Le photographe Richard Silver nous propose de découvrir une série très impressionnante de clichés panoramiques dans différentes églises, situées à New York. Avec des clichés montrant la beauté architecturale de tels édifices, découvrez cette série d’images dans la suite de l’article
Mexican firm Fernando Romero EnterprisE (FREE) has won a competition to design a chapel in Miami with plans modelled on the pleated fabric gown of religious figure the Lady of Guadalupe.
As a Roman Catholic icon of the Virgin Mary, the Lady of Guadalupe is a popular image in Mexican culture and the architects explain how they were invited to design a Catholic Church devoted to her image.
The proposals show a billowing concrete structure with an undulating skirt of 27 clearly defined pleats.
Above: the Lady of Guadalupe and all 27 Latin American virgins – click above for larger image
Inside the building, small sanctuaries will be framed within these pleats, each containing an effigy of one of the other 27 Latin American virgins. ”We preferred to open the proposal to other Latin American cultures as well, having represented all the 27 Latin American virgins,” said the architects.
Above: concept – click above for larger image and key
A twisted tower will provide a spire over the chapel’s altar and will feature a stained-glass skylight decorated with an image of the Lady of Guadalupe.
Above: plan concept – click above for larger image and key
The architects intend this image to project down onto visitors sat in the sunken assembly hall, to “stress the connection with the sky” and “represent the contrast between earth and heaven”.
Above: exploded axonometric diagram – click above for larger image
Additional rooms will be located beneath the seating areas and will include a sacristy, offices and a small library.
Above: sky connection concept – click above for larger image and key
FREE is best-known for the design of the anvil-shaped Museo Soumaya in Mexico, which opened last year.
Above: stack ventilation scheme – click above for larger image and key
See more places of worship on Dezeen, including a cross-shaped chapel in Brazil and a stark concrete church in China.
Above: roof light section – click above for larger image and key
Here’s some more information from FREE:
Miami Chapel, Florida, USA
Designing a congregation space for the Miami Catholic community requires an understanding of the identity of a multicultural group and the ability to translate it into a representative building.
Above: traditional plan comparison – click above for larger image and key
We were asked to design a Catholic Church devoted to the Mexican Virgin Our Lady of Guadalupe. FREE chose to incorporate other Latin American cultures as well, by representing all 27 Latin American Virgins.
Above: masterplan – click above for larger image
The 27 Virgins are accommodated around Our Lady of Guadalupe’s figure, creating 27 small sanctuaries.
Above: long section – click above for larger image
In a single gesture, the extrusion of this floor plan results in an organic, corrugated form; resembling the pleats of Our Lady of Guadalupe’s cloth.
Above: short section – click above for larger image
The vertical shape stands out of its context, and the volume is rotated towards the corner for more visibility.
Above: car circulation diagram – click above for larger image
A roof light at the top filters natural light into the congregation space, projecting the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe in the presbytery.
Above: pedestrian and bicycle circulation diagram – click above for larger image
The main entrance distributes to the main congregation space, ambulatory, confessionals and community service area in the level below. At the rear, a reserved area contains the sacristy, preparation and changing rooms, offices, small library and working spaces for the priest and personnel.
Above: structural analysis – click above for larger image
The iconic shape performs an acoustic filter and dramatizes the ecumenical atmosphere of the church, outlining its identity in the metropolitan area of Miami.
Above: facade texture – click above for larger image
Competition 1st. prize
Program: Cultural
Size: 3,500 m2
Date: 2012-2013
Collaborators: None
Status: Ongoing
The post Miami Chapel
by FREE appeared first on Dezeen.
Slideshow: the concrete walls of this church in Tenerife are roughly lined with crushed volcanic rocks.
Completed in 2008 by Spanish architect Fernando Menis of Menis Arquitectos, the church comprises four chunky concrete volumes separated from one another by sliced openings.
Two overlapping cracks in the building’s end wall create a large cross-shaped window that is visible from within the nave.
Gabion walls inside the building also create partitions between rooms.
This is the second concrete church we’ve featured in recent months – see our earlier story about one on the side of a mountain in China.
Photography is by Simona Rota.
