The feeling of being displaced from the surrounding environment has been a characteristic of Churches that has always impressed me. You walk in and all is reduced to you being in that mystic space. That condition of displacement from the world prepares you to contemplate.
Churches situated in cities such as San Carlo ale Quattro Fontanne in Rome are very integrated in their urban surroundings. Just the fact of walking into the space is such a contrast in its interior volume (height, form, light) from the other typologies of buildings that already makes you slow down and disconnect from the frenetic city life.
The case of situating a Church in a garden lets you discover and understand its presence through an outdoor path. The entrance to the Church becomes relevant for creating a spatial contrast to help the slowing down effect when walking inside and prepare for contemplation.
The main space of the Church should communicate ideas of brightness and in-gravity which represent a closeness to the sky and therefore to God. In opposition, the entrance path or transition path from exterior to interior should communicate ideas of mysticism, darkness and narrowness.
The position of the curved walls in plan changes the traditional idea of a linear approach to the Church introducing an indoors transitional space that defines a round interior space. The sectional understanding of the layering of the walls plus their location in plan creates an overall mystic effect through a concealed light effect whilst letting light in not allowing a direct view of the aperture.
The internal veins of the walls are the tool to guide the new movement through the liturgical space by articulating the program and controlling the light penetration in a sequential manner from the narrow and dark entrance to the light and bright interior.
The diagram below represents an overlapping of effect of 3 points (walk in, centre, altar respectively) in the interior of the space. The position considers the 2 moments where the light slides in directly through the highlighted alabaster wall.
The aim of the diagram is to understand the spatial characteristics in plan of the interior space dictated by the position of the walls in relation to the points location and the light orientation. This helps the articulation for the definition of the program and possible ways of moving the veins in plan.
The veins are desintigrating earlier so that the top part is smooth and thinner, therefore lighter.
The main weigth of the body is concentrated before the equilibrium line in the stable part.
