Interreligiöuse räume. Architektonische Perpektiven in Zeiten soziokultureller Veränderung

The physical shape of architecture, due to its interdependence with everyday practices, can be considered a fascinating field of research for all those interested in the relationships between social action and the symbolic forms of space. The present of many European cities is undoubtedly determined by the social and political problems caused by the encounter between local populations and people from all over the world as a result of migration. This new mixture of peoples has transformed cities into threshold spaces, places of passage in perpetual transformation. Today's Europe is in this process: on both sides of the threshold, questions arise not only about the formation of new identities, but also about which spaces will be used to represent and inhabit them. From this point of view, architecture represents an important field of research: working on the space of the sacred, in particular on projects that work on the challenge of integration, such as interreligious spaces, can also have a significant political impact, fostering encounters, proximity and cooperation between different forms of identity. To explore this issue, three concrete design experiments in Italy will be presented below that address the relationship between integrity and hybridity of the spatiality of interfaith places of worship. The first is the design of an interfaith space in the Monumental Cemetery in the Sicilian city of Caltagirone. The other two are part of a broader strategic plan of adaptive redevelopment of the ecclesiastical heritage of the Sanità district in Naples. On the one hand an interreligious space with Catholic and Protestant participation in the underground caves next to the catacombs of San Gennaro, on the other hand the Church of Santa Maria della Sanità.