Ephemeral Religious Architecture—The Visits of the Pope to Madrid

Abstract

On the occasion of mass religious events, liturgical ceremonies leave the temple and occupy public space. That is the case of the visits of the Pope or World Youth Days. How does architecture approach the ephemeral construction of this space? What architectural strategies can be used? In the city, the roles are inverted, and the exterior public space becomes an interior delimited by streets and facades that contain the assembly of faithful. How can this urban transformation be “designed”? This article presents several architectural strategies materialized in a series of ephemeral religious architecture projects in the city of Madrid: the stands for the visit of the Pope in Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, Plaza de Colón, Plaza de Cibeles, and Cuatro Vientos airfield. Each of these projects, located in very different urban settings, proposes a different architectural approach. It is evident how the architectural project is, in each case, a response to the characteristics of the urban site in which it is located. City and architecture establish a direct and reciprocal relationship, in which the urban form shapes the architecture that hosts the religious event; vice versa, architecture integrates the city, its limits, its streets, and its facades into the project.

The city features beautiful and dignified spaces, potentially suitable for certain religious celebrations. When the events are simple, the city itself is sufficient: streets and squares become walls, façades become altarpieces, and passages become corridors. These large-scale monumental elements transform the conception of urban space through minimal actions; the reorganization of places where people stand, the stopping of traffic, the placement of furniture, or the traditional processions are economical and effective operations that momentarily modify the perception of the city and enrich the life of its inhabitants (Arboix-Alió and Mària Serrano 2013).

However, the Pope’s visit to a city involves a deployment in which the urban space and these small performances alone are not enough. The level of logistical and programmatic demands, together with the enormous influx of people around a single person, make it necessary to build an ephemeral architecture that structures the space, integrates it with the existing city, and signifies the principal of the religious act presided over by the Pope.

Over the last few years, Vicens + Ramos architecture studio has had the opportunity to act in the city of Madrid (Figure 1) for the adaptation of the platforms for the visit of the Pope. With John Paul II, these were in 1982, in Santiago Bernabéu stadium; in 1993, in Plaza Colón; and in 2003, again in Plaza Colón and Cuatro Vientos aerodrome. With Benedict XVI, this was in 2011 on the occasion of World Youth Day, with stages in Plaza Cibeles and again at Cuatro Vientos aerodrome.

In all these architectural interventions, there is one main objective: to highlight the presence of one person in a million; to see and hear the Pope perfectly. They must also respond to three major challenges: understanding and integration into the existing urban setting, the significance of the architecture as a visible symbol, and the resolution of the program and its temporal condition. The objective of this article is to present these ephemeral architectures by detailing the conception and project process from two complementary perspectives: first concerning the urban context in which they are located and second in relation to the architectural form as a symbol.

The article utilizes a comparative approach between the projects as a research tool (Mària Serrano and Musquera-Felip 2023), focusing particularly on graphic comparisons of drawings at the same scale, original project sketches, and relevant references.

1. Antecedents

There is no specific Church document on liturgical space in ephemeral architecture. However, to the extent that the liturgy itself requires it, the same requirements as a conventional church must be taken into account. There are many relevant post-Vatican II texts on sacred art and liturgy to be taken into account in the design of spaces for liturgical celebration. We highlight the documents Inter OEcumenici (Acta Apostolicae Sedis 56 1964), Letter on the Conservation of the Historical Artistic Heritage of the Church (Acta Apostolicae Sedis 63 1971), and Pastoral Liturgical Directory on Setting and Art in the Place of Celebration (Pastoral Litúrgica 1987), among others, collected in the compendium by Andrés Pardo (Pardo 1992). Before approaching the specific analysis of the interventions, it is important to highlight three main lines of references and background that converge in these projects. The first gathers a whole tradition of ephemeral architectures that in Spain has a great development from the early sixteenth century to the eighteenth century, with a special focus on Baroque Madrid. Secondly, other relevant projects from the XX century, and finally, Vicens + Ramos research developed in their professional career in the field of contemporary sacred architecture. (Vicens Hualde and Ramos Abengózar 2007).

