Starting From and Beyond Matteo Ricci

Abstract

Between 1500 and 1600, the Jesuit Ricci carried out a real process of inculturation of Christianity in China. Subsequently, he operated according to acculturation: a form of colonialism. This process consisted also in the construction of churches, which were built in the neo-Gothic style. In 1926 dom Gresnigt was sent to China with the aim of creating a new Sino-Christian style, supported by Bishop Costantini and the new missionary policy. These attempts at architectural inculturation, however, focused on stylistic issues. We must act according to an intercultural dialogue. Starting from a textual translation of the liturgical books and the ritual action, this dialogue can provide the architect with images of experience that can be implemented as places and movements within the horizon of the sacred. Metaphors must be found, and even better affordances must be constructed to increase the effectiveness of ritual actions, making even those that can only be imagined emotionally perceptible.