Ticino-born architect Mario Botta emphasized an integration between the space of the cathedral seen as the place where humans express their desire for spirituality, and the urban fabric of the city, where humans face the materiality of daily life. At Evry this integration is expressed through an architectural complex which consists of the cylindrical volume of the church and a lower building used for apartments and offices. (more…)

For decades now, thousands of pilgrims have been travelling to San Giovanni Rotondo from all over Italy and the world to pay homage to Padre Pio. The charismatic Capuchin friar, his body marked by the mystery of the stigmata, was declared a saint in 2002. In 1991, the architect Renzo Piano was commissioned to build a new church. It would have to be capable of providing adequate prayer, meditation and reception space for the multitude of pilgrims. (more…)

Tokyo’s present Roman Catholic cathedral, situated in the Bunkyo-ku district, was designed by the architect Kenzo Tange. It occupies the same site on which the church of the Immaculate Virgin previously stood. The earlier church was built in 1889 and was destroyed by fire in 1945 during the World War II. (more…)

Brasilia is a recently founded city. The city was built starting in 1960, with the aim of giving Brazil a new capital that would be free of any references to the country’s past as a Portuguese colony. It was designed according to the most forward-looking principles of modern town planning. The city’s plan was designed by Lucio Costa. Taking inspiration from Le Corbusier’s urban projects Costa organized the urban fabric along tow axes which cross at right-angles: the large residential blocks are arranged along the longitudinal axis, which has a curved shape that adapts to the shape of the artificial lake. (more…)

Construction began on the new cathedral of Orvieto in 1290, by order of Bishop Francesco Monaldeschi. Interpreting the wishes of the townspeople, he decided to demolish the old, dilapidated 12th century cathedral of Santa Maria del Vescovado and the nearby parish church of San Costanzo, in order to clear an area that would be sufficiently large for the task. (more…)

In 1093, Bishop William de St. Carileph began work on the current structure, which was built to hold the relics of St. Cuthbert and was completed in 1133; the chapterhouse, the Galilee Chapel of the Nine Altars and the High Altar with the Neville altar-frontal were added later on. The bell tower was built in the second half the 15th century, thus completing a design that is clearly Anglo-Norman in style. (more…)