Re-use Chiesa Diruta.
Year
2021
LOCATION
Grottole, Matera, Italy
CLIENT
Reuse Italy
PROGRAM
Cultural & Events
STATUS
Competition
SIZE
650 m2
This small town derives its name from the Latin word cryptulae or the Greek one κρυπτάι, which refers to the typical natural or artificial caves that can be found in the entire region, as the famous inhabited ones in Matera.
In the past, these cavities might have been dwelt by the inhabitants but nowadays they are used as wine and food storage spaces because of their constant temperature condition all over the year.
The proposal is a sculptural structure composed of a metal mesh body.
The proposed structure seeks to create a new dialogue between man and landscape creating new perspectives of viewing Grottole’s ruin, and sky whilst acting as an orientating device for visitors by its scale and amphitheater.
The many pastoral journeys registered during that time represent valuable proof of the evolution of the church and its architecture; from their report, we know that there were: ten altars; a choir with an organ, accessible by a stone staircase; a wooden suspended pulpit; a wooden rectangular choir made of 24 seats; a baptismal font on the right side of the entrance; a sacristy on the southern side of the choir and asymmetrical room on the other side, not used for rituals. On September 8th, 1694 an earthquake seriously damaged the church, which was affected by collapses during the following decades.
The proposal aims to create a journey and experience of variations of form offering a “space of rest and contemplation, suspended between the architecture, nature and temporal dimension” that draws a connection between the sculpture itself, the fallen church, and the landscape.
As a semi-transparent structure, the concert hall transcends the time-space dimension and narrates a dialogue between art and the world as a place of experience and contemplation. The openings in the structure are placed to enhance and frame views across the existing heritage.
As viewers walk around the base of the structure, they look up and through witnessing the building and look at the overlapping of the wire mesh creating a new “ghosts” weight of volume referencing a past monumental sculpture such as the Chiesa Diruta, which was “built-in Grottole in the 15th century, in order to host the local community of clergymen and to become one the most important churches of the bishopric”.
