Inside brotherhood, between society: an introduction to the role of the technicians in architecture around the Catholic associations since the early modern period

Specifical articles in the Code of Canon Law of the Latin Rite Catholic Church govern Catholic Confraternities, associations of lay people who, through common action, carry out works of charity and piety, hospitality, assistance and evangelical education. The Code itself establishes Confraternities must have a headquarters (Art. 304). Widespread in Europe since the Middles Ages, with a significant role in the early modern age, the Confraternities should be considered the set where Christian spirituality intertwines with the concrete actions of their brothers. In architecture, their churches, chapels and oratories reflect the results of a long processes of negotiations and agreement that, from within the associations to the outside, begins a broader dialogue between many powers. A significant topic, still largely unexplored in architecture, can be analysed considering the buildings and the technicians who work for the secular associations. Their engineers, their architects, their craftsmen play a significant role because of they are the figures who build the dialogue between the central authorities—the state or the court—and the local ones, sometimes the municipalities or other institutions. Outcome of the interchange is the area chosen to build the church or the assistance buildings, as well as the drawing of the buildings. Sometimes, the technicians are even members of the same associations. Hence, it derives not only the technical context, but the society too in which the technicians throughout the brotherhoods’ buildings write the identity of a portion of a city. The article intentionally aims only to open and critically present a broad theme, drawing on selected references from the modern period Savoy Piedmont as a case study, introduce here only, to provide insights that may become an interpretative tool for further research.