If you are a contemporary architecture buff, you may want to visit the Church of Dio Padre Misericordioso. This is the church that American architect Richard Meier designed for the Jubilee year 2000. It is in the Tor Tre Teste neighborhood or, for most of us, in the middle of nowhere (Tor Tre Teste inhabitants please forgive me). Yes, it may indeed be a tad difficult to get to this isolated neighborhood but the real architecture buff knows no obstacles! Once there, you will be able to witness a true masterpiece of engineering and architecture. Meier, also creator of the controversial building enclosing the Ara Pacis, designed it as part of a 1995 international architecture competition. The first stone was laid in 1998 and the church was inaugurated in 2003. The structure is composed of three white sails, evocative of a boat and symbolizing the Church navigating into the third millennium. There is lots more symbolism of course: three sails as in the Trinity, five bells as in the five continents… While the church has lots of glass, it is designed so as to never allow direct sunlight inside. Supposedly though, there is a period in the summertime when sun-rays can filter through to the altar through a small opening in the back. A note of interest: the church is built with a special coating which is supposed to have self-cleaning and smog-eating properties. Perhaps most buildings in Rome’s historic center should be redone with this material! Details about this spot (Show on map).jpg)
Image by Fabio Fontanella
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Thank you for your comment. Whether or not this community really needed this type of building is a very good point. Same for whether the church truly helped integrate the neighborhood into Rome’s fabric. Perhaps Meier put too much hope in something that architecture alone cannot accomplish?
I wouldn’t make too much of the fact that the church has fencing around it, as this is typical of quite a few churches in the outskirts, which have been built with less of a PR agenda and by far less famous architects.
What the photo doesn’t show is the sheer white wall around the grounds with the gate to keep out the community. Meier talked about “weaving an isolated residential district back into the communal fabric of Rome… creating flow and movement throughout the site.” However, the effect is more alienating than participatory, an example of the brand value of international architecture being used for PR when the community needed something far simpler yet more effective, a well-designed civic facility.
Seems like quite a piece of architecture with a slight experimental streak, but a tasteful one at that. Surely a must-visit for art and architecture lovers.
Annalaura is right. This is a great piece of contemporary architecture. FYI: if you want to get there from Termini, jump on tram no. 5 and get off the the very last stop. From there you must walk through the “historic” Quarticciolo outskirt area and through the nice Tor Tre Teste Park. In 10 minutes you reach the church.