The church of the Cuore Immacolato di Maria, Pistoia 1959-1961: the change in the sacral space of Giovanni Michelucci

Abstract

The Cuore Immacolato di Maria church (fig. 1) was designed and built between 1959 and 1961 by the architect Giovanni Michelucci (1891-1990). A modest work, without excessive visual or urban pretensions deriven from the establishment planning layout itself and its volumetric composition, it is located in the northern area of Pistoia (Italy) equipping the residential neighborhood of Belvedere built with public promotion blocks. This parish is located, within the authors temporal chain of works, between the church of Beata Maria Vergine in Larderello (1956-58), of rationalist execution, and the media Chiesa dellAustostrada in Campi Bisenzio (1961-64), of expressionist profile, being a key link in the evolution of the sacred space from its static conception to the dynamic. He retains traditional constants (canonical orientation, simple proportions, light control) and anticipates innovations (transversal main nave, sinusoidal cross-section, material humility), evidencing that this work constitutes an inf lection, a change in his career. The treatment of the interior stands out as if it were a public square, partially bordered by a gallery that invites you to visit it, a theme that has been established as a principle in its later sacred architecture. The genesis of this change is traced.