Cappella delle Figlie di San Paolo is a later 20th century convent chapel at Via San Giovanni Eudes 25 in the Gianicolense suburban district..
History 
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The "Daughters of St Paul" (Figlie di San Paolo) were founded at Alba in 1915 by Blessed Giacomo Alberione, one of several congregations that he founded which make up the Pauline family of consecrated religious.
The thrust of the charism of this family is the use of modern media, including mass communications, as a means of evangelisation. This emphasis naturally found great favour in the latter 20th century, and as a result the sisters are a large congregation operating in 51 countries worldwide.
A new Generalate or headquarters was built at Rome between 1960 and 1962, the architect being Silvio Galizia. The work is of some significance.
Appearance Edit
Layout Edit
The convent is invisible from the street, being in a garden setting up a long drive.
The plan demonstrates Galizia's liking of odd shapes in his buildings.
The layout is perfectly symmetrical, and resembles a butterfly. Two curved four-storey main blocks, curving away from the major axis, form the wings. These blocks have obtuse-angled projections, and not a single right angle. They are connected by a shallow transverse block of the same height, where the thorax of the butterfly might be expected. The "abdomen" is a courtyard, open on one side, and the "head" is the chapel.
The large chapel is on an oval or egg-shaped plan, with the more sharply curved end abutting the transverse block on the other side of the courtyard and the major axis of the oval sharing that of the convent as a whole. It stands over the crypt, and the main blocks clasp it on either side leaving the back curve facing the garden.
Fabric Edit
The main blocks are not very interesting, apart from their shared shape, because they resemble better-quality buildings of the era in having an exposed concrete framework with red brick infill.
The exposed back wall of the chapel is in concrete, supported and divided by ten concrete piers which project. The crypt wall is recessed under the main wall above, leaving a narrow covered passage in between it and the piers. There is a fairly wide window strip down each side of the exposed wall, and three square windows fairly high at the back, forming a horizontal fenestration divided by piers.
The roof is in a grey composition. It has a slight transverse up-curve, and a slight negative curve along the major axis. The top of the far wall is also curved, matching the transverse curve.
