Assaf Pinkus: Über die Neuschöpfung einer religiösen Landschaft.
13. Jänner 2026
16:15 - 18:00 Uhr
KU Linz: Hörsaal 1
Paradise – as a mythical-religious point of origin, an idealized living space, and an eternal object of longing – has long shaped conceptions of ideal space and the good life. Whether religiously motivated or secularly imagined, the idea of a better world finds expression in imagery and architectural visions that go far beyond purely functional or aesthetic concerns.
This lecture series “(Re)Constructing Paradise: Religious and Transcultural Perspectives on Ideal Spaces" focuses on spatial designs that understand architecture as an expression of social, religious, and political orders – as imagined worlds that create community, represent power, and materialize transcendent ideas of a better world.
Attendance is free - no registration required! / Eintritt frei - eine Anmeldung ist nicht erforderlich!
The Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth and the Re-Creation of a Holy Land after 1969
Assaf Pinkus (Wien)
Following the inauguration of the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth in 1969, the entire religious landscape of the Sea of Galilee underwent a gradual and steady reshaping. Designed by the Italian brutalist architect Giovanni Muzio, the new construction introduced a novel architectural vocabulary for designating a Locus Sanctus. This spectacular project marked the beginning of a long and ongoing process aimed at reshaping the entire Sea of Galilee region into a central pilgrimage destination, one that would rival the more established and prestigious Christian sacred sites, such as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
This lecture seeks to explore the visual strategies employed in the Basilica of the Annunciation, which have played a pivotal role in the religious transformation of the Sea of Galilee up to the present day.
About the Speaker
Assaf Pinkus BA PhD is professor of art history at Vienna University. He specializes in medieval figural arts, inquiring into questions of experience, spectatorship, and non-religious imaginative response to medieval imagery.