Here’s some more text from Menis Arquitectos:
Church in La Laguna
This is a project located in the city of La Laguna on the Island of Tenerife. It is a place that encourages reflection, a meditation space, an intrinsic space where a person of any condition can go to find himself in the temple or join with others in the cultural center.
The building exists as a large piece of concrete split and cut into four large volumes, at these separations movement occurs. This space creates light, allowing to enter and penetrating into the space, they exist as if to signify a higher meaning inspiring a spiritual presence and sense of tranquility.
The building stands stark, stripped of superfluous elements that involve distractions far from its spiritual essence. The void has been sculpted to the same extent. The balance of proportions of void and building was vital to developing the identity of the project.
We chose to exploit the properties of concrete, based on its isotropic nature energy efficiency is optimized by the thermal inertia of the walls. The building also gets a better acoustics result; thanks to a combination of concrete and local volcanic stones called picón, which is chopped afterwards and acts as a rough finish that has a degree of sound absorption that is superior to conventional concrete.
Exterior, interior, structure, form, material and texture are joined inextricably by a complex study of the concrete.
The volumetric impact of the building and its use of essential materials, treating concrete as if it were liquid stone capturing waterfalls of light, create the temple while also optimizing economic resources. The space reflects timeless emotion.
Location: Los Majuelos, San Cristóbal de la Laguna, Tenerife, Spain.
Use: Social Center and Church.
Site Area: 550 m2
Total Constructed Area: 1.050 m2
Cost: 600.000 €
Structure: Reinforced concrete
Materials: Reinforced concrete, local stone, golden sheet.
Status: completed Social Center (2005-2008); under construction Church (2005-..)
Client: Holy Redeemer Parish.
Architect: Fernando Menis
Office: Menis Arquitectos
Project Team: Juan Bercedo, Maria Berga, Sergio Bruns (2005-2010), Roberto Delgado, Niels Heinrich, Andreas Weihnacht
Support Staff: Andrés Pedreño, Rafael Hernández (quantity surveyors), Pedro Cerdá (acoustics), Ojellón Ingenieros, Milian Associats, Nueva Terrain SL (services)
Construction: Construcciones Carolina
Cliente: Obispado de Tenerife
Slideshow: stripy monochrome triangles are folded into facets around the walls and ceiling of this church hall in Linz, Austria, to create a cavernous interior.
Designed by Austrian firm X Architekten, the Oasis pastoral centre is sited in the grounds of a steel manufacturer, where it burrows into a sloping landscape.
This grassy landscape slopes up over the roof of the centre, while an angled metal pole emerges from the ground to provide a wonky spire near the entrance.
Beyond the entrance, a two-storey-high atrium splits the building to separate administrative rooms and workshops from the main hall, which incorporates a bar, a chapel and an event space.
A concealed courtyard occupies a space at the heart of the building and features a solitary, rusty bell that is stationary on the ground.
Other churches worth a look include one that is see-through and another with steel whirlpools on the roof – see both plus more here.
Photography is by David Schreyer, apart from where otherwise stated.
The text below is from X Architekten:
Oasis Pastoral care voestalpine
Task
The office for pastoral care in the diocese of Linz, to be located on the site of the steel company voestalpine, is to serve liturgical as well as secular purposes. The plot of land lies as a “no-man’s-land” between main roads and industrial estates and is in need of a new strong character.
Concept
The study of man and work within the steel company led to a complementary addition to the site through its “built landscape“.
Existing woodlands serve as a conceptional starting point, an “oasis for the people”, and the new built landscape retains this character by being embedded within a hillside.
Conventional church buildings would not be able to achieve their independent meaning in this area as the voestalpine’s site is mainly dominated by relatively high buildings.
Implementation
The building’s main artery, which cuts into the hillside, runs towards the entrances and widens as it approaches the green space, finally leading up to the woods along a sloping surface.
The embankment, made of dark slag-stone, is either poured into the embankment or processed as pebble dash. The cross, the edge of the wood and meadow as well as the wooden shed are situated up against the edge of the building.
The planting increases in density starting from the lawn, via a diversity of plants, towards the coniferous forest. Climbing the roof via walkways and stairs, one passes the steel car port as well as the garden associated with the apartment and youth area.
Above: photograph is by Rupert Asanger
The “built landscape” concept also determines the interior.
The “ravine” divides the functional areas including offices, meeting room and workshops from the social and religious areas including cloakroom, bar, event room and the chapel.
