Paul VI Audience Hall

The Paul VI Audience Hall (Italian: Aula Paolo VI), also known as the Hall of the Pontifical Audiences, is a building in Rome named for Pope Paul VI with a seating capacity of 6,300, designed in reinforced concrete by the Italian architect Pier Luigi Nervi and completed in 1971.^[1] It was constructed on land donated by the Knights of Columbus.^[2]

Paul VI Audience Hall

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Location on a map of Vatican City

It lies partially in the Vatican City but mostly in Italy: the Italian part of the building is treated as an extraterritorial area of the Holy See, and is used by the Pope as an alternative to Saint Peter's Square when conducting his Wednesday morning General Audience. It is dominated by an 800-quintal (80-tonne) bronze/copper-alloy^[3] sculpture by Pericle Fazzini entitled La Resurrezione (Italian for The Resurrection).^[4][5] A smaller meeting hall, known as Synod Hall (Aula del Sinodo), is located in the building as well. This hall sits at the east end on a second floor.

Solar roof

 

The Paul VI Audience Hall, from the dome of St. Peter's, showing the photovoltaic panel roof (2011)

On 25 May 2007, it was revealed that the roof of the building was to be covered with 2,400 photovoltaic panels, generating sufficient electricity to supply all the heating, cooling and lighting needs of the building throughout the year.^[6][7] The system was donated by SolarWorld, a German manufacturer, and valued at $1.5 million. It was officially placed into service on 26 November 2008, and was awarded the 2008 European Solar Prize^[8] in the category for "Solar architecture and urban development".^[9]

Gallery

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  The roof of the audience hall in 2008
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  The right side of the audience hall in 2014
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  Pope Francis on the stage of the audience hall in 2014
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  The left side of the audience hall in 2010
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  The distinctive oval windows of the exterior of the audience hall in 2006

References

1. Papal Audience Hall at Structurae. Accessed 12 June 2007.
2. Kauffman, Christopher J. (1982). Faith and Fraternalism: The History of the Knights of Columbus, 1882–1982. Harper and Row. p. 409. ISBN 978-0-06-014940-6.
3. Gambardella, Carmine & al. "La Resurrezione by Pericle Fazzini in the Aula Paolo VI at the Vatican: The restoration of contemporary art by sacred multi-disciplinary dimensions". Accessed 29 April 2014. 16 December 2018 at the Wayback Machine
4. "For us every statue is a prayer 2017-04-24 at the Wayback Machine". L’Osservatore Romano. 19 September 2012. Accessed 29 April 2014.
5. Associated Press. "Fazzini Dies; Sculptor, 74". Schenectady Gazette, 4 December 1987. Accessed 29 April 2014.
6. United Press. "Vatican installs solar panels 2008-04-13 at the Wayback Machine". 31 May 2007. Accessed 12 June 2007.
7. Catholic News Service. "Going green: Vatican expands mission to saving planet, not just souls Archived 2007-06-12 at the Library of Congress Web Archives". 25 May 2007. Accessed 12 June 2007.
8. Catholic News Service. "Vatican wins award for creating rooftop solar-power generator". 26 November 2008. Accessed 4 December 2008.
9. EuroSolar. "European Solar Prizes 2008". Accessed 22 December 2009.

Further reading

• Bühren, Ralf van (2008). Kunst und Kirche im 20. Jahrhundert: die Rezeption des Zweiten Vatikanischen Konzils (in German). Ferdinand Schöningh. pp. 314–317. ISBN 978-3-506-76388-4. OCLC 608580222.
• Cossa, Conny (2010). Moderne im Schatten: die Audienzhalle Pier Luigi Nervis im Vatikan (in Italian). Regensburg: Schnell & Steiner. ISBN 978-3-7954-2344-5. OCLC 758755347.
• Cossa, Conny (2010). Modernismo all'ombra la sala delle udienze pontificie di Pier Luigi Nervi (in Italian). Rome: Libreria editrice vaticana. ISBN 978-88-209-8446-5. OCLC 800610067.

41°54′02.5″N 12°27′16.9″E / 41.900694°N 12.454694°E / 41.900694; 12.454694