Alvar Aalto's Only Italian Church Becomes Museum in Emilia Romagna

The Church of Santa Maria Assunta in Riola di Vergato, designed by Alvar Aalto, is set to become a museum. This is the only ecclesiastical architecture by the Finnish master in Italy, realized between the late 1960s and 1980. The project was initiated by Cardinal Giacomo Lercaro, who met Aalto in Florence on November 19, 1965. Aalto presented his design on December 3, 1966, but delays due to Lercaro's resignation and funding issues postponed construction. Aalto died in May 1976 before the groundbreaking. The church was blessed on June 17, 1978, by Cardinal Antonio Poma, and the campanile was completed on April 25, 1994. In 2019, artist-architect Grelo (Lorenzo Gresleri) and Raimonda Zizzi Bongiovanni established an archive to document the story and create a museum. The museum will be housed in a building 300 meters from the church, identified by Mayor Graziella Leoni. Gresleri has collected original documents from collaborators including Vezio Nava, Federico Marconi, and Leonardo Mosso. The initiative has support from the Alvar Aalto Foundation, the Finnish Embassy in Rome, and local institutions. The museum aims to join the Alvar Aalto Cities network and promote Aalto's legacy.