On December 6th, 2022, the new St. Nicholas Church in New York, designed by Calatrava, opened its doors to the faithful, replacing the church that collapsed in 2011 near Tower 2 of the World Trade Center during the terrorist attacks of September 11th.
Wrapped in stone, Pentelic marble to be exact, of the same origin as the marble with which the Parthenon of Athens was built, and elevated seven meters above ground level, it stands as a spiritual beacon of hope and rebirth for the congregation and for the city.
The Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church & National Shrine at the World Trade Center in New York has a Byzantine-style structure.. Its lavish dome has 40 structural pieces, the same number as the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.
Santiago Calatrava, at the request of the highest authorities in NY and the Orthodox congregation, set out to design a building that would respect the traditional liturgical ritual while connecting it to modern times.
As described in the same website of the architect Calatrava, we quote:
"The exterior of the church consists of four solid stone clad towers defining a square plan. A circle inscribed within the square consists of a drum and dome constructed on the outside with thin laminated panels of stone and glass that are illuminated from behind. At night, the entire stone curtain wall system glows in counterpoint to the solid mass of the towers. The skin of the drum and dome, formed as a seemingly monolithic material, is divided into forty faceted panels in recognition of the 40 windows of Hagia Sophia's dome. On the west façade of the church, a faceted curtain wall of similar construction to the exterior dome provides illumination to the community and mourning spaces located on the upper levels of the church."
The faceted façade is precisely the one that shelters our glass. LuxFine®.
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