Pritha Samanta

EVOLUTION OF PHYSICAL EDGE : Formulation of the Street Charachter Awarded first position by National association for students of architecture - India (2015) Evolution is the concept of continual transformation, wherein ‘revolution’ acts as a catalyst for evolution to happen. Architecture has always been perceived as a path to sustain life by primarily pro-viding shelter to humankind and ensuring essential and effective space making for varied functions. Alterations, amendments in our day to day activities led to a slow evolution of our understanding, re-sulting into a more intricate knowledge of human requirements – which unswervingly helped architec-ture evolve. But the ‘concept of evolution’ in architecture is not so direct as for the case of evolution in biological science. This is because architecture gets beyond the identification of highly personal linkag-es or lines of influence. The evolution in architecture can be seen across every sphere of human life including religious, social, political and cultural aspects. The evolution of cities is an account of their constantly changing forms due to the above mentioned aspects. Each new event means a sure shift in previous set of balanc-es and emergence of new ones. The major driving forces for any kind of evolution in architecture can be linked with the needs and the changing lifestyles of the people and hence, of the community. This, not being so direct, may be also altered by certain kind of drastic and far-reaching change of thinking and behaviour which we call ‘revolution’. For example, when a family from some village comes to a city, starts living in some apartment, suddenly architecture starts governing his lifestyle, which bring a change in his needs. Humans have a tendency to participate with the outside public world yet they clearly define their entry to the private world, which is strongly manifested in the edge conditions of our built form. When we look through history we see that various elements and building forms change from time to time. This paper aims at researching on the on entrance as an element and physical edge that formu-lates the edge and trying to figure out how it has evolved through time. If we look back to our traditional housing systems, we see that the entrance platform acts like a preamble to the threshold leading to the house, accommodating activities of the house and connecting the two opposite natured spaces. The edge is found the most interactive of all the components constituting the built form. The edge is a linear element that is boundary between two domains or entities – public and private. The edge may be a barrier more or less penetrable which close one region off from another, or they may be seams, lines along which the two domains are related and joined together. The spread of this edge becomes the deciding factor for the edge quality. The edge structure and space are shared and used by people for various urban activities. The sharing can be physical, visual or symbolic depend-ing primarily upon the degree of connection between the interior and exterior associations attached to edge. What determines the edge-nature are the physical characteristics. Characteristics like visual ac-cess, physical access, partial visual access etc, give the edge a barrier-like or a binder-like nature. These characteristics determine whether the edge encourages or impedes human participation and urban activity. The street remains the common point for all the inhabitants of a city – be it the homeless or the elite, the beggar or the millionaire. The same street is used by all at different levels, but this camaraderie makes the street and the edge a point of identity for the city dwellers. As cites live on, the edges undergo a constant redefinition of form, events, happenings and therefore the alteration in the physicality over time. This leads to the ‘blurring’ of the edge with the fussy definitions of layers overlapping each other that are not so prominent at once. The city Rajkot is one such example. There are streets in the city which have a long and glorious history, but they have under-gone major physical changes. The process is still continuing – overlapping and eliminating the original edges. The country-wide wave of rapid urbanization and industrialization affected Rajkot as well. The technological advances along with other socio-economic factors have resulted in the over-lapping of layers over the older/existing edges. ‘Sadar bazaar’ – Rajkot, a typical bazaar of the late 19th century is one such example where there have been interventions overlapping the original edge, which have consider-ably altered the expression of the edge versus the street environment. Sadar is composed of the two almost parallel streets tied up at ends by two common chowks(street nodes). Interventions have occurred on both the streets facing a change in the character and expression of the edge. Sadar represents a small part of a wide-spread phenomenon taking place in numerous urban situations, an intriguing part of a phenomenal whole. It is interesting to note that the growth here was not properly envisaged and 1 hence follows a mildly chaotic pattern thus offering more interesting and lively vistas