Fallen Church
Re-use Italy
Project
with Rebecca Brock and Marta Gaudino
March 2021
Facing the ruins of Chiesa Diruta requires a moment of reflection. The structure of the church is still partially present, and its dominance on the landscape is now even more poetic than ever. Its way of being a ruin offers us, as designers, the possibility to return its past and history to the city of Grottole, interpreting these elements in continuity with the present.
Its location on the urban scale is relevant. The church stands up on different levels of the terrain, becoming a sort of landmark for the city, thus keeping a connection with the surroundings thanks to its architectural features. Within this realm our project seeks to enlarge this connection creating vertical relationships between the levels of the site. The area on the lower level of the church has been entirely designated to host the cafeteria and the bookshop creating a “piazza” and amplifying the presence of the building on the urban space.
A lift is connecting these spaces to the ground level of the church where, expanding the idea of “piazza” mentioned before, we create a terrace.
The same choice to evaluate the existing without altering its structure drove our design also regarding the main parts of the church converted now in a Concert Hall. The intervention promotes the value of the space giving the possibility to the users and the staff to perceive it from different points of views and at several heights. Main character of the proposal is the staircase used as a seating system for the public but also as a connection to the walkway running all along the perimeter of the church on the opposite side of the staircases. The angle and the position of both of these elements offers a deep, complete and intimate perception of the space and the architecture of the church. The space in front of the staircases and part of the walkway are dedicated to the performances. Indeed by being able to host different and several events the project strives to create a flexible space which, when the performances are not happening, becomes a hallway for visitors to walk through the church or to reach the terrace on the other side of the entrance.
While leading to the walkway, the staircases create a connection also with the tower of the church. Aiming to give to the public the possibility to experience the location the site has on the hill, a staircase is running along the height of the tower reaching the upper window which then becomes a panoramic viewpoint.
The hidden spaces of the Chiesa Diruta, the ones not belonging to the original Navata and Transetto have been set as spaces for the performers and the staff.
Under the big staircases is located as storage which is, then, close to the reception and the manager office.
The intervention follows the guidelines given by the walls and the spaces of the ruin and highlights them creating a strategic system of flows inside the space.
A semi transparent roof covers the entire building.and its organic shape recalls the fluidity the project perceives inside the space. Hanging from the ceiling there are acoustic foam panels.
Our intervention thanks to its material choice, its layout and its relationship with the existing adds a new layer to the ruin of Chiesa Diruta and offers to the city and the public a unique opportunity which can be resumed in the word’s of the american jazz pianist Thelonious Monk: “Writing about music is like dancing about architecture”.
