CHIESA PARROCCHIALE DI SAN GIROLAMO
Completing a design and construction process that lasted about 30 years, the work is characterized by the union of the single-nave hall of the new church of San Girolamo with the existing building of the San Girolamo Parish (1958). In the liturgical space, light is provided by skylights that define the outline of the volume of the church, low and wide at the entrance, high and narrow toward the back: a perspective machine that accentuates the longitudinal dimensions of the building and recalls the presence of a ‘higher order.’ The two parts of the parish complex are connected by the small narrow trapezoidal volume between the two bodies whose differences in elevation are overcome by the internal staircase placed in the volume of the Chapel of the Saint. The new staircase accesses the existing Sacristy that continues to fulfill its function in favor of the new church and connects the existing church intended to become a hall for pastoral activities. The pastor’s office and the parish archives also remain in the existing building.
The lot that houses the new volume is a parcel of land transversal to St. Jerome Street already owned by the parish. The very shape of the liturgical hall was dictated by the geometry of the available land. The exterior arrangements concern the residual space of the desired building of the maximum possible extent to accommodate the entire community of a difficult suburban neighborhood of the city. The wide churchyard, slightly rising toward the elevation of the church, realizes a small square recessed between the street, the bell tower, the extrados volume of the baptistery and the front of the entrances.
CREDITS
Design and art direction: Lorenzo Netti, Gloria A. Valente / nettiarchitetti
MEP/FP engineer: Giuseppe Bitetti
Structural engineer: Chiaia & Zaccaria Engineering Srl
Safety manager: Luigi Nigro / CNC sstp
Project team:
Egidio Buonamassa, Roberto Carlucci, Michele Caputo, Vittorio Carofiglio, Michele Carone, Maria Cirulli, Graziana A. Cito, Giove Zeus Daresta, Giampio De Meo, Davide De Santis, Marina Dimatteo, Elita D’Onghia, Giovanna Ferri, Martina Gentile, Giuseppe Giannone, Francesco P. Gismondi, Rosanna Lamanna, Francesca Leo, Valentina Mansi, Daniela Martielli, Salvatore Mele, Michele Montalto, Lillo Montemurro, Domenico Pastore, Michelangelo Pinto, Vito Primavera, Valentina Talamo, Anna Zanni.