The recessed “bell court” radiates a contemplative mood with its squares and its bell placed at ground-level.
The hollow space under the bell serves to distribute the sound (like the bell in the mining shaft). A wooden and white coated shell divided into triangles unites the chapel, event room and bar as the main rooms of the social area.
This crystalline geometry creates an important meaning encompassing Saint Barbara as patron saint of both pastoral care and mining.
Above: photograph is by Rupert Asanger
Two sliding walls enable a choice of separate or connected rooms for different events.
The open room as a whole inhabits the chapel and bar and thus establishes a unique openness and integration.
Above: photograph is by Rupert Asanger
Location: Wahringerstraße 30, Linz, Upper Austria Client: Diocese Linz
Start of planning: February 2008 Completion: Summer 2011
Art in construction: Gerhard Brandl
Premises: 4.843 m2
Built-up area: 840 m2
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Hong Kong firm O Studio Architects have completed a stark concrete church on the side of a sacred mountain in China.
Named the Church of Seed, the building on Mount Luofu is formed of three curved walls that curl around the interior like the casing around the seed of a plant.
Vertical ridges in the surface of these inclined walls reveal the bamboo formwork that the concrete was cast into, while handmade bamboo furniture provides seating for 60 inside the central hall.
A large cross-shaped opening on the southeast elevation draws in soft sunlight in the mornings, while a solid west wall blocks out glare in the afternoons.
A staircase on the side of the church leads up to a rooftop observation deck.
We’ve featured all kinds of religious buildings on Dezeen, even a temple for atheists – see them all here.
Photography is by Jingchao Wen.
Here’s a more detailed explanation from O Studio Architects:
Church of Seed
Church of Seed is located at Luofu Mountain Scenery District – one of the seven famous Taoist Mountains in China.
Although there are various kinds of Taoist and Buddhist temples in this district, western religious element has not yet been found.
Besides developing private houses, the client in this project intends to develop a small church for the surrounding village people in order to widen the spectrum of religious culture.
This church provides not only worship and meditation space for Christians, but also recreational and gathering places for the surrounding village people.
Instead of promoting Christian religion actively and aggressively, the message of religion is communicated subtly through the play of light and shadow in this architecture.
Situated within the beautiful landscape of Luofu Mountain, Church of Seed has an area of 280m2 and can accommodate 60 people.
The design concept is triggered by the form of a seed – a famous metaphorical element in the Gospel stories.
A curve line follows the outline of a seed and marks the enclosing wall element. The curve is then split into three parts, and three entries are formed at where the curve wall splits: the south east facing wall has a cross shape opening which introduces morning sun into the interior; the west facing wall is solid and blocking the afternoon sun; the north facing wall is thicken to accommodate toilet facility.
The stepping roof terrace allows diffuse northern daylight into the interior and provides a dramatic headroom increment (3 – 12 meters) from the main entrance towards the worshiping space. Visitors can walk up to the stepping roof terrace, arrive at the observation deck and enjoy the distant view of mountain and water.
Church of Seed has a raw, natural and non-decorative material language.
The main structure is constructed by in-situ concrete with bamboo formworks. In-situ concrete construction is economically sound and practical for local builders. The bamboo texture left on the concrete surface reduces the massiveness of concrete wall and harmonizes with the surrounding trees and green landscape. Plus the transparent windows and doors, and the handmade bamboo furniture by local farmers, the presence of the church is humble and close to village life.
Although a seed is the starting point of this design, the church does not intend to literally illustrate its image.
The abstract form and space of the church is conveyed through the play of light, shadow, material and texture.
This is not a piece of architecture which purely celebrates its sculptural form, but a building which respects the natural environment and local culture.
Location: Huizhou, China
Site Area: 1200m2
Floor Area: 280m2
Status Built: 2010
Design Architect: O Studio Architects
Project Architect: Guangzhou Architectural Engineering Design Institute
Structure Consultant: Guangzhou Architectural Engineering Design Institute
M&E Consultant: Guangzhou Architectural Engineering Design Institute
Main Contractor: Maoming Construction Group Co. Ltd.
London designer Thomas Heatherwick has embedded curved threads of ash into dark walnut pews for an abbey in England’s South Downs.
