BOOK DETAILS

• 30 x 24 CM - HARDBACK

• 208 PAGES, 139 COLOUR PHOTOGRAPHS

• TEXTS FROM JAMIE MCGREGOR SMITH,IVICA BRNIĆ AND JONATHAN MEADES

• FIRST EDITION, FEB 2024

Sacred Modernity documents the dramatic shift in ecclesiastical architecture across post-war Europe. Spurred on by the modernizing impulses of the Second Vatican Council in the early 1960s, and in search for an appropriate architectural language that showed that the Catholic Church was still relevant to the modern world, this was the period when the church married the atheist architect, and bore a child of pure form. Among these structures, some exude a joyful antagonism, while others emanate a cold minimalism. Boldly designed, outrageous and provocative for their time, the aesthetic of this period still ignites great debate between modernists and traditionalists.

Half a century on, this study traces how their materials and ideals have matured and patinated. Remaining amongst the most unique buildings within our public sphere, they are future visions from the near past unlike anything in our architecture landscape.