The city of Madrid, In particular, has a profound historical relationship with Baroque ephemeral architecture. Antonio Bonet Correa described this period in Baroque Madrid, where the lack of monumentality of the city in comparison with other great capitals, was counteracted by a great display of ephemeral structures that embellished the city for great occasions and radically transformed it: false facades for processions and parades, provisional altars, triumphal arches or tumuli, and catafalques (Bonet Correa 1993). Luis Moya Blanco placed special emphasis on the scenographic and festive character of the city of Madrid at that time, which was adorned with great dazzling events such as royal weddings, receptions, funerals, canonizations, or entrances of kings and ambassadors, for which “false architectures of wood, plaster and cloth were applied on its smooth and poor walls, (…) and in the same way, triumphal arches, temples and colonnades were made, placed in such a way as to enhance the picturesque effect of streets and squares” (Moya Blanco 1952, 11). Some of these Baroque ephemeral architectures have been analyzed and redrawn in the thesis Baroque Ephemeral Architecture by Ignacio Vicens (Vicens Hualde 1986). They are a clear reference and are part of the imaginary of the Vicens + Ramos studio when approaching these projects.

Among the notable precedents of temporary altars in contemporary architecture, two important projects from the 1950s are worth mentioning: by Rudolf Schwarz in 1956 in Cologne, on the occasion of the LXXVII German Catholicism Conference, and his work The Church incarnate (Schwarz 1958); and by Josep Soteras Mauri in 1952 in Barcelona, developed for the “XXXV International Eucharistic Congress”. Scholars such as Esteban Fernández Cobián (Fernández Cobián 2005) (Fernández Cobián 2010) and Eduardo Delgado Orusco (Delgado Orusco 1999) examined these projects and drew connections to the architectural works of Vicens + Ramos discussed in this article.

Finally, these small ephemeral projects of sacred architecture are part of a broader research and professional practice, which is related to the projects of churches designed by Vicens + Ramos throughout their career. This research, both practical and theoretical, has been presented and published in several conferences, including the I International Congress of Contemporary Religious Architecture (CIARC) “Architectures of the Sacred. Memory and Project” (2007) or the III CIARC “Beyond the Sacred Building. Architecture and Evangelization” (2013).

2. Existing Urban Space—The Strategy

2.1. Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, 1982

The first project took place on the occasion of the visit of John Paul II in 1982 to Santiago Bernabéu Stadium (Figure 2), to celebrate a meeting with young people. A football stadium is a construction that is halfway between an urban space and a building. This intermediate condition is more accentuated when its original function as a sporting event is altered: the playing field, a piece of grass unreachable to the public, becomes a place for the public to sit in.

Suggesting that the Pope be surrounded by as many people as possible was the first decision. Santiago Bernabéu Stadium is already designed to accommodate thousands of people around an event. It is also a very vertical stadium compared to others with even greater capacity, which gives a sense of closeness to the audience. The stadium itself, therefore, meets a very important part of the initial requirements. The stands are the walls of the great theater and they do not need any refurbishment. The intervention began, therefore, where the pre-existing was not sufficient. Instead of placing the Pope in the tribune, it was proposed to place him on the lawn, in the middle of the stadium and free-standing, allowing people to occupy the lawn and increasing the capacity by around 40,000 more people. To this end, a white baldachin was built on a podium that would allow the Pope to address the crowd with a 360° view, enhancing the enveloping quality of the stadium itself.

2.2. Plaza Colón, 1993 and 2003

Ten years later, the placement of a baldachin at a central point was also the ideal strategy for the platform in Plaza Colón both in 1993 and 2003 (Figure 3), despite the context being completely opposite to the homogeneous and delimited environment of the Bernabéu Stadium. Plaza Colón in Madrid is a large and indeterminate urban space, fairly chaotic, with buildings of all kinds, with banners and pennants, and without unity. The platform was located in a central position, at the visual confluence of Castellana, Goya, and Genova streets, which prevented the construction of a background element for the Pope, who must be identifiable from all four directions.

In this context, a focal element was needed, a reference that would stand out against all the noise of the surroundings, and it was essential that its language should be one of serenity. The baldachin, at the same time as it was a symbol of the Pope, was the solution to these site conditions: it was a very specific element, with little horizontal development, which allowed it to be seen in its entirety from the distant perspectives created, for example, by Génova street, which descends towards Colón, or from the visual corridor created by the trees of the boulevards of Paseo de Recoletos and Castellana. To make it stand out, it was also placed on a series of platforms to raise it and make it more visible, thus solving other types of programmatic problems.

2.3. Plaza Cibeles, 2011

A few years later, a meeting with the Pope took place less than 600 m from Colón, in Plaza Cibeles. This is also an urban situation with a confluence of large streets, but this square is dominated by the presence of a large building, an undeniable landmark, in front of which a platform was to be built: the current Town Hall, formerly the Post Office Palace, designed by Antonio de Palacios. With its neo-Plateresque façade, full of detail and great expressiveness, it acted as a great urban altarpiece (Figure 4).