Located beneath the vaulted dome of Worth Abbey, the wooden benches fan around a stone altar to provide more than enough seating for the 700-strong congregation.
The new furniture also includes choir stalls, monastery seats, desks and confession rooms, all of which were fabricated from the solid hardwood.
Thomas Heatherwick received a lot of press last year when his UK pavilion opened in Shanghai and he redesigned London’s iconic Routemaster bus, but he’s also designed furniture including a metal chair shaped like a spinning top – see more projects by Heatherwick Studio here.
Photography is by Edmund Sumner.
Here’s some text about the project from the American Hardwood Export Council:
Heatherwick Brings New Life in Black Walnut to Worth Abbey
Nestled on a crest overlooking the South Downs, Worth Abbey Church has a striking aspect. Its remarkable conical sloping roof sets off the extensive, peaceful grounds and the rolling landscape below. The 25 English Benedictine monks who reside at the Abbey run a school, a parish and a place of retreat.
The Abbey Church was designed by the architect Francis Pollen, and is considered by many to be the best example of his style. Since its opening in 1974, the Abbey’s furniture comprised freestanding chairs which impinged on the ambiance, creating a cluttered, temporary feel. The Monks decided that it was time to undertake some refurbishment work and took the opportunity to have a more cohesive, relevant and purposefully designed congregational and clergy furniture. They commissioned Heatherwick Studio to design and develop a furniture strategy as part of wider renovations to the Abbey Church. The furniture package included pew benches, choir stalls with misericord seats and desks, benches, credence tables, server seats and reconciliation (confessional) rooms.
Heatherwick Studio is headed by Thomas Heatherwick who trained at Manchester Polytechnic and the RCA. Since its founding in 1994, the studio has earned a reputation for coming up with artistically exciting solutions to clients’ design briefs ranging from product design to major architectural and large scale design projects. The studio consists of team with a wide range of disciplines including architecture, product design, model making, fabrication, landscape design, fine art and curation, and they are used to working in a sensitive historic context, which was vital for the refurbishment work undertaken at Worth Abbey. They also have a very strong making ethos, and a workshop within the practice allows them to make prototypes and models, giving them a very valuable ‘makers eye view’ of all the commissions they undertake.
The original auditorium space of the Abbey has a tangible spiritual feel to it; a difficult thing to achieve with modern materials without the obvious historical and religious architectural references. Natural stone and neutral colouring make the space light and airy. Heatherwick wanted to complement the materials used by Pollen and decided to use solid wood throughout for the new furniture. In a space that uses natural and neutral tones, a more traditional choice might have been oak or a more modern option could have been a pale species like maple. Heatherwick took a braver move and chose American black walnut to give a colourful aspect to the chapel, the darker heartwood creating a distinctive, defined line to the design, and the creamy sapwood adding a touch of warmth without over powering the celebrants and congregation who are the main focus of any service. According to Thomas Heatherwick, “Walnut was chosen for its darkness and subtlety and for the way that when it would be used in quantity on our project, its dusky colour would not become overbearing.”
As you enter the main nave you are struck by the presence of the furniture but it does not overwhelm the space, nor is it too small in scale. It is a big area serving congregations of 700 people, and with capacity for double that number. The design approach has kept the circular nature of the space with a stone altar in the middle. The original furniture did not have kneelers for the congregation so these were designed as an integral part of the seating.
Furniture fabrication was undertaken by Artezan, a specialist joinery division within Swift Horsman, a UK-based company chosen for their flexible and experienced approach to the complex method of construction. Swift were up for the challenge and have delivered it successfully. Thomas Heatherwick said he was “immensely impressed with the quality of the work of the craftsmen and the phenomenal determination and commitment of the firm to a very challenging commission.”
The way the furniture is constructed is central to the whole theme of the Heatherwick design. Having decided on solid wood and a clean lined approach, Thomas and the team at Heatherwick came up with a striking laminated design which complements the square walls of the church and the radial nature of its layout.
Due to movement issues inherent in working with all-solid wood construction, an interior metal frame allows the natural characteristics of the timber to come through and be strong enough to easily manage everyday use. This frame links the kneelers to the seating, making each pew a standalone piece. Working with the team at Swift Horsman, complex jigs were designed and developed to cope with the complicated glue-ups that were part and parcel of the design.