than the present predominant use of the grid-iron layout, which places certain limits on the variations possible in the urban design. Today’s urban scenario is one in which there is a dearth of buildable land at key locations within the core city. To counter this situation, many inserts are made into the existing fabric by demolishing the existing structures. And it so often happens that these inserts do not exactly relate to their surroundings especially in terms of their edge treatment. They lack a concern and responsibility for the public realm and towards existing fabric. Economy as one of the factors also controls the choices in terms of materi-als, extent of limitation of choices in building and expression and therefore the public environment gets determined by such factors. The other factors can be religious, psychological, social and cultural. In case of religious build-ings, the character of the edge varies depending upon the symbolic values of different religions. In order to orient oneself in the complex urban network, important landmarks and identifiable environments are desirable. Edge, being the enveloping surface of the urban environment, give it identification. The ex-pression of contrasting forces of privacy and interaction, security and freedom, independent expression and homogeneity are due to the effects of socio-cultural forces on the edge. The street is a linear, open and a continuous linking element bound on either side by either a continuous facade or by a series of individual buildings with gaps in between. The earlier streets were as if carved out of the built mass and were planned to the scale of human being, the horse and the carriage with the space around it relating to the pedestrian circulation and activity. On the other hand today’s streets with the asphalt carpet, which are channels for the movement of cars, still retain the name ‘street’ but have no connection with the original significance of the term. In order to understand the concept of, the possible edges coming into play in urban environ-ment are the legal edges that separate two domains by plot boundary. The physical edges which acts as access or linkages for two domain. The social boundaries upto which the pedestrians can permeate and have easy access. In public buildings (religious and commercial) the social edges extends much inside the building thereby extending the social participation beyond physical or legal edges. Transition then is no more just a line that one crosses across. It becomes the crossing of an entire multi-layered zone. The edge therefore in such cases plays the role of a mediator or a binder. This binder like nature of the edge is prominent in old Indian or Islamic bazaars where plinths or projections form the platform for interaction between the consumers and the retailer – resulting in a zone of many activ-ities overlapping each other. As Joh Lang says, “The architectural environment consists of the artificial arrangement of the different surfaces of different textures, illumination and degrees of transparency or translucency, and of the spaces between them.” In the commercial edge, the articulation of the edge is most important, as it is the way that they articulate their surface it attracts more number of the people and make more participatory edge. De-gree of openness is high which allow various participation at different times of the day. In the residential, the edge can be expressed by several transitional elements. This element breaks the facade in several parts and gives certain scale which human can perceive easily at pedestrian level. With the help of this element it can participate at various levels vertical as well as horizontal. In the asynchronous times, the ‘otla’ or a plinth outside the house facing the public street became more like the extension of the street space onto the private domain, while the one opening onto the residential street was used predominantly by its residents with all kinds of house hold activities spilling out and hence the otla diluted the edge that performed the separating function. It formed an autonomous layer, independent on its own. All these layers defied the singularity of the edge, its legibility being not so evident at once. In any medieval house in Rajkot one can see the courtyard houses as the typical way of living. There was a common courtyard shared by multiple domains. The habitat had shops as their edges which act as commercial interaction like the para bazaar in old city. The houses in the chowks also had different conditions. Also the heights of the houses were specified according to the caste and occupation of the residents. During colonial period single houses were linked to streets with an open courtyard bounded by higher walls as the street edges. This court was used for household chores. These walls had openings to interact. This element made a way to provide translucency between the house and the street. The villa or bungalow system quite familiar in western countries, came as the new and revolu-tionary building typology in India. The villas were centrally built with surrounding open spaces as gar-dens and leisure spaces. This brought the clear separation line between private and public domains. The