Santi Angeli Custodi church, Modern Catholic church in Milan, Italy.
Santi Angeli Custodi stands on via Pietro Colletta, set back from the street behind a small sagrato reached by a staircase. Several exposed-brick parallelepipeds are grouped around a central cube, the largest volume cut by vertical grooves. Inside, the longitudinal plan puts the altar almost at the centre, benches surrounding it on all sides; the walls are exposed concrete pierced by slits of coloured glass by Costantino Ruggeri. The building covers 1,150 m² and holds 1,000 people.
The church was designed in 1965 by architects Carlo Bassi and Goffredo Boschetti as part of a post-war effort to build new religious spaces across Milan. It emerged during a period of rapid urban growth when expanding neighborhoods required modern sacred buildings that could serve developing parishes.
The church is one of the 22 churches built for the Second Vatican Council, and its layout puts that reform into practice: the altar stands almost in the centre, with pews arranged on every side rather than in rows facing one wall. The stained-glass slits in the concrete walls were designed by the Franciscan father Costantino Ruggeri.
The building sits in a residential neighborhood and is easy to reach on foot. Visitors should be aware that access may be limited during services and appropriate attire is expected.
The building was part of a broad program to construct dozens of churches across Milan during the 1960s, a project few people know about today. This initiative made the city a laboratory for modern religious architecture in the post-war period.
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