Transforming the use, transforming the sense

• Main Author: Gianluca Burgio
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of Bologna 2017-07-01
• Series: In_Bo
• Subjects: Trasformazione architettonica; Uso; Riuso; Simbolismo spaziale
• Online Access: https://in_bo.unibo.it/article/view/6471

Transforming a sacred building is not a simple task. The complexity of the interventions of re-functionalization that aim to change of use of places of worship is generated by two orders of questions which are closely related. On the one hand, we are in the presence of buildings, almost always monumental, that possess a structure and architectural features that characterize them as singular buildings; on the other hand, they are designed so that their own architectural singularity was a symbolic expression: the towering heights, the distinctive use of light etc., respond to a logic that goes beyond the merely functional meaning of space. It is therefore possible to think a change of use for the places of worship? Which design instruments must be used in order to not overturn completely the space that the time and culture of a society have handed down?