Beata Malinowska-Petelenz

Revolutionary changes after Second Vatican Council – in particular the renewal of the liturgy – resulted in a variety of forms and spatial solutions in sacred architecture. In contemporary urban layouts, they do not play a dominant role. Authors analyze selected sacred spaces regarding their composition in urban structures, focusing on their universalism, legibility in a symbolic dimension, as well as spatial expression combining elements of tradition and modernity. As a case study, authors present selected examples of European churches built after 2000.

Brazil. Favelas and Oscar Niemeyer’s perfectionist buildings. A terra incognita and an idea. In its Brazilian interpretation, cosmopolitan modernism became an exciting, local “Brazilian modernism”, one that combines native characteristics with universal ones. Despite this, alien and untamed spaces have also become a legacy of the idea of modernism, while favelas have become a social alternative. Torn and inconsistent areas have been created, areas of affluence and poverty, creating spaces for living that are replete with extremes. Municipal authorities are making attempts at reclaiming key areas, and projects have included functional and spatial analyses as well as attempts at restructuring them through local actions.

Drawing is the easiest language to communicate. It is the fastest and most personal way to write down fleeting thoughts, creative plans, ideas, impressions, or momentary revelations. It is also a tool needed for shaping sensitivity – a long-lasting process, irreplaceable with any computer. This sensitivity is needed to read works of art. Architectural masterpieces are also read through images - while images are captured in our memory with drawings. The author reflects on the role of drawing in recording and memorizing space in all of its scales: from the landscape interior to the architectural detail.

A glass pyramid, a sphinx and a Medieval Excalibur, an Eiffel tower, a Statue of Liberty, a Ponte Rialto with an escalator and a canal sailed by gondolas with Mickey Mouse – these are the faces of Las Vegas. Kitsch, excess and chaos are concepts that form the universe of the semantics of Las Vegas. We can also attempt to understand this identity, distinct both in its unbridled form and the ideas represented by the city, by referring to Bakhtin's concept of the carnival.

Sacral architecture has always been a distinguishable element in the landscape. Cathedrals used to iconize the cities, dominate them, delight with the power and nobility of their external form, bewilder and strike with the artistry of interior decoration. The contemporary temple has lost landscape predominance. Its urban rank has deteriorated, too. Architecturally, it can hardly compete against extravagant structures designed by today’s archistars. Questions about the shape of a temple in the contemporary cultural landscape still trigger off discussions and arouse doubts: Where is its place in the changing public space? Will man redefine and create his sacred places in new liquid reality? How will he do it?

To Europeans, fascination with America is like being charmed by oddity. It manifests itself in a reality that is a postmodern mixture of fragmentary experiences that manifest themselves in the image of both large American cities and roadside architecture. I analyse the horizontally stretched Los Angeles as a lively spectacle of street traffic. Despite newer and newer iconic works of architecture, shapelessness, amorphousness and scattering of this city’s spatial formations does not allow for a proper reading of its structures. My study concludes that it is not buildings or historical sites but street traffic and the highway system that define the character of this city, whose image was enhanced by world-class cinema.

In sacral interiors light is a material that participates in the creation of the form and atmosphere of the temple. Simultaneously, it is an ephemeral material, subject to constant fluctuations. Illumination inside a temple fulfils a function which is not only practical and aesthetic; not only does it separate from the external world and create special atmosphere, but most of all it directs attention to the most important place in the church – the altar. In all historical periods special meaning was attached to light in churches. Today, when the visual factor has dominated the traditional narrative elements rich in contents, light has remained one of the last creators of sacredness in places of worship.

European cathedrals and churches are not only a testament to faith but are also masterpieces of architecture and generators of the highest order of intellectual, emotional and aesthetic values. They are also important components of cultural contexts. The image of a temple often plays a part in the cultural space of a city – apart from the commonly understood religious function – it creates cities, it is a part of national memory, it strengthens social identity, in addition to fulfilling an aesthetic and marketing function. By remaining bound to each other, temples are a part of the multi-layered heritage of past generations.

Turin is a city with very strong ancient and medieval roots - a city of churches and palaces. A city of culture, business and sports - one that is monumental, elegant and cool, while at the same time being fascinatingly modest. The capital of Piedmont, located on the Po River, a city of great architects: Juvarra, Guarini and Alfieri, today constitutes one of the best lessons on post-Baroque urban planning. A city of many faces, in which the past mixes itself with a smart future.