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EMBT tops San Giacomo Apostolo church with undulating copper roof

Spanish studio EMBT has designed a brick-and-plaster-clad church in Ferrara, Italy, which has a copper roof informed by hot air balloons and an interior that aims to be a modern take on primitive churches.

The church was developed over 10 years and completed in 2021. It sits in the parish of San Giacomo Apostolo in the Arginone neighbourhood of Ferrara and has an uneven, organic shape.

The shape of the church roof nods to hot air balloons

The sculptural design and wavy copper-clad roof reference the hot air balloons that fill the sky above Ferrara each year.

"The inspiration came one day when we were analysing the territory and the environment, when we saw the sky of Ferrara full of hot air balloons for the international festival that is held every year in September," said Benedetta Tagliabue, director and co-founder of EMBT.

The church is located in Ferrara, Italy

"Thus, we imagine a light and friendly church, which comes from heaven and is located in the place where the Christian community needs it most, a contemporary church, rich in strength and symbolism, surprising and familiar at the same time, inspired by the early days of the church," she added.

The exterior of the 710-square-metre church has a facade made from alternating brick and plaster that creates a striped effect.

In some sections, the bricks have been placed in a three-pointed protruding design in reference to the Renaissance-era Palazzo dei Diamanti in Ferrara.

Brick and plaster create a striped facade

The church was designed on a "visual and spiritual axis" to a new bridge and the city of Ferrara across the river. It has a spacious plaza in front that functions as a meeting place as well as an extension of the church courtyard.

A large wooden gate leads inside, where the altar sits at the centre underneath a large skylight. A classroom, side chapel, baptistery and annexes are organised radially around it.

The exterior features angled bricks that reference a local Renaissance building

The central space, which is dedicated to the apostle St James, has raw concrete walls and a stone floor. Its altar was made from a block of white Travi stone that was left almost totally untreated, adding to the rough-hewn feel of the interior.

It has four small crosses, one in each corner, and also features a secret drawer that holds a relic.

Concrete walls clad the interior of the church

The raw, unadorned design of the altar was chosen to "recall the most primitive moments of the church when a mass was celebrated with found objects and where the symbol acquired an even greater importance", the studio said.

Above the nave sits a large cross made from wooden beams that were salvaged from Ferrara's old town hall.

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A wood baldachin is suspended under the skylight and was designed to evoke the shape of the shell of St James, a traditional symbol connected to the apostle.

Artist Enzo Cucchi created the artworks for the interior, including large grey stone crosses that protrude from the church walls and colourful ceramic pieces.

Two wooden beams form a cross above the altar

The organic feel of the interior is underlined by furniture made from different types of laminated wood, resulting in a striped look that resembles the exterior.

Tagliabue also designed the suspension lamps for the church, which are made from thin wooden slats that create small domes.

The undulating shape of the roof can be seen inside the church

A weekday chapel is attached to the main church but has a separate entrance and leads on to a sacristry, penitentiary, parish house and more classrooms. The parish hall, classrooms and rectory measure 873 square metres in total.

EMBT has worked on the church since 2011, when the studio won a competition to design the project for the Arcidiocesi di Ferrara-Comacchi.

Ancillary spaces are connected to the main church

EMBT was founded in Barcelona in 1994 by Benedetta Tagliabue and late architect Enric Miralles. Other recent designs by the studio include a mass-timber metro station in Naples and a music conservatory in Shenzhen covered in wooden and ceramic louvres.

The photography is by Marcela Grassi.

Project credits:

Client: CEI Conferenza Episcopale Italiana, Parrocchia di San Giacomo Apostolo, Ferrara Architect: Benedetta Tagliabue – Miralles Tagliabue EMBT Artist: Enzo Cucchi Liturgist: Don Roberto Tagliaferri Structural design: Studio Iorio, Francesco Iorio Miralles Tagliabue EMBT Team Project directors EMBT: Benedetta Tagliabue, Joan Callis Design coordinator EMBT: Valentina Nicol Noris Wooden ceiling and sacred furniture EMBT: Nazaret Busto Rodríguez, Julia de Ory Mallavia, Daniel Hernán García Management coordinator EMBT: Camilla Persi Collaborators EMBT: Paola Amato, Letizia Artioli, Guido Aybar Maino, Sofia Barberena Cantero, Christopher Bierach, Irene Botas Cal, Maria Cano Gómez, Helena Carì, Vincenzo Cicero Santalena, Luis Angello Coarite Asencio, Maria Antonia Franco, Juan David Fawcett Vargas, Paula Georghe, Leonardo Gerli, Francesca Guarnieri, Evelina Ilina, Michael Kowalsky, Philip Lemanski, Erez Levinberg, Lauren Lochry, Ernesto Lopez, Oscar Lopez, Pablo López Prol, Annarita Luvero, Andrea Marchesin, Laura Martín, Beatriz Martínez Rico, Agustina Mascetti, Lucero Mattioda, Grant Mc Cormick, Marianna Mincarelli, Andrea Morandi, Enrico Narcisi, Marco Nucifora, Marco Orecchia, Jiyoun Park, Mikaela Patrick, Gonzalo Peña, Juan Manuel Peña Sanz, Marina Pérez Primo, Eleonora Righetto, Roberto Rocchi, Cj Rogers, Francesca Romano, Gabriele Rotelli, Javier Ruiz Safont, Bárbara Ruschel Lorenzoni,Antonio Rusconi, Raya Shaban, Georgiana Spiridon, Guillermo Sotelo, Astrid Steegmans, Angelos Siampakoulis, Andrea Stevanato, Stefano Spotti, Raphael Teixeria Libonati, Lorenzo Trucato, Katrina Varian, Giovanni Vergantini, Beatrice Viotti, Federico Volpi, Ling Yang, Lisa Zanin. Communication team EMBT: Arturo Mc Clean, Ana Gallego, Lluc Miralles. Project management: Concordia SAS – Diego Malosso, Maria Elena Antonucci Local engineer: Beatrice Malucelli Acoustic consultant: Higini Arau Lighting consultant: Maurici Ginés – Artec3 Studio Scientific support: Matteo Ruta – Politecnico di Milano Installations: Studio Simax Director of works: Domenico Mancini Static Tester: Simone Carraro Catastral practices: Sotterri Giulio

