The Church ofPadre Pio

Designed by Arch. Renzo Piano

The Church of Padre Pio designed by Renzo Piano belongs to the architect's mature period. He has endeavoured to re-establish links with traditional materials, seeking out and experimenting their unexpressed technological values together with the desire to create a symbiotic relationship between new architecture and the specific characteristics of the surroundings.

The greatness of the work

The reinforced stone reveals all the greatness of both the design and the structural work. It is not easy to come across contemporary architecture stone constructions of those dimensions, usually we talk about small works or restorations. The Church of San Giovanni Rotondo is unique in this sense. The wide spaces, designed to gather thousands of pilgrims, are surmounted by structural stone arches. Almost a thousand years after the ancient gothic structures, Renzo Piano explores what can be done with stone. And our stone beautifully lends itself to the creation of works that are between poetry and the most daring technique.

Image gallery

Dell'Erba Marmi supplied an exceptional material characterized by outstanding mechanical and chromatic properties as well as uniform and minimal textures.Our laboratory worked on the preparation of the segments and of all the elements including finishing, with high precision and quality which are rare in this field. This resulted in the creation of a unique case, almost a sort of open-air manual of the processing opportunities that stone offers.Floors, coverings, structures, decorations and works of art conceived as different languages expressed by the artists who were invited to collaborate.

Renzo Piano himself visited our quarries several times to choose the materials, noting the strength of this sector, personally becoming aware of the quality of the workmanship and of the transformation of row material.