In the 1950s and 1960s, thousands of churches were built across Europe in an attempt to keep up with the continent's rapid urbanisation. This book addresses the immense effort related to the planning, financing, and construction of this new religious infrastructure. Going beyond aspects of style and liturgy, and transcending a focus on particular architects or regions, this volume considers church building at the crossroads of pastoral theology, religious sociology, and urban planning. Presenting the rich palette of strategies and methods deployed by congregations, dioceses, government bodies, and private patrons in their attempt to secure a religious presence in the rapidly modernising world, Territories of Faith offers a broad view of the practice of religion and its material expression in the fast-evolving (sub)urban landscapes of post-war Europe.
Contributors: Joao Alves da Cunha (Universidade Catolica Portuguesa), Alba Arboix-Alio (Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya / Universitat de Barcelona), Umberto Bordoni (Scuola Beato Angelico), Angela Connelly (Manchester School of Architecture), Maria Antonietta Crippa (Politecnico di Milano), Kees Doevendans (TU Eindhoven / KU Leuven), Davide Fusari (Politecnico di Milano), Jesus Garcia Herrero (Universidad Politecnica de Madrid), Judi Loach (Cardiff University; Laboratoire de Recherche Historique Rhone-Alpes), Joao Luis Marques (Universidade do Porto), Melanie Meynier-Philip (Ecole Nationale Superieure d'Architecture de Lyon), Ellen Rowley (University College Dublin), Sofia Anja Singler (Cambridge University), Sven Sterken (KU Leuven), Marina Wesner (TU Berlin), Eva Weyns (KU Leuven), Ferdinando Zanzottera (Politecnico di Milano)
Preface
Introduction Faith and its Territories Sven Sterken and Eva Weyns
NEGOTIATION
1. Planning for Faith in Wythenshawe, Manchester Angela Connelly
2. Lyons’s Post-War Churches Two Contexts, Two Churches, One Architect: Pierre Genton Judi Loach and Mélanie Meynier-Philip
3. Constructing Country, Community and City Alvar Aalto’s Lakeuden Risti, 1951-1966 Sofia Anja Singler
4. Faith in a Divided City Church Building in Berlin and the 1957 Interbau Exhibition Marina Wesner
EXPERTISE
5. Rethinking the Urban Parish François Houtart, the Centre de Recherches Socio-Religieuses and the 1958 Pastoral Plan for Brussels Eva Weyns and Sven Sterken
6. Catholic Parishes in the Lisbon Master Plan of 1959 The Legacy of the SNIP and the MRAR João Alves da Cunha and João Luís Marques 7. “A Silent Revolution” Jacinto Rodríguez Osuna, Luis Cubillo de Arteaga and the 1965 Plan Pastoral for Madrid Jesús García Herrero
AUTHORITY
8. A Laboratory of Pastoral Modernity Church Building in Milan under Cardinal Montini and Enrico Mattei from 1955 to 1963 Umberto Bordoni, Maria Antonietta Crippa, Davide Fusari and Ferdinando Zanzottera
9. Reconstructing the Diocese of Barcelona Parish Reform and Church Building under Monsignor Modrego Casaus from 1943 to 1967 Alba Arboix-Alió and Sven Sterken
10. Mass Housing and the Catholic Hierarchy in Dublin, 1930s–1970s 305 The Case of Ballymun Estate Ellen Rowley
11. Epilogue A Divine Dwelling Crisis? Notes for a Paradigm of Emptiness Kees Doevendans
Sven Sterken is professor at the Faculty of Architecture of KU Leuven.
Eva Weyns is PhD candidate at the Faculty of Architecture of KU Leuven and works as a consultant for the Flanders Architecture Institute.