Publications, Acknowledgments

Modular curtain wall system in the Church of Miribilla

15/04/2020

Modular curtain wall system for religious expression in the Church of Miribilla

The evolution of glass and systems capable of supporting and accommodating larger panels of light has marked the history of architecture and especially religious architecture. The execution of the façade for the Parish of Saint Maria Josefa in the Bilbao neighborhood of Miribilla, with a modular curtain wall system, represented a great responsibility for the entire Riventi team. Aware of the symbolic value that this building would represent for its parishioners and for the new neighborhood, we faced this challenge with great enthusiasm and expectation for the final result.

Both the “campanile” and the southwest facade are made with the Riventi RDS modular system. Both form a set with its own identity, as a light filter and differentiated from the rest of the building's volume through the use of aluminum as a coating. The system used allowed IMB architects respond to a free composition of the façade, through individual elements of different depths. Up to three different levels generate an exterior volumetric game that is identified on the inside with a coloured glass filter symbolising the different times of the liturgical year (Advent, Christmas, Lent and Ordinary).

Beyond the exterior appearance of the building, of which we are very proud, what was much more satisfying for us was seeing the effect, totally controlled, of the entry of light into the interior through the structural façade, which acted as a stained glass window, and as a night lantern towards the exterior.

The use of glass elements in religious architecture has always sought to connect with the spiritual through the sensorial. To do so, it has used controlled light inputs, colour in stained glass, and now, with curtain wall technology, transparency that connects the interior of the temple with the exterior, allowing passers-by to view the central nave of the temple from the street.

Awards

2004 Restricted ideas competition. First prize
2008 XI Venice Biennale of International Architecture Selected work for the Spanish pavilion exhibition
2010 1st Prize ExAequo, COAVN Architecture Awards