Invenzione. In Renaissance and Baroque Italy, this word signified the artistic imagination and the ability of an artist to conceive something new. Something new, however, was not invented out of thin air. Early Modern artists studied the achievements of their predecessors in an effort to discern the rules that governed the making of art. An artist praised as displaying invenzione was an artist who knew the rules and could create something new within them.
Though we don’t use the word invenzione in the same way anymore, the concept is alive and well in Rome and can be seen in American architect Richard Meier’s Jubilee Church in the suburban neighborhood of Tor Tre Teste. Consecrated in October 2003, after years of construction, Meier’s church appears almost to be made out of light. Three huge cast concrete “sails” delineate the building’s form as they arch toward the heavens. Glass walls between the “sails” allow light itself to be the element that defines the sacred space within. At night, light emanates from the building creating an ethereal presence and animating the surrounding suburban landscape.
Though his church is ultra-contemporary, Meier cites 17th-century architect Francesco Borromini as being among the artists who inspired his design. Meier particularly admires Borromini’s church of Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza near Piazza Navona for its magnificent white interior and its ability to capture and direct sunlight, thereby providing the visitor with a transcendental experience. He wanted his church to offer something similar:
Light is the protagonist of our understanding and reading of space. Light is the means by which we are able to experience what we call sacred. Light is at the origins of this building… In the Jubilee Church, the three concrete shells define an enveloping atmosphere in which the light from the skylights above creates a luminous spatial experience, and the rays of sunlight serve as a mystical metaphor of the presence of God…
Meier is more than happy to acknowledge the influence of the past on his work. Though he wanted to create a church firmly grounded in our own contemporary aesthetic, he also wanted to pay homage to Rome’s extensive architectural past. “With the Jubilee Church, we have worked to create a new Roman Catholic church for the 21st century – a landmark that upholds and builds upon the city’s rich architectural tradition,” he stated.
The 108,414 square-foot complex is not just a place of worship, but is also meant to be a social center for the lower/middle class neighborhood in which it is located. In addition to the Jubilee Church (officially it is dedicated to Dio Padre Misericordioso), Meier also designed a community center that serves as a social, educational, and recreational gathering place for the immediate area’s 8000 residents.
