A novel and interdisciplinary perspective on post-war church building.

DOCOMOMO International would like to draw your attention to a new book publication entitled Territories of Faith. Religion, Urban Planning and Demographic Change in Post-War Europe. Sterken, Sven and Weyns, Eva (eds.), Leuven University Press, 2022.

A book about the interference between urban planning and church building in the 1960s across Europe. In the 1950s and 1960s, thousands of churches were built across Europe in an attempt to keep up with the continent’s rapid urbanisation. This book addresses the immense effort related to the planning, financing, and construction of this new religious infrastructure. Going beyond aspects of style and liturgy, and transcending a focus on particular architects or regions, this volume considers church building at the crossroads of pastoral theology, religious sociology, and urban planning. Presenting the rich palette of strategies and methods deployed by congregations, dioceses, government bodies, and private patrons in their attempt to secure a religious presence in the rapidly modernising world, Territories of Faith offers a broad view of the practice of religion and its material expression in the fast-evolving (sub)urban landscapes of post-war Europe.

The book can be purchased here.