The Vatican blends the secular and the divine at the Venice Biennale

The Vatican has made an unexpected foray into the secular culture scene, opening an ambitious exhibition at the Venice Architecture Biennale for the very first time.

As part of the Pavilion of the Holy See’s newly opened “Vatican Chapels” exhibition, curator and architecture historian Francesco Dal Co invited 10 architects, including Pritzker Prize laureates Norman Foster and Eduardo Souto de Moura (whose minimal stone chapel earned him the Golden Lion for best participant), to construct chapels in the wooded garden behind the 400-year-old Benedictine church on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore. The concept was inspired by the Woodland Chapel, designed by Erik Gunnar Asplund in 1920 for a Stockholm cemetery.

"No, It Is Not..." by Eduardo Souto de Moura —

Eduardo Souto de Moura's minimalist chapel, which won him the Golden Lion for for best participant, "is not a chapel, not a sanctuary and in any case not a tomb," per the architect's statement. "It is simply a place enclosed by four stone walls, while another stone at the center might be the altar."

"A Precise Form of Anonymous Origin" by Andrew Berman —

Inside New York architect Andrew Berman's wood-and-polycarbonate design, there is only a solitary seat, positioned in front of a lectern and under a beam of light, suggesting, he said in a statement, that "it is a space for looking inward, under light amidst darkness."

"A Bench and a Cross" by Carla Juaçaba —

Constructed from eight polished steel beams, Carla Juaçaba's chapel reflects the surrounding environment by day, and seems to almost disappear in darkness.

"A Nomadic Chapel" by Javier Corvalán —

Javier Corvalán's circular chapel is supported by a sturdy tripod, and gently turns with the wind.

"Not a Project; A Reflexion" by Francesco Cellini —

According to Francesco Cellini's statement, his chapel "invites a precise consideration, almost exclusively architectural and necessarily abstract, of the meaning of sacred spaces, of their proportions, relations and functions."

"Crosses Morphed into a Tensegrity Structure" by Norman Foster —

British architect Norman Foster chapel is meant to evoke an oasis. Flanked by two mature frees, it faces out onto the lagoon. Jasmine flowers wrapped around the posts of its canopy add to the feeling of serenity.

"The Morning Chapel" by Ricardo Flores and Eva Prats —

"The Morning Chapel" is so named because its location on the easternmost point on the island guarantees it will receive the first light of the day.

"A Dynamic Entity Capable of Surviving Thousands of Kilometers Away" by Sean Godsell —

Sean Godsell, who was educated by Jesuits, sought to design a chapel that could withstand extensive travel. "Jesuit missionaries brought not only the word of God, but also education, research and culture wherever they ventured and their existence instilled in me a sense of the church as a resilient, dynamic entity capable of surviving thousands of kilometers
away from Rome," he explained in a statement.

"A Chapel as a Roadside Shrine" by Smiljan Radic —

Playing with scale, Chilean architect Smiljan Radic blended the humility of the roadside shrines to the deceased with the intimidation of larger church structures.

"Cross Chapel" by Terunobu Fujimori —

The black exterior of Terunobu Fujimori's chapel is meant to suggest "a place of quiet prayer," according to the architect.

Inside the Holy See Pavilion at the 2018 Venice Biennale

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“With this small masterpiece Asplund defined the chapel as a place of orientation, encounter and meditation, seemingly formed by chance or natural forces inside a vast forest, seen as the physical suggestion of the labyrinthine progress of life, the wandering of humankind as a prelude to the encounter,” Dal Co explained in a statement.

The selected collaborators include believers and nonbelievers alike. Francesco Cellini, for example, described himself as “a respectful architect who is not a believer” in a statement,” while Sean Godsell was educated by Jesuits, an experience he wrote was “an integral part of my childhood.”

A close look inside Francesco Cellini's chapel. Each chapel had to include an alter and a lectern.

The architects were given few limitations: the only requirements were that the space include both a lectern and an altar. Outside of that, they were free to design “without any reference to commonly recognized canons.” This open brief has resulted in an eclectic mix of structures, ranging from Brazilian architect Carla Juaçaba’s reflective stainless steel cross and accompanying benches (turned scalding under the Venetian sun), to a blackened wooden cabin masterminded by Terunobu Fujimori.

Inside New York architect Andrew Berman’s wood-and-polycarbonate design, there is only a solitary seat, positioned in front of a lectern and under a beam of light, suggesting, he said in a statement, that “it is a space for looking inward, under light amidst darkness,” more akin to a shed than a cathedral. He, like many others involved, preferred to use his chapel to explore the universal underlying themes of religion – contemplation, reflection, serenity – rather than create a deliberately Catholic space.

While this is the Vatican’s first time exhibiting at the Venice Architecture Biennale, the move is not wholly unprecedented. The city-state previously participated in the Venice Art Biennale, which is held during odd years, in 2013 and 2015.

In March, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture and commissioner of the Holy See Pavilion, suggested that the Vatican’s presence at the Biennale could be seen as forwarding Pope Francis’ markedly liberal agenda.

While Terunobu Fujimori's "Cross Chapel" prominently incorporated the Christian symbol, but this was not a requirement. Architects were invited to design "without any reference to commonly recognized canons."

In his initial announcement about the Holy See pavilion, Ravasi quoted the Pope’s “Evangelii Gaudium” exhortation directly: “We must be bold enough to discover new signs and new symbols, new flesh to embody and communicate the word, and different forms of beauty which are valued in different cultural settings, including those unconventional modes of beauty which may mean little to the evangelizers, yet prove particularly attractive for others.”

“Vatican Chapels” is on at the Holy See Pavilion of La Biennale di Venezia until Nov. 25, 2018.