Architecture & Light: An Interview with Paolo Zermani

Architecture & Light: An Interview with Paolo Zermani written by Jake Pickard 

Questions curated by Jake Pickard, Samuel DeBartolo, Carlos Toshiro Kurimoto, Marinda Ergovic, Marta Klara, and Kiran Hacker. 

Paolo Zermani, founder of Zermani Associati, is a professor, author, and architect  recognised for his pioneering use of light in architecture. During his lecture, Zermani  delved into the logic behind some of his projects, including: The Church of San  Giovanni in Perugia, The Crematory in Parma, and The Chapel in the Woods.  Following his lecture, my colleagues and I had the opportunity to discuss architecture,  spirituality, and light with Paolo Zermani.  

The San Giovanni Church, Studio Zermani Associati, Photo: Mauro Davoli  

The Earthly and the Eternal 

You mentioned the quote, ‘sacredness is being in a space and seeing a window where light enters from  another world’. What is this other world that we are aspiring to make present through phenomena? 

In a powerful reflection on sacred architecture, Zermani reminds us that  architecture can reveal an “inner world – one might even say a  higher world” through elements that transcend the physical. Light becomes  a numinous force, not just a visual one. He reflects on the Temple of Apollo at  Bassae, where morning sunlight was choreographed to illuminate the deity, and  the Pantheon, where a sunbeam traces a daily path. Zermani believes that if we use  “Light as medium”, we can weave a divine thread between the earthly and  the eternal.  

The Shadow that Reveals 

Do you see darkness as a necessary counterpart to inner light? And in relation to that, when you consider a  place like the Vatican, do you believe its impact, its spiritual weight, would be the same without its layers of  ornament, sculpture, and intricately detailed craftsmanship?  

“There is no light without darkness.” In a meditation on Western tradition, Zermani  reflects on how shadow is not merely absence but a vessel of meaning.  From Plato’s cave to the Gospel of Luke, shadow has shaped human consciousness.  In the Annunciation, “the power of the Most High will overshadow you,” revealing  light as a divine agent. Renaissance art echoes this mystery—light touches, shadow  reveals. In architecture, this interplay becomes spatial and lived: “architecture is  evidently of ‘flesh’, that is, of matter,” yet its true essence is shaped by “a higher  light, one visible only to a few.” 

The Medici Chapel Exit, Studio Zermani Associati, Photo: Stephane Giraudeau 

Architecture as a Threshold 

Many of your projects have a similar quality of a perspective shift or serial progression where people  move through a series of spaces, move down to up/darkness to lightness, and plan to elevation. Is this an  architectural technique you use to bring about the sacred in architecture?  

Drawing inspiration from the divine rhythm of creation, Zermani states that “Sky  and earth represent the two foundational elements for every subsequent act”. In his  design for the new exit of the Medici Chapels Museum in Florence, he evokes  a journey — “a gradual sequence... between darkness and light, between  death and life.” Crafted from matte travertine, the architecture serves as a tomb,  threshold, and vessel—quietly connecting sacred history to the contemporary city.  The stairway ascent becomes a symbolic resurrection. 

Inner Light 

When you look back on your life, what kind of activity or practice most helped you channel your creative  ideas? Was there a particular turning point that marked this shift? Also, besides Andrei Tarkovsky, were  there any other thinkers who significantly influenced the way you approach architecture?  

Whilst tracing his journey back to the ninth-century castle he grew up next to,  Zermani explained how these ruins first stirred his architectural imagination.  Additionally, encounters with great thinkers—Borges, who taught him to see through  “an inner light,” and poet Attilio Bertolucci, who revealed how a barn could become  sacred—shaped his understanding of architecture as a vessel for memory and time.  This “true light,” soft and transformative, “never blinding,” allows everyday materials  and spaces to become poetic. In his work, architecture is not built solely with  stone—but with perception, presence, and quiet revelation. 

The Temple of Cremation, Studio Zermani Associati, Photo: Mauro Davoli  

Architectural Continuity 

In the first two projects you showed us - the church and the crematorium - you used false columns in both  spaces as a kind of scenographic element. Could you talk a bit more about your use of these elements? And  more broadly, how can we responsibly use classical allusions like this?  

Zermani explains that although non-structural, the columns carry profound  symbolic weight: without them, “we would feel a bit more alone.” He  proceeds to clarify how every piece of land is in fact sacred, “Every square meter we excavate in Italy holds the remains of someone who lived centuries ago. That land is, therefore, sacred.” Zermani reminds us that architecture is not merely about form, but about memory, place, and transmission. In a world seduced by superficial modernity and market logic, he calls for architecture  rooted in history—built not on novelty, but on continuity.  

The Chapel in the Woods, Studio Zermani Associati, Photo: Mauro Davoli