The Church of the Penitent Thief in Bologna, Italy, is housed in a gabled white volume cleaved in two by a glazed crack and was built with the help of inmates of La Dozza prison.
Initiated in 2010, the project for the new sacred space rises from a strongly participatory process shared with the whole community: a church that does not sacrifice its symbolic and evocative dimensions, while striving to be recognizable and inclusive. Taking a cue from the archetypal image of a church, the design seeks an architecture devoid of piety, to loyally reflect the essence yet be immediately readable: sober, solemn, but not monumental. It echoes the mysticism of everyday life.
INOUTarchitettura, LADO architetti and LAMBER + LAMBER were part of the architecture team that designed the church.
