MDF panels th.20mm, smooth finishing, 400x250x1200mm 9_Translucent wall:Ceiling, led linear light, cold Alveolar polycarbonate panel th.30mm, opal finishing 6_Floor: Aluminium profile C shape 80x80mm

0,5

Original tiles 7_Chair of the celebrant: MDF panels th.20mm, smooth finishing, black, 450x450x450mm 8_Tabernacle: MDF panels th.20mm, smooth finishing, black, 400x250x1200mm 9_Translucent wall: Alveolar polycarbonate panel th.30mm, opal finishing Aluminium profile C shape 80x80mm

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1,5

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K Conclusive analysis of the design

The outlined process in the theoretical research step played a primary role throughout the project activity, It led to the creation of a forthcoming scenery for Sant’Andrea’s church in Bergamo. The acquired contents have been fundamental to plan a coherent and responsible approach towards the two important issues of the theme: the program and the spatiality. In the end, the quality evaluation method has been used to verify the consistency of the outlined intervention. In the light of a good level of appropriateness of the new activities and of a conscious dialogue with some properties of the church, it has been placed in the class of the projects which are able to lead an underused church towards a sustainable future based on the respect for those artistic and cultural values that belong to the community.

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ANALISI CONCLUSIVA DEL PROGETTO Il processo delineato nella fase di ricerca teorica ha avuto un ruolo fondamentale durante tutta l’attività progettuale, che ha portato alla creazione di uno scenario futuro per la chiesa di Sant’Andrea a Bergamo. Le nozioni acquisite sono state fondamentali per pianificare un approccio coerente e responsabile nei confronti delle due tematiche di rilievo del tema: il programma e la spazialità. Il metodo di valutazione qualitativa è stato infine utilizzato per verificare la coerenza dell’intervento delineato, che a fronte di un buon livello di appropriatezza delle nuove attività e di un dialogo consapevole con alcune proprietà della chiesa, è stato collocato nella categoria comprendente i progetti capaci di condurre una chiesa sottoutilizzata verso un futuro sostenibile basato sul rispetto di quei valori artistico-culturali appartenenti alla collettività.

mixed use

Sant’Andrea Apostolo

Stage for marginal art and Social market

Via Porta Dipinta 37, Bergamo, Italy Architectural features

State of religious use Occasional mass

Program

Spatiality

Target of users

Consistency of the intervention

Public

The historical center of Bergamo suffers a consistent reduction of the population due to a gentrification process. The church of Sant’Andrea Apostolo, built in 1847, is one of the six underused churches that particularly suffered the phenomenon. Thanks to its relationship with the community Sant’Andrea was, in 2018, the first experiment of an adaptive reuse strategy thought to devote all the churches close to the closure to a social purpose. Resizing the spiritual aspect and respecting the original meaning of the church as a place open to everyone, thanks to a conscious architectural intervention, the Sant’Andrea is offered to the community of Città Alta with the aim of creating a new public identity based on the idea of personal expression and of providing a service of social market which was absent from the ancient downtown.

Architectural modifications

Activities

Fundamental properties respected

Social infrastruct. Cult. and educ. Christian faith Commercial

Level of appropriateness

Impact on the space

Mitigated appropriateness of the activities

Conscious dialogue 2/4

Qualitative analysis Level of appropriateness of the activities 4/4

Impact on the space

3/4 2/4 1/4 0/4 I

III

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sources

Attended conventions Religious Heritage - Europe’s Legacy for the Future, organized by FRH, Paris, 11/13 Oct 2018. Doesn’t God dwell here anymore?, organized by Pontificia Università gregoriana, Roma 29/30 Nov 2018.

Main sources on the decommission of churches Fiorani D., Kealy L., Musso S.F., Conservtion—Adaptation, EAAE 5th workshop in Hasselt, 2015. Lindblad H., Löfgren E., Religious building in transition. An international comparison, University of Gothenburg, 2016. Pontificio Consiglio della Cultura, Linee guida per la dismissione ed il riuso ecclesiale degli edifici legati al culto, 2018 Radice F., Chiese ‘sconsacrate’: processi di dismissione e riuso. Dal caso di Venezia un metodo di analisi, PhD thesis from Politecnico di Torino. Università di Bologna, The future of churches, organized by prof. Luigi Bartolomei, Bologna 2016-2017.

