In 2021, in the city of Ferrara, north Italy, whose historic center is classified as World Heritage, the Barcelona's architectural office Benedetta Tagliabue - EMBT Architects completed the San Giacomo Apostolo church and parish complex. For this religious center, the architects produced an ‘organic’ architecture, giving the building the appearance of a ‘hot-air balloon delicately placed on the ground’. In the heart of the site, the main building is a rotating volume, marked by eight arched roofs inspired by Romanesque and Gothic naves. It houses a 710 sq.m church, a sacristy, a meeting room and a presbytery, arranged in revolving spaces around the central altar, naturally lighted by a dormer window. To the west of the plot, an extension connected to the main building extends lengthwise to host the parish hall and classrooms for the adjoining school, Scuola d'Infanzia San Giacomo.

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Léa Giamberini

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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San Giacomo Apostolo church and parish complex, Ferrara, Italy 

Programme : Church, large square, educational and recreational services
Client : CEI Conferenza Episcopale Italiana, Parrocchia di San Giacomo Apostolo, Ferrara
Architects : Benedetta Tagliabue – EMBT Architects
Partners : Don Roberto Tagliaferri (liturgist) ; Studio Iorio, Francesco Iorio (structural design) ; Beatrice Malucelli (local engineer) ; Higini Arau (acoustic consultant) ; Maurici Ginés – Artec3 Studio (lighting consultant) ; Costruzioni Tiziano Geom. Corrado SRL (general contractor) ; Ing. Domenico Mancini (director of works) ; geom. Sotterri Giulio (catastral practices) ; Enzo Cucchi (artist) ; Ing. Simone Carraro (static tester)
Surface : Church 710 sq.m + parish hall, classrooms, and rectory 873 sq.m + landscape 600 sq.m
Competition : 2011 
Completion : 2021
Cost : €4.4 million

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Find out more other places of worship in issue 442 of L'Architecture d'Aujourd'hui, "Places of worship", available from our online shop.