Archinect - News

Sagrada Família to be completed in 2026, officials say

2024-03-25T16:48:00-04:00

The completed construction of the Sagrada Família is now expected for 2026, multiple international outlets are reporting. The announcement made recently by the group responsible for managing its construction ends years of speculation as to the exact opening date for Antoni Gaudí’s monumental affirmation of religious life in his native Spain that began 142 years ago this month in Barcelona.

The new completion date coincides with the centennial anniversary of the architect's death at the age of 73 from injuries he sustained in a tram accident on his way home from the site.

Work will culminate first with the Chapel of the Assumption in 2025 and be followed by a crowning tower of Jesus Christ the next year. This comes after the temple's four canonical towers were debuted in December. A source also told The Guardian that its controversial grand staircase, an element some dispute was not Gaudí’s intention, could be added by 2034.

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Notre Dame gets the green light from French officials for controversial interior refurbishment ahead of 2024

2021-12-10T20:41:00-05:00

France’s National Heritage and Architecture Commission approved proposals by the diocese of Paris to bring a more modern look to Notre-Dame before its planned reopening in 2024, including the installation of contemporary artworks and new lighting effects. Opponents say the changes will debase the 850-year-old cathedral and disturb the harmony of its Gothic design.

The controversial refurbishment struck a chord with many in the past two weeks who responded to publicized details with claims that the new ecumenical design authored by Father Gilles Drouin was sacrilegious, and incongruous with the Catholic tradition.

Much of the church's nave, transept, and high altar were damaged as a result of the roof collapse and are now set to be reborn in a scheme that includes light projections and other tech-laden interventions.

“Don’t think we’re going to make Disneyland,” Notre-Dame’s Rector Patrick Chauvet told the New York Times. “The church is 2,000 years old — it is an old lady,” he said. “It has a history that we must respect, that today’s people cannot erase with a stroke of the pen.”

The Catholic Church's plans for the reimagined Notre-Dame de Paris interior are drawing sharp criticism online

2021-12-03T14:50:00-05:00

Will the fire-ravaged interior of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris be more like Disneyland than France’s most emblematic place of worship when it reopens after a major restoration? So fear the outraged critics of a new interior design for the monument which was presented during a video conference earlier this year.

Father Gilles Drouin is the man behind the new interiors, which he says are meant to respond to the multicultural visitorship that was originally not taken into consideration by the church, which spoke to a largely Christian audience before the fire.

Critics have panned Drouin’s vision, objecting not only to the ecumenical content but also its delivery via seemingly tacky digital projections and other forms of tech-heavy interventions meant to engender a network of “emotional spaces.”

“It’s Notre-Dame de Paris turned into Disneyland,” architect Maurice Culot told TAN. “It does not make any sense, we are rebuilding the cathedral and the spire as it was, with ancient materials like stone, wood and lead, and now we’ll have a theme park for foreign tourists inside. Why wasn’t the design entrusted to the same architects to maintain unity between the inside and outsid...

Italy shuts down Steve Bannon's "gladiator school for cultural warriors"

2019-06-03T19:39:00-04:00

Italy’s cultural heritage ministry announced on Friday (May 31) that it would revoke a lease granted to Bannon after reports of fraud in the competitive tender process. The former Breitbart chief and aide to US president Donald Trump was reportedly paying €100,000 ($110,000) per year to rent the 13th Century Carthusian monastery, but now will have to search for another spot.

What was once the potential site for a training academy for the far-right, the Italian state evicts the conservative Catholic organization Dignitatis Humanae Institute (DHI) due to reports of fraud. According to a recent report from The Economist, institute director Benjamin Harnwell was shocked by the news, while the former aide to US President Trump stated the letter was "totally legitimate" and "dust kicked up by the left."

The plans for transforming a medieval monastery near Rome into the center for these "cultural warriors" of the far-right included the prospect that students "would learn philosophy, theology, history, and economics, and receive political training from the former Trump aide himself."

Unhappy with the recent news of losing the monastery, DHI plans to fight the decision in court. “The DHI will contest this illegitimate maneuver with every resource at its disposal no matter how many years it takes. And we will win and in the meantime, we relish the opportunity to ...