RELIGIOUS HERITAGE [CLOSED] | Decommissioning and reusing churches: issues and research perspectives
Within the framework of the international conference on the use and reuse of ecclesiastical heritage – an event hosted in Rome on the 29th and 30th of November 2018, promoted by Pontifical Council for Culture, in cooperation with the Pontifical Gregorian University and the National Office of Cultural Heritage and Ecclesiastical Buildings of the Italian Conference of Bishops – Politecnico di Torino “R3C” interdepartmental centre supported and coordinated a call for papers and posters on Decommissioning and reusing churches: issues and research perspectives.
The call aimed to develop research focused on the regional and social dimension of the reuse of ecclesiastical heritage, fostering an approach focused on the responsibility of local communities, participation and the resilience of cultural heritage.
Here you can find more information.
Here you can download the call for posters and papers
Over 40 research institutions from around the world answered the call. The Scientific Board, formed by Kim de Witt (Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn), Daniela Esposito (Sapienza, Università di Roma), Andrea Longhi (Politecnico di Torino) and Sven Sterken (KU Leuven), selected the 12 most interesting researches to be presented as posters during the international conference. Contributions came from several countries: Belgium, France, Italy, Germany, Slovakia, the UK and the US. Syntheses of these and three more researches, for a total of 15, were included in the proceedings of the conference, the book “Dio non abita più qui? Dismissioni di luoghi di culto e gestione integrata dei beni culturali ecclesiastici. / Doesn’t God dwell here anymore?” by F. Capanni. Contribution were divided into three main categories based on the scale, method and theory behind the research presented: Urban and regional planning of religious heritage: academic research; Design and educational research; Specific disciplinary approaches and methodological issues: actual case-studies and experiences.
Additional material:
Introduction to the conference proceedings, with a collection of presentations from the researches selected http://www.cultura.va/content/dam/cultura/docs/pdf/beniculturali/DeWildt.pdf
Summary reflections presented at the FRH face-to-face meeting held in Asti on the 27th and 28th of May 2019 at Spazio Kor https://www.frh-europe.org/face-to-face-meeting-in-asti-27-28-may-2019/
Other material relating to the event and the research project:
Andrea Longhi, La reutilización eclesial de las iglesias en desuso: cuestiones históricas y críticas en el reciente documento del Consejo Pontificio para la Cultura, Actas del Congreso Internacional de Arquitectura Religiosa Contemporánea, 6, 2019. https://revistas.udc.es/index.php/aarc/article/view/aarc.2019.6.0.6241
Andrea Longhi, Ecclesial Reuse of Decommissioned Churches: Historical and Critical Issues in the Recent Document by the Pontifical Council for Culture (2018), in Architectural Actions on the Religious Heritage after Vatican II, edited by Esteban Fernández Cobián, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle Upon Tyne (UK) 2020, pp. 313-326. ISBN 9781527560338, https://hdl.handle.net/11583/2938252
Pontifical Council for Culture, in cooperation with Pontifical Gregorian University and National Office of Cultural Heritage and Ecclesiastical Buildings of the Italian Conference of Bishops
Andrea Longhi
Scientific Board
Kim de Witt (Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn), Daniela Esposito (Sapienza, Università di Roma), Andrea Longhi (Politecnico di Torino) and Sven Sterken (KU Leuven)
Scientific Secretariat
Giulia De Lucia