The aim was to create a serene, soft space that would not compete with the existing architecture and would emphasize the presence of the Pope and his message. A clean, white surface was proposed that would curve in on itself, encompassing the liturgical space and creating an envelope; an abstract and clear operation, designed to stand out in silence against the imposing architecture in the background. This operation also solved another problem arising from its position in the square: since it had to be attached to a concave façade, the more it faced the square, the more visible it would be. The curved, cantilevered plane allowed it to lean out and make its presence felt, but avoided any lateral elements that might obstruct side views.

2.4. Cuatro Vientos Aerodrome, 2003 and 2011

All these approaches to architectures that are in dialogue with the existing city change radically when they are proposed in a completely empty environment without references, in an open field and without visual restrictions, as is the case with the Cuatro Vientos aerodrome—a place chosen twice: for John Paul II in 2003 and for Benedict XVI in 2011 (Figure 5). In this place, the important thing is to create a background that serves as a reference. It is no longer a question of competition or dialogue, but of a construction that focuses attention in the midst of a place of almost unfathomable dimensions. It must, therefore, be a large building, with dignity in itself and a certain expressiveness.

In 2003, a very geometric solution was proposed based on a large yellow wall that served as a monumental backdrop. A large white canopy flying over the wall marked the place of the Pope. A luminous cross on one side and a large screen served as a counterpoint. The rest was resolved by a series of platforms, also white.

In the 2011 proposal, the scale and location of the platforms were the same, but with a very different image: a large white topography, made of recycled fabrics stiffened and painted white, which acted as a large backdrop and were curved to form the same raised floor in continuity. It was a proposal of great material expressiveness, but at the same time of great essentiality. In the middle of this, a sculpture was created to symbolize a large tree that shaded, signaled, and illuminated the main place. These were two solutions which, in relation to the urban platforms, were much more expressive and prominent. Perhaps they had a very different language and materialization, but they had a similar essential nature: two colors, rounded and clear elements, similar dimensions, and a similar way of structuring the pre-existing space.

It is clear from this series of proposals (Figure 6) that the understanding of place is the first major factor to be taken into account. The qualities of the urban environment in which they are to be inserted are the trigger for the project itself. The space available is much more than an area that can be used for seating. Architecture must enhance the intrinsic qualities of the site, identify the defining elements, and ensure that the architecture enhances or, where appropriate, complements them. Dimension, expressiveness, geometry, orientation, materiality, and language, among others, are specific tools of architecture that must be put at the service of not only the building itself, but also of the city and its surroundings.

3. Signifying Architecture—The Visible Symbol

Beyond the strategy adopted about the city, which has to do with the understanding of place, architecture must be meaningful. Michael John Zielinski says “that the church space should still strive to answer that need of the sacred that dwells in each of us” (Zielinski 2013). It is not about creating a theater stage, but a space that has real meaning in accordance with the act that takes place in it, in this case a liturgical act. In this sense, it is important to fulfill a series of requirements, which will be defined later, but above all, the halo of the sacred must hover over them.

On the other hand, Sacrosanctum Concilium1 insists upon the irrevocable value of the aesthetic dimension of liturgical buildings. Historically, the Church has been a protagonist in an incessant adventure of creativity, and conserved the richest artistic treasure; consequently, and in accordance with its historic role, which must not be interrupted, combined with its Catholic, universal, and open disposition, the Church claims an attitude that encourages art without adhering to a specific style by accepting the forms of each time: “the art of our own days, (…) shall also be given free scope in the Church, provided that it adorns the sacred buildings and holy rites with due reverence and honor; thereby it is enabled to contribute its own voice to that wonderful chorus of praise in honor of the Catholic faith sung by great men in times gone by” (Sacrosanctum Concilium 1963, VII, 123).

It is, therefore, necessary for a space of this type to respond in a contemporary way to both the spiritual and aesthetic dimensions, taking into account the legacy of the Church. To this end, the ephemeral architecture built must carry a meaning, which, in its dialogue with the pre-existing space, forms a true space suitable for worship.

Moreover, each of these projects can be associated with elements and typologies of Baroque ephemeral architecture, such as baldachins, altarpiece façades, and landscapes (Figure 7). This connection references the urban scenographies and ephemeral architectures of the Baroque period, as discussed by Bonet (Bonet Correa 1993).

