Vatican Chapels

This beautifully illustrated book retraces the entire creation process of an unusual challenge presented to ten architects; an inspirational volume for all those interested in contemporary architecture.

This unique publication, catalogue of the Holy See Pavilion at the XVI International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Biennale, presents ten chapels designed by ten of the most important contemporary architects whose work was inspired by the "chapel in the forest" built in the Stockholm Cemetery, in 1920, by the famous architect Gunnar Asplund. The chapel is defined as a place of orientation, encounter, and meditation created in a natural setting of a vast woodland and regarded as a metaphor of the pilgrimage of life. In light of this, the architects of the Holy See Pavilion have worked without following the commonly recognized reference models, as the number and variety of the projects presented illustrates.

Francesco Dal Co has taught history of architecture at the University Institute of Architecture in Venice, the School of Architecture, Yale University, and the Academy of Architecture of the University of Southern Switzerland. He has directed La Biennale di Venezia and is the editor of Casabella magazine.