The most intriguing and subtle aspect is a 0.6mm line of ash which is laminated into the layers of black walnut. This adds a sense of detail that gives it an historical link to the traditions of inlay within the craft but with a very contemporary and sculptural feel. At a distance it is barely there, but the closer you get to the furniture the more apparent and thus more effective it becomes, giving a gentle element of understated surprise to the overall effect. This is the most artistic aspect of the whole concept and it runs throughout the whole collection of furniture; the central monks seat shows it most dramatically, where the angle of the laminating meets the curve of the back, creating a wave effect in the ash veneer. This helps give a central focus to the lead preacher of the day.
The overall impression is that the furniture definitely adds a cohesive feel to Pollen’s concept while allowing the practical considerations of running and attending a service to actually work. Thomas Heatherwick, his team and Swift Horsman are to be congratulated on a distinctive and extremely high quality solution both in terms of its ideas and its craftsmanship.
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| St Hilaire church in Melle by Mathieu Lehanneur | Chapel of the Assumption Interior by John Doe | Infinity Chapel by hanrahanMeyers |
German architects Astoc have completed a monastery extension in Duisberg Duisburg with walls that fold around the entrance like origami sculptures.
Hamborn Abbey was consecrated in the twelfth century and has been altered many times in its history.
The recent addition is faced in white plaster and creates a third edge around a private courtyard garden.
A large triangular window projects proud of one elevation, while a glass wall at the entrance recedes into the facade.
Tiles cover the sloping roof of the monastery and wrap around a wall at the far corner.
The new building includes a church for choral prayers and a refectory for communal meals.
Other buildings for worship from the Dezeen archive include a church perforated by stained glass panels and a temple in Mumbai.
Photography is by Christa Lachenmaier.
Here are some more details from Astoc:
Extension of Hamborn Abbey, Duisburg
It may come as a surprise to find a flourishing catholic monastery in the midst of an industrial city like Duisburg. The urban district of Hamborn is, however, rather different from the ones dominated by withering heavy industry. The site of the present St. Johann Abbey in Hamborn was already settled more than a thousand years ago. The beginnings of its ecclesiastical history are marked by the donation of the Hamborn estate to the archbishop of Cologne in 1136 with the condition to build a monastery there. The small parish church, already existing on the estate since the ninth century, was subsequently converted to a monastery church. A Romanesque cloister was added to link the various buildings of the abbey with each other of which the northern wing still exists today. The monastery church was consecrated in 1170, elevating it to the status of an abbey. That title was annulled in 1806 in the course of the secularization drive. During World War Two, the buildings were largely destroyed but, as if in defiance, resettled by seven brothers in 1959. In 1994, the building complex regained the status of an abbey. In 1972, a three-storied extension was added to provide residential and office space, designed by the Cologne-based architect Hans Schilling.
Today, twenty-five canons are part of the abbey. As the order in Hamborn keeps growing each year, another building extension was required. The client wanted the architecture’ to express one of the typical ideals of a canonical monastery, namely that of “communio ad intra et ad extra” (“community inside and community outside). ASTOC’s design follows the principles of the Premonstratensians who consciously and deliberately combine monastic community life with pastoral and missionary service, building communities both within and outside the abbey.
The new oblong building closes the gap on the third side of a courtyard garden which was previously enclosed only on two sides. With it, a self-confident and new contemporary quality has been added to the heterogeneous buildings in the neighborhood. The new building adopts the principle of employing columns to line the corridor areas, as is the case with the medieval southern wing and the extension designed by Hans Schilling. The irregular geometry of the white-plastered new building appears folded. The folds allow the building to subtly react to the urban developmental and geometrical guidelines that are derived from the shape of the site and the connecting heights of the existing buildings surrounding it.
The spaces inside the new building satisfy all the requirements of monastic community life which includes joint meals in the refectory and choral prayers in the monastery church, requiring places and spaces to meet and communicate, as well as those for silence and worship. The Premonstratensians combine the inner life of the monastic community with outwardly directed pastoral care. This is also evident in Hamborn: just next door is the abbey high school, the abbey center for seminars and conferences, St. John’s Hospital, and the abbey cemetery which are all imbedded in the old vicarage of St. Johann and the neighboring vicarages that are also performance venues of the canons.