edges stayed less binding…more separating. After independence the town planning schemes acted in such a manner that the houses were centrally built and the row houses were needed to put in specific open spaces in front and back. The by-laws cater to only individual buildings, and not for creating external environment in terms of providing a viable and comfortable public environment to pedestrian. Also, earlier each houses had similar building edges which created an enclosure of the streets, but present edge condition of house is just a spill over of individual house design, which do not create an enclosure of the streets. Variation in the sizes and making of the opening into the façade of the edge gives it selective permeability and accessibility. Christopher Alexder in his book ‘A Pattern Language’ identifies ‘Building edge’ as one of the suc-cessful patterns .building edge can be thought of as a Zone between the indoors and the outdoors which is represented on paper as a line, without thickness…a wall, but actually can be more than that. When it is properly made, such edges are ‘realm between the realms’ : it increases the connection be-tween the inside and the outside, encourages the formation of groups which cross the boundary, en-courages movement which starts on one side and ends on the other, and allows activity to be either on, or in the boundary itself. It can hence be concluded that the edge is a casual series of various layers, where the series is truly structured in time and hence harmonious in nature. It supports various activities during the day. Events like enclosure, segregation and integration, and shift of units, cause continuity of experience, where one can clearly see a tautness between two domains. It allows variation within a system, and has the ability of offering affordance for various kinds of participation, physical as well as symbolic and visu-al within the various scales. It therefore can be seen as a process in which every element of architecture and architecture, itself passes through certain number of degrees to a different yet similar stage. And so it is rightly said that, “A clock can tell you the time but it cannot tell you the time period, as for architecture, it can.” 2 3 References: ‘A pattern language’ by Christopher Alexander ‘Edge as a building character’, Undergraduate Thesis by Rajan Bhatt Francis D.K. Ching form, space and order PADRE PIO PILGRIMAGE CHURCH : San Giovanni Rotunda, Italy (2004)/RPBW (Renzo Piano Building Works) Politecnico di Milano - Contemporary Architecture Design Theory (Curricular research paper) Comparison with Bodegas Protos Winery At various points in this essay, we draw comparisons of The Padre Pio Pilgrimage Church with Bodegas Protos Winery by Richard Rogers and Alonso Y Balaguer in Spain. Fig.2: Bodegas Protos Winery by Richard Rogers+ Alonso Y Balaguer, Spain Fig.3: Huge crowd gathered outside the church.jpeg INTRODUCTION Padre Pio Pilgrimage church is like an acropolis atop the valley of the Gargano National Park in the town of San Giovanni Rotondo, the most visited Pilgrim in Europe. The building sits in the context of a hospital and research centre founded by Saint Padre Pio. This sacred building is the 21st century expression of the glorification of Catholicism, with grandiose buildings of worship dedicated to its Saints. The architect Renzo Piano re-establishes the links with traditional materials, while experimenting with their technological values together with the desire to create a relationship between new architecture and its natural surroundings. “From below, one sees little of the complex and from above little of what lies below. Once on the plateau above, one leaves the city behind, the view straying across the distant landscape of the Adriatic coastline and towards the heavens.“ – Rem Koohlas1 The church has been built as an extension of the 17th century basilica of Santa Maria Della Grazie (at the Eastern end of the site), used by the Saint himself, whose mortal remains were stored in a crypt underneath this church previously for 42 years. Subsequently to be able to accommodate the large number of pilgrims visiting this Religious city, the new Pilgrimage Church was built maintaining a uniform language in 2008, incorporating elements like stained glass, stone etc. Fig.1: Classical Colonnades at the Southern end 4 The function of the building demands a certain degree of monumentality and scale. Being of religious importance, it was intended to be a large span structure with ample open public space that can warmly welcome thousands of pilgrims. The project was based on two fundamental principles: the use of a single type of stone (Apulian limestone) as a symbol of oneness with its surroundings, and the idea of the church as a home open to all. As the user enters the building, he realizes how tiny he is, and feels insignificant. However, these feelings slowly fade, as the curved structural members smoothly and gently enfold the space, this containment creates sensation of tranquility and safety for the worshippers almost like the wings of a bird protecting its babies. The primary driving factor during the conceptualization was to create a large gathering space to house the thousands of pilgrims that flock the region every year. We look at this project as a unique case that has a contemporary outlook to an age-old building typology. 