Every year, hundreds of thousands of people pilgrimage to the place in southern Italy where Padre Pio (canonized in 2002) lived and worked. In response to the growing number of visitors, the monks decided to build a new church. The facade can be opened to link the interior with the adjoining square, thereby increasing
the capacity from 6,000 to 36,000 visitors. The huge spiral-shaped central building consists of two intersecting rows of segmental arches, which are laid out in radial form and articulate the roughly 6,000 m² area. At the centre, the feet of the inner row of arches converge in a funnel-like form. Renzo Piano wanted to build a church of stone based on the model of Gothic cathedrals, yet with a lightweight, modern structure. The slender limestone arches, which serve to stabilize the building and to resist earthquakes, are tensioned internally with continuous steel cables.
the capacity from 6,000 to 36,000 visitors. The huge spiral-shaped central building consists of two intersecting rows of segmental arches, which are laid out in radial form and articulate the roughly 6,000 m² area. At the centre, the feet of the inner row of arches converge in a funnel-like form. Renzo Piano wanted to build a church of stone based on the model of Gothic cathedrals, yet with a lightweight, modern structure. The slender limestone arches, which serve to stabilize the building and to resist earthquakes, are tensioned internally with continuous steel cables.