Benedetta Tagliabue – EMBT

‘San Giacomo Apostolo’
Church and Parish Complex

The ‘San Giacomo Apostolo’ parish complex integrates into Ferrara’s landscape and acts as a catalyst for the surrounding area, becoming a new centre that enhances the identity of the place and promotes socialization, education, and interaction within the local community of Ferrara. The building contrasts the solid and compact historical structures of the city with a lightweight and delicate piece of architecture, which blends into its context as an open and permeable space.
The church’s is characterised by exceptional volumes and archetypal forms that make it recognisable as a sacred space. A suspended light roof evokes a sense of upward tension while maintaining a link to nature through its organic geometries. The suspended canopy fans out undulating around a skylight, recalling both the image of a hot-air balloon and the shell of San Giacomo.
Inside, the skylight illuminates the altar, which serves as the focal point of the church around which the side chapel, baptistery, and all associated spaces are organized. Next to the central space of the church, the building’s profile adopts a more intimate scale to house adjacent spaces for the sacristy, the parish house, a community meeting hall and 8 classrooms for various activities. The latter engages with the adjoining school, ensuring a strong connection between the parish complex and its surroundings.