5 Heavy Base. Light top. Arches The winery is an industrial building whose design and arrangement follows the process of wine making, most of which happens in underground cellars to maintain the temperature. It has a dramatic vaulted wooden roof. When observing the spatial composition what is noticeable is, that both buildings are composed of a basement that include mostly the services, and are characterized as a more closed and dense space, while the upper space symbolizes openness and lightness, and when observing the internal spaces of the upper parts in both building, we find some similarities in terms of user experience. Fig.4: Padre Pio Pilgrimage Church by Renzo Piano, Italy Comparison with Bodegas Protos Winery Fig.9: Arches emerging from central altar FIRMITAS The structure, though at first glance looks illusive, upon closer inspection reveals itself to be a combination of a load bearing and frame structure. The church being built in a seismically active region, restricted a rigid structure and gave the architect the opportunity to explore new and innovative structural solutions. There is a primary system of 22 Stone arches, arranged radially around a central pillar on the altar, in two rows, with a 10-degree angle shift between each alternate grid. The spans of the arches steadily increase with the increasing radius of the circle, abiding the Golden Ratio, creating a spiral shape reminiscent of a snail’s shell. This provides large spans in the building, which makes it possible to house as many as 30,000 people in an area of 9000 sq m. Three internal naves are formed, in a semicircular geometry similar to a Greek theatre. The arches from the ceremonial hall continue to the lower floor and translate to shear walls, which define enclosures that correspond to various primary and ancillary facilities. The fulcrum of the arches from the floor above becomes a hollow cylindrical enclosure in the lower floor, where lies the concealed crypt. Fig.7: Arches and Steel Struts supporting the roof of the winery.jpg Same structure. Differrent material. A phrase to describe both Padre Pio Pilgrimage Church and Bodegas Protos winery is reaching the limits – the limits of stone and wood as construction materials connected to the context, and the arch as a construction method. Both the structures are composed of a basic archuate structure that supports the roof using the steel struts. Fig.5: Drawing showing structure of the church Fig.6: Arches and Steel Struts supporting the roof of the church.jpg Fig.8: Concealed crypt 6 7 UTILITAS The church is a balance of traditional and contemporary aspects of architecture. While it respects aspects such as a pilgrimage path, and the need to maintain a route for the pilgrims, it also elaborates on the need to house more people, and the requirement of a public plaza in a place of worship. Every pilgrimage is a procession from station to station. In San Giovanni Rotondo, too, there is a fixed route: It leads from the road at the foot of the hill, through a colonnade up to a square, from there into the lower story of the church for confession and to learn about the saint and his activities, then into the church for Mass and finally into the crypt for prayer at Padre Pio’s tomb is the culmination of the pilgrimage before finally exiting to the rear of the church. Fig.11: Roof structure and load transfer Fig.14: Composition of the Arch Structural Composition The entire structural arrangement was conceived so as to allow a certain degree of movement to the entire structure, while creating a large span church with ample space.The arches spanning 45 metres are composed of stone units called Maxiquoins, obtained by the assembly of 5 to 6 smaller units called Mini-quoins, through which load is transferred. So the quoins are reinforced internally by pre-stressed steel cables running along it’s longitudinal axis, introducing flexibility into the system. To eliminate the impact owing to tension, expansion joints were placed after every 6 blocks. These cushioned gaps joined the stone arches to the wooden structure of the roof using steel struts. The roof of overlapped pre-patinated Copper shingles, supported over the secondary wooden structure, that shelters the whole church. The altar receives light by means of a large conical skylight, which emerges from the roof to draw and converge light onto the most important focal point of the church space. The seemingly floating roof is an integral feature of the structural autonomy, allowing the structure and roof to move independently during an earthquake, hence increasing resistance factor. Fig.10: Roof structure and load transfer Path Fig.12: Construction images 8 Fig.15: Maxi quoins Fig.20: Sketch by Renzo Piano Fig.18: Layout of the church Planning Fig.21: Main access path from the Eastern end Fig.16: mini quoins Comparison with Bodegas Protos Winery Fig.13: comparison The main pedestrian path on the east has landscaped garden terraces extending along its sides. This leads to the Church’s entry. On the way, a great cross emerges. It is almost 40 meters tall and