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The San Giovanni Battista parish church complex in Lecce is explicitly modernist in inspiration. The focus is on the exploration and poetic experience of space. White forms enclose spaces that are modeled by the variations of natural light. As the late Canadian architect Arthur Erikson once remarked, "With light as the palette... we can bring soul and spirit back into architecture and perhaps find our own souls in the process."

Conrad Thake is an architect, urban planner, and historian based on the Mediterranean island of Malta. He has a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley and was recently admitted as a member of CICA, the International Committee of Architectural Critics.

References

Cook, Maria. "The architect of soul — When Arthur Erickson designs a building it's not about bricks and mortar — it's about spiritual spaces." The Ottawa Citizen, May 21, 2009. Originally published August 20, 2006.

Le Corbusier. Quand les cathédrales étaient blanches. 1937. The English translation is When the Cathedrals Were White, New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, 1947.

Lobell, John. Between Silence and Light: Spirit in the Architecture of Louis I. Kahn. Shambhala Publications, 1979; 2nd ed., 2008.

Ponti, Giò. Amate l'architettura. Genova: Società editrice Vitali e Ghianda, 1957. An English translation was published and entitled In Praise of Architecture, New York City: F.W. Dodge Corporation, 1960. It was recently reprinted in its original Italian version in a new edition: Milan: Rizzoli Libri Illustrati, 2008. See p. 80.

Purini, Franco. Sette paesaggi = Seven Landscapes. Quaderni di Lotus, 12. Electa, 1989. See pp. 12 and 25.

Tafuri, Manfredo. History of Italian Architecture, 1944-1985. MIT press, 1989.

For commentaries on the architectural works of Purini and Thermes dating to the early 1980s, refer to Accasto, G., "Le cose nella casa. Considerazioni su un'architettura di Franco Purini e Laura Thermes." Lotus International, no. 40 (1983): 74-79; F. Purini, "Casa del farmacista di Gibellina (Sicilia): un cantiere nel sud", Lotus International, no. 40 (1983): 80-89. Also, Dal Co, F., "Francesco Purini e Laura Thermes. 65 abitazioni a Napoli' in Casabella 47, no. 494 (1983): 2-11.

Project: San Giovanni Battista Parish Complex, Lecce, Italy
Client: Archdiocese of Lecce
Design Architect: Franco Purini and Laura Thermes, with Adriano Cornoldi
Structural Engineers: Enzo Pierri (church), Andrea Cinuzi (bell tower)
General Contractor: Fratelli Marullo/ Calimera (Lecce)
Site Supervision: Raffaele Parlangeli
Art: Armando Marrocco, Mimmo Paladino

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SUBSCRIPTION SAMPLE Within the building's cubic volume, and defined by the sanctuary's irregular shape, is a kind of upper-story balcony that overlooks a forecourt. Photo: Massimiliano de Meo Extra Large Image Roman ruins in the city center of Lecce, Italy. Photo: Carlton Browne Extra Large Image SUBSCRIPTION SAMPLE The baroque facade of Lecce's Basilica of Santa Croce. Photo: Flickr user Yellow.Cat Extra Large Image San Giovanni Battista Parish Complex north-south section drawing through the sanctuary and stairs, looking east. Image: Franco Purini and Laura Thermes Extra Large Image San Giovanni Battista Parish Complex north-south section drawing through the side-entry corridor and sanctuary, looking east. Image: Franco Purini and Laura Thermes Extra Large Image San Giovanni Battista Parish Complex east-west section drawing through the sanctuary just inside the south wall, looking north. Image: Franco Purini and Laura Thermes Extra Large Image   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.