By rough estimates, there are nearly 100,000 churches in all of Italy. At the centre of each city, village and rural borgo lie ancient parishes constructed in varying degrees of architectural extravagance. But as the country’s demographics change and the number of people attending mass declines, it’s no wonder that these ornate ecclesiastical spaces have become coveted stock for adaptive re-use.
Such was the case for the architects at Milan-based Quattroassociati, who were commissioned to transform a small neighbourhood church in the Fiera district of the city into a contemporary business hotel. “Instead of demolishing the church, we proposed to preserve it and establish a relationship between the old and the new,” says...
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Quattroassociati transforms a deconsecrated church into Milan’s latest NH Hotel.