Saint-Jacques-de-la-Lande, France—a small town near Rennes in Brittany—began an urban-development initiative more than 25 years ago, one that included 3,200 new housing units and the relocation of the town hall and municipal services. As the population in this area grew, it became apparent that it should have its own place of worship. The resulting Anastasis Church, an intricate puzzle of geometric forms designed by the Portuguese Pritzker Prize–winner Álvaro Siza, opened in February, providing the largely Catholic community with both a spiritual home and a meeting place at the heart of the new town center.
Made of white reinforced concrete, the freestanding 40-foot-high building is straightforward in form: a cylinder on top of an orthogonal volume dotted in each corner by four turret-like blocks. This geometry not only fits comfortably within the surrounding urban fabric, it also exemplifies the work of Siza, 84, whom the Italian architect Vittorio Gregotti called, in his essay for the 1992 Pritzker laureate, “the father of the new architectural minimalism.” Beyond this apparent simplicity, however, lies a complex story.
You have 0 complimentary articles remaining.
Unlimited access + premium benefits for as low as $1.99/month.