Chiesa parrocchiale di San Nicolao della Flue
In Milan's Forlanini district, the Chiesa parrocchiale di San Nicolao della Flue stands raised high above street level. That high base holds parish facilities and the Delfino Cinema Theatre. It was conceived in the early 1960s, when Milan's expansion left a growing community without a parish.
A first design came in 1962 from the Zurich architect Fritz Metzger. Metzger's proposal went unrealized, and the commission passed to Ignazio Gardella, a renowned Milanese architect, who worked with Anna Castelli Ferrieri. Construction followed, and the church rose between 1968 and 1970. Its most distinctive feature is a sail-shaped roof, carried by a series of curved concrete portals.
Inside, the same curved portals divide the space into three naves. The central one rises well above its neighbours, opening a tall vertical space. Light streams through slit windows, and Pino Grioni's stained glass adds its colour. From the cinema below to the sail above, the whole building climbs toward that light.
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