Apart from the residential wing, the new building provides a sacral chamber, offices and a recreation room with large doors that give onto the garden, the conversation and group spaces, terraces, and the patio. The different functions are all housed under one common roof while the spaces are organized around liturgical paths, each with their own distinct architecture: on the first floor, an historical crucifixion group visually leads on to the extension building, guiding the eye and subsequent movement in space.
Coming from the existing buildings, the path leads from the Romanesque cloister (and from the monastery church) to the chapel at the narrow end of the oblong building. This small, vertically rising sacral space, equipped with its own gallery, faces the east, permitting morning light during the early morning prayers. In keeping with the premise of intimately linking inside and outside, the chapel can be accessed from three sides: from the inside of the monastery, from the cemetery and from the street or the neighboring school. It can also be used for funeral services, for group services with school classes or for days of retreat. As such, the entire monastery complex is positioned between two sacral spaces that are connected with each other and to the monastery by the cloisters.
The two upper floors are more private in nature. Here, the bowers are lined along a double-story inner pergola. A golden front wall serves as optical apex of the dynamically-shaped diagonal surfaces that describe the space.
While the new building continues the neighboring building’s row of columns on the garden side, it presents a distinct and different look to the street side, with its white-plastered facades starkly contrasting the reddish brown brick of the neighboring building. The new building has a flat pent roof and is dipped in a warm antique white hue both on the inside and the outside, bringing to mind the color of the Premonstratensian order’s robes. The white surfaces are complemented by oak doors and floors, coated concrete, and the metal and glass facade of the entrance side.
The extension building is brightly lit, being suffused by light, understood as symbol of “the Premonstratensians’ commitment to the testimonial of life”, as Abbot Albert puts it. In all their actions, they strive to affirm life which the resurrected Christ contrasts with the darkness of death.
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| Reading between the Lines by Gijs Van Vaerenbergh | Martin Luther Church by Coop Himmelb(l)au | Chapel of St. Lawrence by Avanto Architects |
Belgian architects Pieterjan Gijs and Arnout Van Vaerenbergh have completed a see-through church in Limburg, Belgium.
The ten metre-high church is constructed from 100 stacked layers of weathered steel plates.
Gaps between these plates allow visitors to through through the walls.
With its pointed spire, the building imitates the form of traditional churches in the region.
Entitled Reading between the Lines, the project forms part of the Z-OUT programme coordinated by the Z33 gallery, which aims to bring art into public space.
Gijs Van Vaerenbergh were also responsible for creating an upside dome inside an existing church in Leuven – see our earlier story here.
Photography is by Kristof Vrancken.
Here are some more details from Gijs Van Vaerenbergh:
Gijs Van Vaerenbergh makes church sculpture as part of art in public space project
Gijs Van Vaerenbergh, a collaboration between young Belgian architects Pieterjan Gijs and Arnout Van Vaerenbergh, have built a see-through church in the Belgian region of Haspengouw. The church is a part of the Z-OUT project of Z33, house for contemporary art based in Hasselt, Belgium. Z-OUT is an ambitious long-term art in public space project that will be realised on different locations in the Flemish region of Limburg over the next five years.
The church is 10 meters high and is made of 100 layers and 2000 columns of steel. Depending on the perspective of the viewer, the church is either perceived as a massive building or seems to dissolve – partly or entirely – in the landscape. On the other hand, looking at the landscape from within the church, the surrounding countryside is redefined by abstract lines.
The design of the church is based on the architecture of the multitude of churches in the region, but through the use of horizontal plates, the concept of the traditional church is transformed into a transparent object of art.
The project is called ‘Reading between the Lines’ and is a project by the duo Gijs Van Vaerenbergh, a collaboration between young Belgian architects Pieterjan Gijs (Leuven, 1983) and Arnout Van Vaerenbergh (Leuven, 1983).Since 2007, they have been realizing projects in the public space that derive from their architectural background, but clearly display an artistic intention. As such, their projects do not always originate from the customary commission and carry a large degree of autonomy. Their primary concerns are experiment, reflection, a physical involvement with the end result and the input of the viewer.
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| Shiv Temple by Sameep Padora & Associates | Church by Beton | Sta Columbina Chapel by Luis Ferreira Rodrigues |
Steel whirlpools spiral into skylights in the roof of a church in Austria by architects Coop Himmelb(l)au.
