The Chiesa di Dio Padre Misericordioso (Church of God the Merciful Father), better known as Dives in misericordia, was designed by American architect Richard Meier in the working-class neighbourhood of Tor Tre Teste, Rome. It is composed of three large ‘sails’ that look as if they have been inflated by the wind – symbolizing the Church as a ship tasked with leading humanity through the third millennium. Meier himself describes the architecture as connecting the tangible with the intangible. Like many of his other works it is white; it is worth noting that Meier has written that “White is the most wonderful color of all, because within it one can find every color of the rainbow. The whiteness of white is never just white; it is almost always transformed by light and by what is changing: the sky, the clouds, the sun and the moon.” The whiteness contributes to emphasising the building’s symbolism, further enhanced by the way in which natural light is diffused inside the church. Meier has also stated that “Light is the means by which we are able to experience what we call sacred. Light is at the origins of this building.”
