The Pope will preside the WMF from a 2,500 m2 stage (18-01-2006)

VALENCIA The Pope Benedict XVI will preside the main acts of the 5th World Meeting of Families in Valencia next July from a 2,500 metre square stage, to welcome around three thousand co-celebrators in the Concluding Eucharistic, together with a 35 metre iluminated cross.

The set will be fixed on the Monteolivete Bridge, between the Plaza de Europa and the Avenida del Saler, where a sufficiently large enough space is being prepared to accomodate more than a million pilgrims.

The author of the project is 49 year-old Valencian architect, Juan Pablo Mas, who together with a team of technicians and experts in design and fine art, gave a press conference this morning. They unveiled the model of the altar and the main platform, from where the Pope will preside the final acts of the WMF on 8th and 9th July.

The stage is configured of a series of stepped levels linked by gentle ramps, rising up and finished off with a flat 500 metre square surface, raised up 2.6 metres over the Monteolivete Bridge. It is here that the altar will be positioned, protected by a cover 9 metres above.

A few metres from the altar there will be an area reserved for the Spanish Royal Family and another on the next stepped levels for Cardinals, Bishops and Priests from all over the world who will celebrate the Concluding Eucharistic with the Pope on Sunday 9th July and in the Festive and testimonial meeting which will be held the evening before, on Saturday 8th. Furthermore, the stage will include a gallery for families and for a choir.

According to Juan Pablo Mas, the platform will be elevated upon metal modular elements which will emit waves of cool air to combat the heat from the illumination and of the possible elevated temperatures. This has been done in previous Mettings where the previous Pontiff, John Paul II, presided.

A 35 METRE ILLUMINATED CROSS WILL GUIDE THE PILGRIMS

Similarly, "as an outstanding element, a squared tower-landmark will be installed, which will serve as a visual reference for the pilgrims", the architect added. It is a 35 metre high "clean prism", with a cross-like incision in the upper part of each side "which will be visible during the day and at night it will become an illuminated cross to guide and orient the pilgrims".

Furthermore, "the platform will be easily set up and taken down in order to shorten run times", the architect stated who confesses that it is "one of the biggest challenges of my profesional career".

"The area chosen constitutes a superb setting to celebrate the WMF, given that is already offers good visibility, easy access for the public, security from the confluence of large roads and access points, as web as the closeness of the participants".

SIMPLE AND MODERATE STYLE

For the style of the set, "we have decided on an architectural style characterized by its moderation and simplicity, bearing very much in mind the protagonism that already exists with the buildings nearby to the City of Arts and Sciences, such as the Príncipe Felipe Museum, L' Hemisféric, y el Palacio de las Artes. This style has been chosen to allow the pilgrims to focus their attention on the Pope and the message of the acts", commented Juan Pablo Mas.

The design project began last June, by order of the organizing Foundation of the 5th WMF, integrated by the Generalitat (the local governing body), the Town Hall, the Delegation and the Archbishop. It has contained various phases of execution. The first phase of execution will be the adjustment of the area and general infrastructures, as well as preparation of the landscaped zones which the public will occupy. Similarly, the emergency access routes will be set up with with fencing. Information points will be installed, as will food stands, water supply points, portable toilets, giant screens and megaphone towers. In the second phase the altar and the platform will be built.

The architect in charge of the project, Juan Pablo Mas, is Director of the Architecture and Design Studio Mas Millet, made up of architects, interior designers, fine art graduates and graphic designers, with experience in the area of construction, interior architecture and urban space design. Mas also designed the new Parrish Temple of the Holy Spirit on Avenida Blasco Ibáñez, which is currently under construction.

AVAN