Comments on: Church of 2000 / Richard Meier

By: tommy

tommy — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 10:27:23 +0000

this building is an absolute miracle. grazie Meier, grazie!

By: Pierpaolo

Pierpaolo — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 01:58:25 +0000

No good enough acustic inside!

By: J Bryar

J Bryar — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 01:12:02 +0000

4 quibbles, then praise:
#1
I wish the back was a attractive as the front. Old cathedrals could be appreciated from every angle. One of the downfalls of modern architects, particularly American architects, is that they build for street appeal, to the neglect of the rest of the building. It shows here.

#2
Personally, I would have preferred more color. It seems to me that the classic division between Catholic and Protestant churches was expressed by the presence or absence of interior color. A Catholic church build in a Roman suburb in today’s era of sectarian (if fraternal)assertiveness, would have benefited from incorporating one of the classic visual signals that one was entering Catholic sacred ground.

#3 The backs of these shells and the white pipes are natural collectors of dirt and grime. Already one can see the collection of grit forming behind the shells in picture 34, and “white self-cleaning cement” isn’t the phrase that comes to mind. I’ve seen what these white pipes look like after 20-30 years. It ain’t pretty.

#4 One of the chronic aesthetic failures of modern architecture is that it fails to acknowledge that the human eye is drawn to the variation from the background. All this white, and all these flat spaces guarantees that over time, the wear and tear, of the building- the cracks and/or dirt and/or irregular spots that occur with the passage of time and regular use, will jump out from all this background and the eye will be drawn to it in a way that does not occur when there is more visual content for the eye to take in.
In this regard,Opium’s wisecrack about the travertine is well stated. There’s a material that rarely ages well.
Furthermore, the glass roof is structured in a way that doesn’t appear to have considered the impact of rain and leaves and frost along the edge where the glass meets the concrete. I’d bet heavily that they church has already had to deal with leaks and they are going to stand out against all that white blank space..

I like the concept of using these shell structures as stand-ins for the arch, which is another of those visual signals of the classic European cathedral. However, the first impression is that the architect liked the Sydney Opera House a little too much.

By: AD Round Up: Religious Architecture Part II | ArchDaily

AD Round Up: Religious Architecture Part II | ArchDaily — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 22:30:26 +0000

[...] Church of 2000 / Richard Meier Located in the eastern suburban area of Rome, the Church of 2000 “Dives in Misericordia” by architect Richard Meier is the first realized work of the American architect in the Italian capital, followed by the Ara Pacis Museum (2005). The importance of this project is to give value and attraction to the deepest and most far suburbs in Rome (read more…) [...]

By: Henry

Henry — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 21:13:52 +0000

Photos are bad but the rigid grid mullions on the windows between layers is just a signature of Richard Meier’s style. A continuation of th New York Five style, I think it works very well a contrast from where Richard Meier has been stylistically and where he is moving forward.

By: Alex

Alex — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 20:06:25 +0000

It is simply the quality of the workmanship and the materials used. The quality of the exterior is poor, and the workanship is standard of the 1990s

By: nick

nick — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 08:11:13 +0000

The glazing between the curved shells is pathetic – straight mullions simply cut up to suit the shape. Better solutions were available even ten years ago.

By: Frank

Frank — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 21:08:39 +0000

Hello

How, do you identify in which period it was designed? I am a Civil Engineering student and I like architecture!!

By: Churches that are rad. « BRYANLOPEZ.COM

Churches that are rad. « BRYANLOPEZ.COM — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 16:43:33 +0000

[...] Perhaps the craziest element of this design is the “patented new type of white self-cleaning cement called, Bianco TX Millennium” that was used in the construction. Arch Daily has more info here. [...]

By: Wicked (Cool) Churches | Brandon Muth

Wicked (Cool) Churches | Brandon Muth — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:43:19 +0000