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jeniferdlanceau · 7 years

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12 must-see installations and exhibitions at the Venice Art Biennale 2017

With the 57th edition of the Venice Art Biennale now open to the public, managing editor Olivia Mull selects some of the best design-led exhibitions, spatial installations and pavilion takeovers.

The Venice Art Biennale is the world's biggest and oldest art festival – and the model on which all biennales are based.

Started in 1895, the festival has outgrown its two main venues – the Arsenale and Giardini. Now exhibitions, installations and national pavilions spill out of palazzos, squares and churches across the Italian city, many of which are usually closed to the public.

This year's biennale runs until 26 November. It was curated by Christine Marcel of the Pompidou Centre under the title Viva Arte Viva, which she describes as "designed for artists, by artists, with their practice in the centre".

However artists, curators, architects, designers, musicians and refugees have all collaborated on works for this year's show. They range from architectural installations to spatial performances, covering topics embracing all aspects of life and society.

Read on for our guide to 12 that are not to be missed:

Photograph by Matthieu Salvaing

Dialogo: Ettore Sottsass and Carlo Scarpa Olivetti showroom, Piazza San Marco

An exhibition of Milanese designer and Memphis group founder Ettore Sottsass' little-known ceramics is on display at Olivetti's Venice showroom, which was renovated by Venetian architect Carlo Scarpa in 1957. Curated by collector Charles Zana, the show sets up a dialogue between the work of the two Italians.

Seventy pieces – created by Sottsass between 1957 and 1969 – are positioned throughout the two-storey space. Three 1.5-metre-tall coloured totems stand in the shop front, while smaller geometric vases sit on the sills of lens-shaped windows.

Photograph by Riccardo Tosetto, courtesy of the artist

Counterbalance: The Stone and The Mountain by Cody Choi and Wan Lee Korean Pavilion, Giardini

A collection of garish neon signs complete with phrases including "Free Orgasm" and "Major Credit Cards" cover the roof of Korea's national pavilion as a reference to the casinos of Las Vegas and Macao. The piece – titled Venetian Rhapsody – was created by artist Cody Choi to reflect on the "spectacle of global capitalism".

Artworks by Choi and fellow Korean artist Lee Wan fill the inside of the pavilion, all of which explore Korean identity through personal stories. Pieces include the vast archive of deceased Korean journalist Mr K and a wall of 668 clocks, moving at a rate determined by the amount of time it takes for individuals to earn a meal.

Photograph by Maria Nitulescu, courtesy of the artist and the Georgian Pavilion

Living Dog Among Dead Lions by Vahjiko Chachkhiani Georgian Pavilion, Arsenale

This year's Georgian Pavilion takes the form of small abandoned wooden hut, found in the Georgian countryside and reassembled by artist Vajiko Chachkhiani on-site. Furniture, pictures, lights and other household items are the only occupants of the cabin.

Chachkhiani has simulated a never-ending rainstorm inside the hut by puncturing the ceiling with hundreds of holes and installing an irrigation system above. Water puddles on the floor and furniture, and trickles through cracks in the wood. Visitors can watch the interior decay and rot over the course of the biennale, while the exterior of the house will remain untouched.

Photograph by Ruth Clark, courtesy of the artist, the British Council and Hauser & Wirth

Folly by Phyllida Barlow British Pavilion, Giardini

Huge bulbous coloured sculptures, skewered on spindly metal stands, cluster around the entrance of the neo-classical British Pavilion. Inside, a forest of grey columns overwhelm the interior of one gallery space while in another, a wall of coloured wooden panels with protruding spikes leans precariously.

Created by 73-year-old British sculptor Phyllida Barlow and commissioned by the British Council, the monumental sculptures are constructed from cardboard, paint, foam, plywood and concrete. They resemble both giant comic toys and theatrical architectural remains.

