A New Pastoral Center for Cavernago and Malpaga Parishes

Abstract

This essay presents the project for the New Parish Complex of St Mark the Evangelist in Cavernago and Malpaga, completed in 2018, and the themes that most deeply engaged its designer. A sacred space must be a place of permanence, a point of reference, solid and true, a place that should not fear aging but be capable of enhancing its qualities as it ages. Time and sacredness are interconnected; in the design of a church, the pursuit of a refined compositional framework is not enough: it is necessary to activate a different design code to prevent the project from being confused with a refined mall or a sophisticated museum. Designing a sacred space, also means projecting our vision of the world, society, and time — and this is even more true in the current historical moment, marked by complex dynamics of globalization and cultural interaction. The complex interaction and necessary alignment of thought and vision must be through with the plurality of specialists involved in the process. Architects, artists and liturgists, as well as structural engineers and other specialists, work in a harmony of actions where the effort of each other creates a unique architectural and artistic expression. The material choice is also fundamental because it can reveal the conceptual approach to the project.