The swirling roof, which was manufactured in a shipyard, rests like a table-top upon four steel columns over the prayer room of the Martin Luther Church.
Daylight penetrates the room’s stucco-covered ceiling through the circular voids, as well as through a street-facing facade of projecting glass triangles.
Through glass doors at the rear of the prayer room is a church hall used by the local community, while a sacristy, pastor’s office and toilets are situated alongside both spaces.
A 20 metre-high steel bell-tower soars up into the sky in front of the building’s entrance.
Other buildings by Austrian architects Coop Himmelb(l)au include a tower covered in a folded metal skin and an energy-generating canopy over a passageway – see all our stories about Coop Himmelb(l)au.
Photography is by Duccio Malagamba.
Here’s a more detailed description from Coop Himmelb(l)au:
Project
Martin Luther Church Hainburg, Austria
(2008-2011)
Click above for larger image
Architectural Concept
In less than a year a protestant church together with a sanctuary, a church hall and supplementary spaces was built in the centre of the Lower Austrian town Hainburg, at the site of a predecessor church that doesn’t exist anymore since the 17th century.
The shape of the building is derived from that of a huge “table”, with its entire roof construction resting on the legs of the “table” – four steel columns. Another key element is the ceiling of the prayer room: its design language has been developed from the shape of the curved roof of a neighboring Romanesque ossuary – the geometry of this century-old building is translated into a form, in line with the times, via today’s digital instruments.
The play with light and transparency has a special place in this project. The light comes from above: three large winding openings in the roof guide it into the interior. The correlation of the number Three to the concept of Trinity in the Christian theology can be interpreted as a “deliberate coincidence”.
The church interior itself is not only a place of mysticism and quietude – as an antithesis of our rather fast and media-dominated times – but also an open space for the community.
The sanctuary gives access to the glass-covered children’s corner, illuminated by daylight, which accomodates also the baptistery. The actual community hall is situated behind it: folding doors on the entire length of the space between the two main chambers allow for combining them to one continuous spatial sequence. A folded glass façade on the opposite side opens the space towards the street.
A third building element, a longitudinal slab building along a small side alley, flanks both main spaces and comprises the sacristy, the pastor’s office, a small kitchen and other ancillary rooms. A handicapped accessible ramp between the three building components accesses the church garden on higher ground.
The sculptural bell tower at the forecourt constitutes the fourth element of the building ensemble.
Like other projects of COOP HIMMELB(L)AU the roof elements of the church building were assembled in a shipyard. The implementation of the intricate geometries required specific technologies of metal-processing and manufacturing only available in shipbuilding industry. The reference to shipbuilding is at the same time also reminiscent of Le Corbusier who served as an important role model, not least because of his La Tourette monastery.
Technical Description
Due to its shape with three skylights the roof of the Martin Luther Church in Hainburg was designed as a self-supporting steel construction with a stucco ceiling. The structure was assembled in a wharf at the Baltic Sea. The exterior skin is made of 8 mm thick three-dimensionally curved steel plates welded on a frame construction. In turn, this structure of steel plates and frame sits on a girder grid. The compound of grid, frame and steel skin transfers the total load of the roof (23 tons) on four steel columns which are based on the solid concrete walls of the prayer room.
The roof construction was delivered in four separate parts to Hainburg, assembled and welded on site. There, the coating of the whole structure was finished and mounted with a crane in the designated position on the shell construction of the prayer room.
On the interior ceiling the suspended frame structure was covered in several layers of steel fabric and rush matting as carrier layer for the cladding of the stucco ceiling, whose geometry follows the three-dimensionally curved shape of the roof with the skylights.
The free-form bell tower of the Martin Luther Church was also manufactured, by means of shipbuilding technology, as a vertical self-supporting steel structure with wall thickness between 8 and 16 millimeter, only braced by horizontal frames. The 20 meter high tower weighing 8 tons is welded rigidly to a steel element encased in the concrete foundations.