3.1. The Baldachin

One way of entering into dialogue with ecclesiastical tradition and creating a place for the celebration of the liturgical act is to use an element typical of sacred architecture. For both the Santiago Bernabéu and Colón platforms, a baldachin was built in a central position. As already described, this solved several environmental problems and gave order to the space. The baldachin2, which combines architecture and furniture, was historically used in churches to mark the altar as the most important place in the room. It was often made of textile elements that hung like a canopy, ’dressing’ the space. This textile condition, associated with the word itself3, was explicitly reflected in Santiago Bernabéu (Figure 8). It was a white structure that outlined the edges of a square prism, 5 m on each side and 7.5 m high, through columns and beams with a square section of 30 cm on each side. On top of this structure, there was a piece of fabric that fell in a catenary from one side of the structure to the other in a natural way.

The second baldachin, set in Colón in 1993, had to be larger because the space was larger and the program more complex. On this occasion, this element was reduced to its most abstract and pure form, a cube of 8.50 m on each side, eliminating the piece of fabric and covering everything with a clean, solid plane. Finally, in 2003, in the same urban place, the same proportions as in 1993 were used, again covered with a fabric, but in this case stretched, which made it possible to recover this historical value and at the same time to better control the shadows cast without losing the clarity of the supporting structure.

However, regardless of the proportions and the use of the fabric, in all cases, it was decided that the language of the design should be extremely sober and simple, but at the same time effective and beautiful. A single color and a single material were used, which was one of the reasons for the design’s success: clarity and sobriety, so that nothing would distract from what was really important, namely, the Pope and the ceremony.

3.2. The Altarpiece

In Plaza Cibeles, the façade of the City Hall building was already capable of becoming, almost by itself, a reference to the sacred space. Its symmetrical, monumental, highly expressive façade, crowned with pinnacles and rich in detail, had many elements in common with a Baroque altarpiece. Any attempt to compete in form ran the risk of being diluted or saturated by the scale of the building. It was, therefore, decided to create only silence amid all this formal and monumental display, so that their contrast would enhance each other. This gives prominence to what already is there, by making the form almost disappear. This does not mean being invisible, nor was that what was sought, but it does mean striving to reduce it to the minimum expression (Figure 9).

The form was derived from the curvature of the plane of the floor on itself, creating a roof; a simple operation that at the same time ’protects’ the venue in the middle of the city. On the one hand, the space that folds in on itself creates a concave form that is, by definition, inviting. It is a form that both protects and dilutes the boundary between the plane of the ground and that of the sky, eliminating any horizon line and embracing mystery. On the other hand, the reference to a great white cloak that embraces the community is a reference to the Virgin, whose image needed to be present.

3.3. The Landscape

The design of Cuatro Vientos for WYD 2011 was perhaps the most direct from the point of view of meaning: a landscape was designed, i.e., a large topography that represented the spiritual path, like the ascent to the mountain of Christ (Figure 10). The mountain as a place of preaching, as a place of sacrifice, was the argument that gave meaning to the intervention.

This image had to be created with the appropriate serenity and language. As the only element of reference, it had to be the support for everything, and as such, it had to be an element capable of taking center stage when necessary and disappearing at other times. It was a platform that had to allow for many forms of use at many times of the day. The white surface allowed it to support projected lighting effects for concerts, spaces, and venues for different activities. At night, the tree that shaded the Pope’s area during the day was illuminated with its own light, standing out in the middle of the white landscape, symbolizing the light of Christ, like the tree of life. At a certain moment, the custodia of the Cathedral of Toledo was raised from the ground through a hydraulic mechanism, and for a few moments, there was total silence and a moment of Adoration.

This landscape condition is accentuated by the fact that it presided over and acted as a backdrop for a long period of time. The events in the center of the city had to be fast and agile, and when they were over the people had to leave so that the normal rhythm of the city could be restored; however, in Cuatro Vientos, the platform had to preside without interruption for more than 24 h. The pilgrims stayed there for two days, the Pope held a vigil in the evening and a Mass the next morning, and the young people spent the night outdoors. There are many moments that occurred during this time, including the weather, the light, the passage of time, the movement of people. It was ephemeral, but its perception during the time used was very stable.

4. The Encounter with Reality—The Invisible

Nobody realizes—nor have they reason to—that it is much more of what is not seen than of what is. The main thing is for the Pope to be seen well, to arrange the attendees well, for the platform to be attractive, etc. However, underneath all that is an entire world: sacristies for the Pope, cardinals, bishops, and priests, where more than three hundred people can change comfortably, with separate entrances and their toilets; a protected area for the authorities in the event of an emergency; a visitors’ room to receive some politicians; a lift so that the Pope can easily get to the level of the Mass (in 2003, for example, John Paul II was already very ill); technical rooms for those who control the sound, lighting and screens; security and safe pathways. Few performances require more dedication than these ephemeral constructions, not to mention the ability to improvise to deal with the infinite number of setbacks and emergencies.

