Sacro Cuore church at Casalecchio by Melchiorre Bega

Manplan 5 was originally published in March 1970, and was republished online in May 2016. Read the full piece on church design here

Even so, this strong accentuation - which was the norm in church design a few years ago-is now the exception. The characteristic tone of the last four years remains modesty and calm. An impressive example of this-precisely because of Italy’s grand basilican tradition of church building-is the Sacro Cuore church at Casalecchio, near Bologna (architect Melchiorre Bega). It is in fact a large church; but to reduce its bulk, the congregation are split into three. Though this church is in a very go-ahead diocese and was only finished last year, liturgical change is moving so fast in the Roman Communion that it is already out of date. The reserved sacrament is now usually put in a separate chapel; not, as here, behind the high altar.