San Nicolao della Flue church, Modernist church in Forlanini district, Milan, Italy
San Nicolao della Flue is a church with three naves where the central section rises higher than the side areas, supported by curved concrete supports. Narrow slit windows along the walls flood the interior with changing light throughout the day.
Architect Ignazio Gardella designed this building in collaboration with Anna Castelli Ferrieri, with construction finished in 1970. It emerged during Milan's post-war expansion into newly developing residential neighborhoods.
The church is dedicated to Nicholas of Flüe, patron saint of Switzerland, because the Forlanini district was built in the early 1960s when a new parish was needed. Don Piero Carnelli, the first parish priest, strongly wanted Pino Grioni's 134 stained-glass windows and the ten "Quadroni" panels on the side walls; the parish is now part of the Charles de Foucault pastoral community.
The building sits on a raised foundation that houses community spaces and a cinema theater below. Entry to the church itself is straightforward, with the elevated position creating a distinctive presence above street level.
The 134 stained-glass windows by painter Pino Grioni were strongly backed by don Piero Carnelli, the parish's first priest and a close friend of the artist. Grioni also painted the ten "Quadroni" on the side walls and "Jerusalem nova", a canvas wrapped around the concrete lift cylinder at eye level that catches the eye of everyone entering.
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