Photograph by Nadine Fraczkowski, courtesy of the artist and the German Pavilion

Faust by Anne Imhof German Pavilion, Giardini

Artist Anne Imhof has transformed the Nazi-era German Pavilion into a hostile stage set for her Faust exhibition. The front entrance has been blocked with anti-riot wire fencing and a pair of Doberman dogs stand guard. Inside, an unnerving raised glass floor spans the white space and glass pedestals jut out from the walls.

At points in the day, groups of young performers dressed entirely in black sportswear occupy the space. They move emotionlessly amongst visitors against a backdrop of harsh metallic music – crawling under the glass floor, dragging their feet and bizarrely embracing.

Undeniably the busiest pavilion, Faust has been awarded this year's prestigious Golden Lion prize. It was described by the jury as "a powerful and disturbing installation that poses urgent questions about our time".

Photograph by Sandro E E Zanzinger, courtesy of TBA21

Green Light project by Studio Olafur Eliasson and Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary Central Pavilion, Giardini

Berlin-based artist Olafur Eliasson's Green Light is a workshop-cum-studio at the heart of the Giardini's Central Pavilion. It brings together visitors and refugees to make geometric lamps designed by the artist, which are then on sale to raise money for two NGOs. The project is centred around collaboration and conversation, with language courses, seminars and film screenings also being hosted in the space.

Eliasson says Green Light displays a "modest strategy for addressing the challenges and responsibilities arising from mass displacement and migration" – a recurring theme of the whole biennale.

Photograph by Joshua White, courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth

Tomorrow is Another Day by Mark Bradford US Pavilion, Giardini

American artist Mark Bradford has turned the stately Palladian-style US Pavilion into a ruin. Visitors are greeted by litter scattered across the gravel outside, before entering the pavilion through a side door. The first room has a bulbous red and black mass hanging from the ceiling where it appears to have given way, and the central rotunda now has peeling and patchy walls.

Los Angeles-based Bradford intends for the crumbling pavilion to address the discrimination of black, gay and other marginalised groups, particularly in America today. "I felt like a lot of the progress we've made to be inclusive, to make sure young little trans kids are safe, was gone in the blink of an eye," Bradford said.

Photograph by Gréaudstudio, courtesy of the artist, Cody Choi

The Unplayed Notes Factory by Loris Gréaud Campellio della Pescheria, Murano

For this year's biennale, French artist Loris Gréaud has resurrected a disused factory on the island of Murano – Venice's famous centre of glassmaking.

The furnace is transformed into a repetitive and hypnotic production line, with glassblowers working to create up to 1,000 pieces that hang from the roof of the factory. Gréaud describes the immersive exhibition – titled The Unplayed Notes Factory – as a "true tableau vivant".

Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable by Damien Hirst Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana

British artist Damien Hirst's Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable is rumoured to be one of the most expensive exhibitions ever put on by a contemporary artist. The vast show takes over two of the city’s museums – the Punta della Dogana and the Palazzo Grassi – and contains almost 200 new artworks, including 100 sculptures in precious materials such as gold, marble, bronze and crystal.

The objects – the largest of which is a 16-metre barnacle-encrusted decapitated demon in the Palazzo's courtyard – were supposedly lost in a legendary shipwreck 2,000 years ago and rescued from the sea by the Turner Prize-winning artist. Hirst plays with the concepts of reality and originality, claiming the much-discussed exhibition is "all about what you want to believe."

Photograph by Giacomo Cosua, courtesy of the artist and ADAGP

Studio Venezia by Xavier Veilhan French Pavilion, Giardini

French sculptor Xavier Veilhan has transformed his national pavilion into a working recording studio, putting music at its centre. Veilhan remodelled the interior to create a faceted wooden, soundproofed shell with oversized instruments integrated into the floors.

Over the next seven months, more than 100 musicians – ranging from classical to electronic – will used the studio to experiment and record their work, both solo and in collaboration with other musicians.

Photograph by Richard Ivey, courtesy of Michael Werner Gallery New York and London

The Golden Tower by James Lee Byars Campo San Vio, Dorsoduro

A 20-metre-tall golden totem has been erected in Venice's Campo San Vio and will tower over the Grand Canal for the duration of the biennale. The sculpture was created by the late American artist James Lee Byars in 1976 but is being exhibited in a public space – as Byars intended – for the first time.

Presented by Fondazione Giuliani and Michael Werner Gallery, the glowing tower is entirely gilded and took several months to craft. Consequently it is being guarded around the clock, but it can be spotted from across the city.

Photograph by Simon Vogel, courtesy of Galerie Nagel Draxler in Berlin/Cologne

Shipyard by Michael Beutler Giardino delle Vergini, Arsenale

German artist Michael Beutler's shipyard installation is a salute to the original identity of the Arsenale. The artist has constructed an enormous floating boathouse from Douglas fir using a mixture of traditional European and Asian joinery techniques.

Stacks of wood, piles of offcuts and boards mounted with plans give the illusion of a worksite that has recently been inhabited. The ghostly worksite is located in the walled Giardino delle Vergini, away from the biennale crowds.

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