Part I Bibliography Benedetti J., L’adeguamento liturgico della chiesa del Corpus Christi di Rudolf Schwarz, in Arte Cristiana n.904 Blaisier C., ‘Divine interior, experience churches in the age of Rubens’, Belles letters, 2016. Brook P., The empty space, Atheneum, New York, 1968. Cacciatori M., Ecclesia, in Casabella n640 dicembre1996gennaio1997. CEI, guidelines for the design of new churches, Roma, 1993. CEI, guidelines for the adjustment of existing churches, Roma, 1996. CEI, Le chiese non più utilizzate per il culto, Roma 2012. Cornoldi A., L’Architettura dell’Edificio Sacro, Officina, Roma, 2000. Faltrauer C., Martin P., Obadia L., Désacralisation, requalification, Désacralisation, requalification, réappropriation: le

patrimoine chrétien, Parigi, Riveneuve éditions, 2013. Garstka B.J., Holy renovations: Adaptive re-use and dependent stakeholder opinion of converted church buildings, Thesis submitted to the faculty of of Geosciences of Universiteit Utrecht, 2012. Gatti V., Liturgia e arte. I luoghi della celebrazione, EDB, Bologna, 2001. Grisi T., Architettura Liturgica. Un dizionario essenziale, Lettera Ventidue, Siracusa, 2019. Morisset L.K., Noppen L., Coomans T., Quel avenir pour quelles églises? / What future for which churches?, Montréal, Presses de l’université du Québec, 2006. Schwarz. R., Sacralità e arte del costruire, in Casabella n640 dicembre1996-gennaio1997. Schwarz R., The Church Incarnate, Henry Regnery, Chicago, 1958. Valentini G., Caronia G., Domus Ecclesiale, l’edificio sacro cristiano, Casa editrice prof. Riccardo Patron, Bologna, 1969. Van der Laan H., Liturgia e Architettura, in Casabella n640 dicembre1996-gennaio1997.

Sitography England www.churchcare.co.uk www.churchofengland.org www.visitchurches.org.uk www.champing.co.uk www.nationalchurchestrust.org www.friendsoffriendlesschurches.org.uk www.thesherriffcentre.co.uk Belgium www.onroerenderfgoed.be www.crkc.be www.eaae.be Netherlands www.reliwiki.nl www.culturalheritageagency.nl/en www.vbmk.nl/

www.reliplan.nl/ www.groningerkerken.nl/nl France www.patrimoine-religieux.fr/ www.frh-europe.org www.sauvegardeartfrancais.fr www.patrimoine.blog.pelerin.info/ www.patrice-besse.com/ Italy www.andreadimartino.com/churches/ www.chiesacattolica.it www.beweb.chiesacattolica.it/edificidiculto/ www.spaziokor.it Vocabulary www.treccani.it www.ldoceonline.com

Part II Bibliography Azienda Autonoma di Turismo, Bergamo Città, Bergamo, 1971. Caccia B., Dolci P., La Casa del Vescovo. Scoprire qualcosa di Bergamo Alta da un particolare punto di vista, Bolis Edizioni, Bergamo, 2017. Comune di Bergamo, Documenti del PGT - Relazione del Documento di Piano, Bergamo, 2007. Comune di Bergamo, Documenti del PGT - Relazione del Piano dei Servizi, Bergamo, 2007. Cooperativa Città Alta, Liceo artistico statale Pio manzù, S.Agata. Immagini dal passato, Bergamo 2012. Ferrari R., Lucchetti L., Chiesa di San Michele al Pozzo Bianco, Little Mercury Edizioni, Bergamo, 2009. Institut Francais, Lieux Infinis. Construire des batiments ou des lieux, French pavilion 16th international Architecture Exhibition, Venice, 2018. Magnoni F., Santa Maria Maggiore. Un profilo storico, Bolis Edizioni, Bergamo, 2014.

Mirabella Roberti G., The ancient church of st. augustine as ‘aula magna’ of the university of bergamo, in D. Fiorani, L. Kealy, S.F. Musso, op.cit. Roncalli E., Bergamo. Insolita e segreta, Edizioni Jonglez, 2018.

Tra tutte le persone che hanno contribuito a questo risultato, un ringraziamento particolare va a don Giovanni Gusmini, per il supporto, l’entusiasmo e la costante disponibilità dimostrati, che mi sono serviti da forte motivazione. Thanks to Heikki Ranta and Luigi Bartolomei, for their time and their help. Thanks to all the Team Trace, especially to Koenraad Van Cleempoel, for the warm hospitality in Belgium. Grazie a Marco Dierico, Marco Sala, Giuseppe Cattaneo, Pietro Bailo, Gloria Gusmaroli, Roberto Amaddeo e Maria Elisabetta Manca, per avermi aiutato a comprendere la realtà di Città Alta. Grazie a don Fabio Zucchelli, all’ufficio dei Beni Culturali della Curia di Bergamo ed alle segreterie delle parrocchie della città, per il prezioso supporto. Grazie a Ralf Becker per la disponibilità ed il prezioso materiale fornitomi. Grazie al mio relatore, Gennaro Postiglione, per avermi dedicato il suo prezioso tempo e le sue energie. Gli ultimi ringraziamenti vanno alla mia famiglia ed ai miei amici. Non mi piace fare elenchi, dunque me la caverò così, dedicando il grazie più grande a tutte le persone che mi vogliono bene, che mi sono state sempre vicine e alle quali devo questo traguardo.

Lorenzo

APRIL 2019