Team
Planning: COOP HIMMELB(L)AU
Wolf D. Prix / W. Dreibholz & Partner ZT GmbH
Design Principal: Wolf D. Prix
Project Architect: Martin Mostböck
Design Architect: Sophie-Charlotte Grell
Project Team: Steven Baites, Daniel Bolojan, Victoria Coaloa, Volker Kilian, Martin Neumann, Martin Jelinek
Client: Association „Freunde der Evangelischen Kirche in Hainburg/Donau”, Austria
User: Evangelische Pfarrgemeinde A.B. Bruck a.d. Leitha – Hainburg/Donau, Austria
Structural engineering: Bollinger Grohmann Schneider ZT GmbH, Vienna, Austria
Construction survey: Spirk & Partner ZT GmbH, Vienna, Austria
Main works / finishing: Markus Haderer Baubetrieb Ges.m.b.H, Hainburg/Donau, Austria
Steel construction (roof/ tower): OSTSEESTAAL GmbH, Stralsund, Germany
Steel Construction (façade): Metallbau Eybel, Wolfsthal, Austria
Fibre cement cladding: Eternit-Werke Ludwig Hatschek AG, Vöcklabruck, Österreich SFK GmbH, Kirchham, Austria
Altar: Idee & Design, Stainz, Austria
Project data
Site area: 420 m²
Sanctuary for 50 people, community space und ancillary rooms
Total gross floor area: 289 m²
Height (slab building / community space): 3,5 m
Height sanctuary: 6 m
Height roof: 10 m
Length: 25 m
Width: 10-17 m
Height bell tower: 20 m
Chronology
Start of Planning: 2008
Start of Construction: 08/2010
Opening: 04/2011
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| Church in Foligno by Doriana Fuksas | Tampa Covenant Church by Alfonso Architects | Dove of Peace by Sunlay Design |
Photographer Filippo Poli has sent us these images of a Milan church with a grey, striped exterior by Italian studio Cino Zucchi Architetti.
The striped facade is composed of vertical panels of concrete, white stone, zinc and glass.
Containing both a church hall and a parish centre, Christ’s Resurrection Church replaces a warehouse church that previously occupied the industrial site.
The otherwise rectangular building has an angled wall and roof that create a point at one corner, framing the main entrance.
Inside the church hall two concrete walls curve up to the ceiling, creating the illusion of a pitched roof.
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The following information was provided by the architects:
“Christ’s resurrection” Church, Sesto S. Giovanni (Milan) 2004-2010
Cino Zucchi Architetti with Zucchi & Partners
Closed competition –first prize
The new church and parish center is located in a narrow plot of Milan’s industrial periphery.
The hard townscape of the neighbourhood and the story of the previous church (a warehouse-like building built in the sixties by workerpriests) suggested the simplicity of its design, which emerges from the surrounding fabric only by few strong gestures.
The street façade bends inward to acquaint for the main diagonal view, and the high hall takes the shape of a large rectangular box enriched by two large “sails” embracing the assembly.
The fronts are panelled in vertical strips of different materials (concrete, white stone, zinc, glass) whose rhythm responds to the different edge conditions.
Credits:
Client: Diocesi di Milano
Dimensions: 6.570 m³
Preliminary design project: Cino Zucchi Architetti
Cino Zucchi, Helena Sterpin, Filippo Carcano, Cinzia Catena, Silvia Cremaschi, Cristina Balet Sala
with Anna Bacchetta, Annalisa Romani, Martina Valcamonica, Valentina Zanoni
Definitive and executive design project: Zucchi & Partners
Cino Zucchi, Nicola Bianchi, Andrea Viganò, Leonardo Berretti, Ivan Bernardini
Click above for larger image
Manager of works: Zucchi & Partners
Nicola Bianchi, Marcello Felicori
Click above for larger image
Rendering: Filippo Facchinetto
Model: Filippo Carcano, Paola Andreoli, Roberto Rezzoli
Click above for larger image
Consultants
Liturgist: Don Giovanni Mariani, Don Giovanni Zuffada
Cost estimate: Zucchi & Partners
Structural engineering: Mauro Giuliani, Redesco srl
Ligh engineering: Cinzia Ferrara, Ferrara Palladino srl
Plant engineering: Gianfranco Ariatta, Ariatta ingegneria dei sistemi srl
Click above for larger image
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| Church in by Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas Architects | Tampa Covenant Church by Alfonso Architect | Notre Dame Rosary Church by ENIA Architects |
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