acts as a focal point on arrival. The first 9 columns of the parvis reach a height of 25 meters and support the 8 bells that form the original bell tower of the church. The access path from the south terminates at Classical colonnades form a giant retaining wall, screening off the any visible ‘junk space’2. The Ground floor comprises of the Liturgical Hall, Tabernacle and Sacristy. The plan of the vast vaulted Liturgical hall was derived from the golden ratio, and it corresponds to a spiral. The placements of the arches were done in a manner so as to house people adequately between them. This increased their proximity to the altar as well. It has a surface area of 6000 sqm, and can hold up to 7000 people, whilemaround 30,000 pilgrims can gather outside. Stairs leading down to the basement open into a Reception area, around which meeting rooms, Penitentiary and service rooms are planned. The Radial centre of the basement houses the Crypt of the Saint: a transparent casket where the public can view and honor the saint’s relics. Same structure. Differrent material. A phrase to describe both Padre Pio Pilgrimage Church and Bodegas Protos winery is reaching the limits – the limits of stone and wood as construction materials connected to the context, and the arch as a construction method. Both the structures are composed of a basic archuate structure that supports the roof using the steel struts. Fig.19: Layout of winery Fig.17: Crypt of Saint Padre Pio underneath the Church 9 Fig.27: Main plaza with the Cross and bells along the axis, leading to the Arched entry of Church characterize VENUSTAS Fig.22: Ground Floor Plan There are two contradictory sensory aspects amplified by this structure. One tends to marvel at its magnitude and scale, though not monumental in character, the building sparks a sense of awe at the sheer numbers it can house. Contradictory to this feeling, as soon as one enters the structure, its humane scales tend to create a sense of shelter and protection which is much needed by pilgrims. The material palette selected by Piano exuberates solidity and simplicity. Piano wanted to stick to regional materials and create a monolithic appearance. Stone represents the material of eternity, conveying human history reconnecting us to our roots. The primary material here is an Apulian limestone called Apricena stone. It has been used as a symbol of oneness with it’s surroundings, emphasizing on the idea of the Church as home, open to all. This church does not give the appearance of a powerfully emerging structure owing to its low, curved profile expanding horizontally rather than vertically, which, in the course of time, will be enveloped by vegetation. The development of the design idea starts from the Churchyard, where stands the large stone cross symbolizing Salvation, that regulates the balance and the fate of the world. This churchyard is bordered by twelve fountains with water flowing from one to the other symbolizing the River Jordan in which Christ was baptized by John. The churchyard opens to the church inside, through a huge arch considered to be the largest one in the world (44.5m wide and 15m high) with stained glass windows depicting scenes from the Apocalypse of John, representing an old tradition connected to Romanesque churches and the religious importance of light. The huge stained-glass window, set in the stone arch, filters the light entering Fig.25: Church Fig.23: Basement Plan The Southern side is marked by a colonnaded Archway composed of 21 columns and eight bronze bells, each with a relief of the saint to which it is dedicated. These are made of stone, and appear to have a geometry similar to that of the existing old church of Santa Maria Delle Grazie. Fig.26: Entry archway Fig.24: Church 10 the church that, otherwise, remains in semi-darkness with only a light well above the altar. 11 Lower church Upper church The structure is composed of a series of stone arches that reach a uniform seamless appearance, crossed inside by steel cables, which, starting from the liturgical fulcrum of the altar, radiate like the fingers of a hand ready to welcome the faithful and extend to support the church. Their intersection forms three semi-circular naves that wrap around the altar while the arched roof protects and concludes the space. The specially fabricated stone blocks which form the arches, having different geometry, fundamental to it’s construction process add to the aesthetic appeal of the building. The joining of these elements, and the holes left behind after lifting and positioning the stone concealed with small circular metal caps creates an ornamental effect, reflecting the hierarchy of the construction process to the visitor, who would realize the complexity of the construction of this building. Another conscious choice in aesthetics was the use of pre-patinated copper shingles for the roof. Copper naturally forms a green layer of patina once oxidized, but this process takes time. The use of pre-patinated copper made sure that the roof shingles are protected from the effects of weathering, while maintaining the aesthetics of the building. As a result of using a uniform material (Apricena stone), with soft veins and patterns in light beige