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REPRESENTATION AND SYMBOLISM 199▲ 9.19 Wohlen High School library roof, Switzerland, SantiagoCalatrava, 1988. A central column supports the roof shell which‘shelters’ the mezzanine galleries to the rear.▲ 9.20 Church of the Autostrada, Florence, Italy, GiovanniMichelucci, 1968. The church as seen from the motorway.▲ 9.21 Dramatic interior structure with the main altar to theleft facing the rows of seats. (Courtesy F. Amadei.)▲ 9.22Details of the concrete structure.a reading derived from the natural world – that of the wings of a birdsheltering her offspring.The Church of the Autostrada, Florence, contains the final example ofstructure representing an object from the human world. Situated on theoutskirts of Florence adjacent to the motorway, the church commemoratesthose workers who lost their lives building Italy’s modern motorwaysystem. Both architect and reviewers agree that the church’s tent-like formsimultaneously acknowledges the nomadic life of the ancient Israelites andthe travelling public driving past the church (Fig. 9.20). However, opinionspertaining to the interpretation of its dramatic interior structure remaindivided.