Jamie McGregor Smith: Sacred Modernity

Traditional Christian dogma meets 20th-century sensibilities in modernist church spaces across Europe

Spurred on by the modernizing impulses of the Second Vatican Council in the early 1960s, the Catholic Church searched for an appropriate architectural language that showed its relevance to the modern world. Sacred Modernity documents this dramatic shift in ecclesiastical architecture across postwar Europe. Among these structures, some exude a joyful antagonism, while others emanate a cold minimalism. Boldly designed, outrageous and provocative for their time, the aesthetic of this period still ignites great debate between modernists and traditionalists. Half a century on, this study traces how their materials and ideals have matured and patinated. The book represents the first attempt to collate the religious architecture of the mid-century high modern years that took many forms, from Brutalism to Structural Expressionism.
Architects include: Alvar Aalto, Dominikus Böhm, Justus Dahinden, Günther Domenig, Walter Maria Förderer, Clemens Holzmeister, Viktor Hufnagl, Angelo Mangiarotti, Giovanni Michelucci, Gio Ponti, Roland Rainer, Sep Ruf, Carlo Scarpa, Richard Gilbert Scott, Basil Spence.