color, for both the arches and the pavement, a monochromatic appeal is generated, and the huge arches melt and disappear as they gently touch the ground. Another conscious choice in aesthetics was the use of pre- patinated copper shingles for the roof. Copper naturally forms a green layer of patina once oxidized, making the building’s roof resemble those of typical churches, without having to wait for decades of oxidation. This also appears to be floating above the monolithic arches, creating a sense of lightness to the structure above The lower church portrays a strong contrast to the upper, with an emphasis on decoration, and the painted glass façade becomes the transition point, between ornament and decoration. The walls and roof are covered entirely with golden and colored mosaic tiles, that illustrate aspects of the life of Padre Pio, adding emphasis to significant parts of the church. This profound mixture of historic, religious and architectonic elements renders the Sanctuary of Padre Pio an iconic point of interest for all, including those who are not particularly devout, or who may not profess any faith at all. Fig.34: Mosaic Fig.30: Aesthetics of arches and Stained glass windows Fig.31: Crypt with Padre Pio Fig.35: Crypt CONCLUSION Fig.28: Sculptures as ornamentation The building looks to be an experiment in the translation of an age-old spatial organization of churches into a contemporary more practical one. The un-orthodox use of the golden ratio as the driving force of the spatial planning solves multiple problems at once for the building. It not only allows the building to house the large number of pilgrims, but also makes sure that the distance between the pilgrims to the altar is reduced as much as possible. Consequently, the arcuate structural system also allows the building to be largely horizontal in massing, reducing its monumentality quotient, and in turn increasing its approachability. This was important as it is a destination for pilgrims, and the sense of surety and safety is a key spatial char- acter of this building. Furthermore, the shift in the approach of the building from a traditional narrow entry way into a public plaza or a churchyard, allows the church to integrate the interior and exterior spaces, in a manner of extension of the building when required to house an even larger number of pilgrims. The focus is given to the load-bearing arches, which are the protagonists of this building. Made of Apricena limestone, these play the role of Structural members (Firmitas) by carrying the load of the roof, contribute to spatial distribution (Utilitas) by defining the paths leading to the altar and also play the role of the primary Ornamental apparatus (Venustas). The impact of the structural radial grid is clear in the spatial distribution. At the ground level, the spans of the arches steadily decrease, with the decreasing radius of the circle, forming a spiral shape adhering to the Golden Ratio. The radial grid defines the space and pierces all the functions, redefining the circulation path as well as orienting all internal spaces toward the central point, which is the crypt. The need for a huge roof disappears on the lower floors’ functions, as the building spaces change in terms of the height of the roof and the width of the space. The distribution of function is hierarchically distributed in the building depending on spatial needs. To conclude, the building portrays a beautiful and utilitarian outlook to the contemporary adaptation of an traditional building typology. Fig.29: Liturgical room The Church is characterized by bronze entry doors, sculptures in stone, wall frescos, stained glass and a monumental organ at the altar, each carrying a religious significance with a symbolic reference, curated by artists from all over the world. 12 Fig.32: Padre Pio Fig.33: Renzo Piano 13 References: Bibliography: 1. Stegers, Rudolf, Dorothea Baumann, Negar Hakim, and Roman Hollenstein. “Large Churches.” In Sacred Buildings a Design Manual, 170–72. Basel, Berlin: Birkhäuser, 2010. 2. Stegers, Rudolf, Dorothea Baumann, Negar Hakim, and Roman Hollenstein. “Large Churches.” In Sacred Buildings a Design Manual, 170–72. Basel, Berlin: Birkhäuser, 2010. List of Images • • • • Fig.1: Padre Pio Pilgrimage Church Fig.2: Classical Colonnades at the Southern end Fig.4: Huge crowd gathered outside the church Fig.3: Bodegas Protos Winery by Richard Rogers+ Alonso Y Balaguer, Spain Fig.5: Padre Pio Pilgrimage Church by Renzo Piano, Italy Fig.7: Drawing showing structure of the church Fig.11: Arches emerging from central altar Fig.10: Concealed crypt Fig.9: Arches and Steel Struts supporting the roof of the winery Fig.8: Arches and Steel Struts supporting the roof of the church Fig.17: Composition of the Arch Fig.14: Roof structure and load transfer Fig.13: Roof structure and load transfer Fig.15: Construction images Fig.19: mini quoins Fig.18: Maxi quoins Fig.16: comparison Fig.24: Main access path from the Eastern end Fig.20: Crypt of Saint Padre Pio underneath the Church Fig.23: Sketch by Renzo Piano Fig.21: Layout of the church Fig.22: Layout of winery Fig.25: Ground Floor Plan Fig.26: Basement Plan Fig.30: Main plaza with the Cross and bells along the axis, leading