Chiesa parrocchiale di Pentecoste

On Via Carlo Perini in Milan's Quarto Oggiaro district stands a vast white parallelepiped: the Chiesa parrocchiale di Pentecoste. Boris Podrecca designed it, and the church was inaugurated in 2017. Its most striking feature is an enormous three-dimensional cross that marks the sacred space from afar. A grand bronze portal sits at the heart of the concrete-framed facade and draws you into the main hall.

Inside, one vast auditorium leads straight to the main altar. Wooden panelling covers the ceiling and runs down the right wall, warming the whole room. Daylight filters through a zenithal cut in that ceiling and spreads a serene glow. A stone baptistery of unusual shape stands to the right of the entrance. On the left, a chapel keeps a Via Crucis brought from an older church. The presbytery gathers a red Verona marble altar, a wooden housing for the Eucharistic tabernacle and a crucifix. Alabaster panels light the whole arrangement, fed from an eastern niche.

A parish centre runs parallel to the main building, reached through a large glass door or straight from the central nave. It offers communal rooms, a multifunctional hall and accommodation for the clergy. From streets away, the cross fixes your eye. Inside, the alabaster glow holds it.