Post-conciliar structures must be multidirectional, with diverse focal points and differentiated spaces. They are complex spaces that include the collective and the personal, where symmetry gives way to eurhythmy, convergence to polycentrism, and a static contemplative disposition to participatory dynamic. This situation, which in the interior space of a church allows the building itself to be the guarantor of a suitable atmosphere and a specific environment in accordance with the intentions of the project, when it is placed in the middle of the city and is intended to respond to everything, runs the risk of diluting the intensity of the action, resulting in a collection of objects, liturgical furnishings, and scattered places without any order. The architectural project must manage to integrate within this significant architecture that responds to the aesthetic and the visual.

In all the urban projects (Bernabéu, Colón, and Cibeles), the way to solve this problem was to create a new ground plane, through a series of platforms and twin volumes that constituted ’the base’. This base, using the same geometric language, color, and material, made it possible to create all the necessary spaces and circulations without competing with the main symbol (Figure 11). This can be seen by comparing the two platforms in Plaza Colón: one was elliptical and included the islands of the square, while the other was rectangular and located in the middle of the islands. However, the shape of these platforms is essentially unimportant to a spectator 100 m away. It is effective and relevant to the ceremony, as it fits the space and dignifies it, but its formal impact is only what is strictly necessary.

Far from being a burden, however, this set of platforms is an essential element at all levels. On the one hand, it structures the space; on the other, it enhances the main element, dignifies it, elevates it, marks out circulations, and provides an intermediate area to prepare for arrival. It is not possible to go directly from the asphalt to the altar. It could be said that this ’base’ element solves the encounter with reality in all possible senses: firstly, as an encounter with physical reality, with curbs, trees, pavements, etc., with the city from a literal point of view, and secondly, as a meeting with the reality of the program. This is the element that allows the insertion of a significant element of a reality that seeks to transcend the reality of concrete needs. The base is the support in reality from a conceptual, programmatic, and physical point of view.

5. Conclusions

Ephemeral architecture is capable of configuring and transforming urban space. The city provides empty space that can be occupied in many ways. Through the precise placement of an object, it is possible to change the conception of an environment much larger than the surface it occupies. The position, the scale, the architectural qualities of that piece, or its meaning are variables that can be used to achieve this change.

During the visits of the Pope to Madrid, it was necessary to use urban space to host a series of events that no church or cathedral could satisfy. However, these urban spaces are not sufficient on their own and must be adapted for this purpose through certain temporary constructions. Each of the projects, located in very different urban enclaves, proposed a different architectural approach. It is clear that each architectural project is a response to the characteristics of the urban enclave in which it is located. A direct and reciprocal relationship is established between the city and architecture, in which the urban form itself shapes the architectural piece that hosts the religious event and, vice versa, architecture integrates the city, its boundaries, its streets, and its façades, into the project itself (Figure 12).

Given the magnitude of the requirements and the transience of an event of this type, there is a risk of falling into the solution of a technical and logistical problem; in the simple adaptation of spaces that meet the functional conditions; in the construction of a series of platforms and temporary stands, whose systematized assembly and disassembly allows it to solve the problem of time and probably some of its practical functions. However, limiting ourselves to this would mean avoiding one of the essential issues of the event: to transform the city into a sacred space suitable for a liturgical celebration. Neglecting the spiritual dimension would mean reducing the space of the (urban) temple to an ordinary space, neither sacred nor significant, and therefore, useless.

On the other hand, there is a risk that architecture becomes the main focus, distracting attention from what is important. A religious celebration involves both the multitudinous and the personal, because it is a large gathering of people around a central figure, which needs to accommodate the crowd as well as highlight the Pope. However, the Pope is not an aim in himself, but seeks to move people through his message. Therefore, the language of this architecture must allow it to focus on the essence of the act, without claiming prominence.

This is the invisible, hidden, but absolutely necessary work of architecture. It allows things to happen that could not happen without it. Probably, no one will remember the architecture. However, everyone will remember the act and how, for a moment, the city became a cathedral. In this sense, this article aims to be a sort of direct testimony of a fleeting architecture, only salvageable by memory: “The written testimonies or relations and graphic representations, drawings and engraved plates have perpetuated the image of an architecture that, only from the existence of these documents, acquires for us a historical reality, as important and significant as that of the architecture built firmly and in perpetuity” (Bonet Correa 1993, 26).