to the Arched entry of Church characterize Fig.28: Church Fig.27: Church Fig.29: Entry archway Fig.33: Aesthetics of arches and Stained glass windows Fig.31: Sculptures as ornamentation Fig.32: Liturgical room Fig.37: Mosaic Fig.34: Crypt with Padre Pio Fig.35: padre-pio-by-tim Fig.38: Crypt Fig.36: Renzo Piano 14 - • • • • • Arcspace. “Padre Pio Pilgrimage Church.” arcspace.com, 2012. https://arcspace.com/feature/padre-pio-pilgrimage-church/. Arquitectura Viva. “Padre Pio Pilgrimage Church, San Giovanni Rotondo - Renzo Piano .” Arquitectura Viva. Arquitectura Viva, November 5, 2020. https://arquitecturaviva.com/works/iglesia-de-peregrinacion-padre-pio-san-giovanni-rotondo-0. “CHURCH OF S.PIO OF PIETRELCINA.” San Pio nel Mondo, 2004. http://www.sanpionelmondo.com/en/cosa-visitare/ chiesa-san-pio-da-pietrelcina/. “Journal.” Padre Pio Pilgrimage Church -) in San Giovanni RotondoRenzo Piano* “ Journal, 2009. http:// www.architetturadipietra.it/wp/?p=2920. Maggiora, Martita Vial della. “Padre Pio Pilgrimage Church / Renzo Piano Building Workshop,” August 27, 2018. https://www.archdaily.com/900757/padre-pio-pilgrimage-church-renzo-piano-building-workshop. Piano, Renzo. “Padre Pio Pilgrimage Church.” http://www.rpbw.com, 2004. http://www.rpbw.com/project/padre-pio-pilgrimage-church. Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners + redbox. “Bodegas Protos.” Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, 2009. https://www. rsh-p.com/projects/bodegas-protos/. “The Sanctuary of Padre Pio.” Italian Tourism Official Website, March 23, 2015. http://www.italia.it/en/travel-ideas/ religion-and-spirituality/the-sanctuary-of-padre-pio.html. Stegers, Rudolf, Dorothea Baumann, Negar Hakim, and Roman Hollenstein. “Large Churches.” In Sacred Buildings a Design Manual, 170–72. Basel, Berlin: Birkhäuser, 2010. 15 MINERVA Shart fictional story in published anthology: Everybody’s A Stranger Until They Aren’t ISBN- It was that time of the year again. The time when the world didn’t quite know what was happening. The leaves had surrendered to the inevitable process of ageing, as though giving up after a hard year. The streets had now turned auburn and crackled with every step. In a small house on North 42nd Street in downtown Seattle, lived a teenage boy with his parents. Even though the house had enough rooms, Drie preferred the attic. Tonight, like most nights, he had decided to indulge his melancholia and had been holed up in his room. Most would agree that he was a quiet child. He was not very expressive, yet his soul was bare naked in his paintings. He used vibrant colours and created beautifully layered artwork that, unfortunately, most people did not understand. The big black eyes stared back at him from his painting, glimmering with sorrow. This was the only distinguishable part in his otherwise abstract work. He added a tinge of gold to complete the look of innocent curiosity, mixed with hope. He took a few steps back and admired his effort. It looked so familiar. He put down his brushes and began to search for his pencils under a pile of painting rags. “Drie!”, came a voice from downstairs. It was the much-dreaded call for dinner. Sighing, Adrian Peters dragged himself away from his canvas and walked towards the narrow spiral staircase in the middle of the attic. He slowly descended the steps, not really looking forward to the prying questions from his mother about his activities and whereabouts. But as he inched closer, he could hear a murmur with a tensed tone. He entered the dining room and came to a stop. The large room was filled with gloom. The once brightly lit trophies and mementoes lay in the shadow, next to the shaded crockery cabinet. As he scanned the unfamiliarity of the room, his eyes landed on his mother, who was seated alone at the empty table, a look of shock and despair on her face. Standing behind her, his aunt also appeared much softer; it seemed that an expression of sadness outstripped her otherwise stern features. A ball formed in the pit of Drie’s stomach. He searched between his mom to his aunt, looking for an answer in their expressions. “Come, Drie. Have a seat,” said his aunt in a forcefully steadied voice. “What’s the matter?” Drie asked, his voice shaking, and his eyes darting from his mom to his aunt and back to his mom. He walked towards the table and slid into a chair, all the while examining their faces. His aunt looked at his mother’s gaunt face, then at Drie, and in a low whisper, murmured, “Your father is no more, Drie. We got a call from his office. He collapsed in a meeting. They rushed him to the hospital, but… couldn’t save him.” Drie’s mind was blank. Even in his wildest dreams, he could not have imagined what he had just heard. His father, the epitome of health and strength — the man who prided himself for having faced a few difficult situations in life, a fighter who lived through all of them with a smile and a strong mind — was no more? A low ringing sound, emanating from the middle of his head, grew stronger and stronger. Drie couldn’t move. He started breathing rapidly. The ringing sound kept growing, until it was all he could hear. A numbness engulfed him while he sat there, still and staring into the dark nothingness. Tall, mighty oak trees stared down at him. He stopped in his tracks, no longer worried about what was behind him. The soft bed of leaves on the forest floor diffused the slivers of the moonlight, only bouncing off the knobby branches. The mellow light made everything calm and slowed the pace of Drie’s heart. Drie took in the beauty that was in front of him. His mood seemed to lighten, his heart now beating at a much more normal pace. The cool breeze gently caressed his long hair and calmed him. Just as he was getting comfortable with his new reality, something moved abruptly in the clearing. Drie took in a sharp breath and turned his head towards the sound. There seemed to be some sort of creature under the leaves. He jumped behind one of the trees, drew out his head slightly, looking at the emerging figure before him. The leaves moved and rustled, and the creature slowly lifted her head and shook-off the leaves from over her. It was a tiny little owl. She got up, wobbled lightly on her feet, while flapping her wings for balance. It was a short brown bird, with a white face. She slowly turned on her feet, still trying to steady herself. She lifted her head, and a pair of big black eyes stared straight at Drie. Drie’s heart stopped. He recognized the eyes so well. The gold specs in it clearly visible in the moonlight. He swallowed hard. He was frozen to the spot. He stared back at the owl, waiting for her to move. The owl tilted her head towards the left, still watching him. “Why are you hiding from me, Drie?” She hooted in a low deep voice. Drie unfroze. He blinked a few times, making sure he was not seeing things. He slowly walked out from behind the tree, and murmured, “How do you know who I am? How come you can talk? Who are you?” He had so many questions. The owl kept observing Drie, her stare more like a soft gaze at this point. “I am Minerva, I thought you would recognize me.” “How? I have never met you before,” Drie said uncomfortably. “Are you sure?” smiled Minerva, “You may remember my voice, at least.” Drie forced himself to take a deliberate step towards her. He came closer; something about this owl made him feel safe. But he kept a cautious distance and crawled to sit down on the bed of leaves on the forest floor. Now he was eye to eye with the owl. The gnawing feeling in his gut, the one he often had, returned. He construed that she would know why he kept dreaming of this forest. As though today was the day he would find out about what everything meant; the reason why he felt so hollow and curled up to sleep every night. “Where are we?” Drie asked. “Hmm, interesting question, Adrian. But is it really important?” Minerva responded, moving a little away from him. No one had called him Adrian in a long time. Lots and lots of questions ran through Drie’s mind, as he sat silently on the cold ground, watching her pace around. “A more important question would be, why I am here. Or more importantly, why you are here…” she stated, and looked at Drie softly. Drie sat there quietly at a loss of words. Of course, he wanted to know what he was doing here. But he had an inkling that she would not answer. He peered at the owl curiously, waiting for it to say more. *** “Do you remember Elie?” Minerva asked, looking at him. Of course, Drie remembered her. She was in his class, and the prettiest girl he knew. Drie used to sit across the classroom from her, and stare at her the entire day, too intimidated to say anything. The light in his eyes was plenty for Minerva to go on. “Why do you think she left school?” she interrogated. The light crunching and crumpling continued under his footsteps. There was an air of urgency as Drie ran along the forest. The moonlight shone through the thicket and lit up a few feet ahead of him. He made his way through the woods. He ran along the trail like it was a second home to him. He could hear the water rushing in the stream below and made his way to the divergence. He paused, anxious to decide. He glanced over his shoulder for a quick second, chose a path and kept running. The blanket of leaves grew thicker under his feet. The path widened, and soon he found himself at a clearing. “I don’t know,” muttered Drie, confused by this line of questioning. “Are you sure?” asked Minerva. “Do you remember the day you were trying to be cool with your friends, during band practice? You said pretty mean things about her, remember?” she went on. Drie was uncomfortable. How did this owl know all this? “Yeah, I guess…” responded Drie. “You said that her family was poor, and she lived on hand-me-downs. Remember?” went on Minerva, pacing up 16 17 and down the clearing, hobbling lightly on her feet. Drie’s gaze followed her all this time. “I was just fooling around with my friends.” Drie replied. “Of course, you were. But what you did not realise was that, in a matter of days, people started calling her ‘hobo.’ This went on for so long that she couldn’t take the humiliation, she transferred.” Minerva paused in front of Drie, gazed at his eyes and slightly tilted her head. “Oh. I didn’t know,” responded Drie, a sudden surge of guilt washing through him. “Actions have consequences Drie. Always remember that” Minerva stated softly. . . . . . . Continued in the book 18