Religious architecture

Het Sint-Jozefseminarie in Sint-Katelijne-Waver aan de rand van Mechelen is gebouwd in 1933. Het is typisch voor de architectuur van de jaren 1930 en de Katholieke Actie. Na een bloeiperiode van zo'n 30 jaar kwam het leeg te staan en in 1970 stelde het aartsbisdom het complex te koop. In 1974 startte er een welzijnsvoorziening, aanvankelijk kleinschalig, tot dat in de jaren 1990 uit zijn voegen barstte.

In the aftermath of the Second Vatican Council, the Belgian Archdiocese Mechlin-Brussels became a fertile ground for progressive initiatives aiming at bringing the Church more in tune with contemporary society. One radical such experiment was carried out at the Don Bosco parish in Kessel-Lo, a sprawling working-class neighbourhood next to Leuven. Founded in the late 1950s, it was gradually transformed into a progressive Christian ‘base community’ from the mid-1960s onwards, on the initiative of the newly appointed parish priest Modest Campforts. In Campforts’ view, Christian spirituality had more to do with an ethics of solidarity and community than with liturgical rites or devotion. His non-conformist ideas contrasted markedly with the conservative spirit present in the adjacent parishes and found resonance amongst progressive Catholics intellectuals in the wider region, and not in the least within the academic milieu. Typically for the idealistic and anti-authoritarian spirit of the times, considerable effort was put into giving the local community a say in the administration of the parish while lay people and non-believers were also invited to partake in an attempt to transgress political and ideological boundaries. Quite paradoxically perhaps, this “slow but steady growth towards something that is at present clear to no one” was organized very rigorously according to the method of community organization and followed up closely by a professional social worker. The third part of the project concerned the replacement of the provisional church building – built with scrap material from the 1958 Brussels World Fair – by a modern, multifunctional structure. Rather than a typical church, it was to be a tool in the realization of the aforementioned spiritual, pastoral and social goals. The result was a remarkable building that can safely be considered as one of the most experimental church spaces realized in Belgium in the post war era. In this chapter, we therefore propose an in-depth analysis of this building, assessing in particular the intentions that have informed its design and how they became materialized in built form.

(published in Investigating and Writing Architectural History: Subjects, Methodologies and Frontiers. Papers from the third EAHN International Meeting of the European Architectural History Network edition:3 location:Turin date:June 19-21 2014, p549-558)

In this lecture, I expand our definition of sacred space beyond mosques, cathedrals, and other religious sanctuaries. I argue that cities can be designed to elicit contemplation and empathy, concern for the environment, or even a reduction in violence. To explore and define the potential of “spiritual urbanism,” I present studies  of architecture and neuroscience as well as modern life and religious practice, and make a passionate case for the creation of urban environments that foster spiritual and civic development.

Cómo citar este artículo/How to cite this article: Fernández Villalobos, N. y Jiménez Sanz, A. (2021). La disolución de los límites en el espacio religioso. La Capilla del Bosque de Heikki y Kaija Siren. Estoa. Revista de la Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanismo de la Universidad de Cuenca, 10(19), 21-32. doi: 10.18537/est.v010. n019.a02

Resumen: Los arquitectos finlandeses Heikki y Kaija Siren levantaron en 1957 una pequeña capilla en el Campus Tecnológico de Otaniemi, expresando los vínculos nórdicos con el paisaje bajo las consignas del racionalismo naturalista. Crearon un espacio de intimidad, en medio de la naturaleza, donde los fieles pudieran ahondar en su interior. La capilla que Erik Bryggman había construido anteriormente para el Cementerio de Turku, con su paño de vidrio lateral, supuso una referencia imprescindible para la obra de los Siren. En el desarrollo de su proyecto fueron modificando la apertura hacia el paisaje hasta llegar a una secuencia espacial, repleta de matices, que comienza y acaba en el bosque. La investigación profundiza en esta obra maestra de la arquitectura moderna de posguerra y la relevancia que ha tenido en la creación de otros espacios litúrgicos coetáneos y posteriores, hasta llegar a las contemporáneas Capillas Vaticanas, donde el espacio religioso se vincula también singularmente con el lugar, disolviendo sus límites de forma significativa.
Palabras clave: espacio religioso; límites; Siren; Bryggman; Capillas Vaticanas.

Abstract:
Finnish architects, Heikki and Kaija Siren, built a small chapel in 1957 on the Otaniemi Technology Campus, expressing Nordic linkage to the landscape, under the values of naturalistic rationalism. They created a space of intimacy, in the middle of nature, where the faithful could delve inside. The chapel that Erik Bryggman had previously built for the Turku Cemetery, with its side glass screen, served as an essential reference, and the Sirens, in the development of their project, gradually modified the opening to the landscape until they reached a full spatial sequence, which begins and ends in the forest. The research deepens into this masterpiece of modern post-war architecture and the relevance it has had in the creation of other contemporary and later liturgical spaces, until reaching contemporary Vatican chapels, where the religious space is also singularly linked to the place, dissolving its limits significantly.
Keywords: religious space; boundaries; Siren; Bryggman; Vatican Chapels.

La façade-écran est un type de façade qui, comme en Angleterre, à l'époque médiévale, ne montre pas de correspondance stricte avec la structure de l'intérieur de l'édifice, en opposition avec les principes mêmes du gothique français. Elle se présente, à l'église de Mont-Saint-Hilaire, telle une construction littéralement plaquée devant la nef et s'explique, en fait, ici, par l'abandon du projet initial de façade à deux tours inspirée de celle de l'église voisine de Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu. L'effet produit est exceptionnel en architecture religieuse québécoise. Lorsque le visiteur arrive devant l'édifice, l'ensemble de la structure demeure cachée derrière ce simple mur maçonné qui déborde de chaque côté de la nef et qui dépasse, en hauteur, les toitures. Pourtant, une fois à l'intérieur, on oublie immédiatement cette composition extérieure rigide. Le décor constitue en effet un des sommets du genre au Québec. Avant le décor : le gros-oeuvre Le devis de construction de l'ensemble maçonné est établi en 1830, alors que la fabrique conclut un marché avec Augustin Leblanc, entrepreneur de Saint-Grégoire de Nicolet, pour remplacer l'ancienne chapelle-presbytère de 1798. On choisit un plan récollet à chevet plat, comme c'est souvent le cas dans la région montréalaise. Ce sont des problèmes financiers, entraînant un ralentissement des travaux, qui imposent une modification au projet initial dès 1834. On abandonne alors la construction des clochers latéraux, que l'on remplace par une tour unique intégrée à la charpente derrière le pignon de la façade. Cette campagne de travaux se termine en 1837, avec la consécration de l'édifice. Sont alors complétés, le gros-oeuvre, la charpente, la toiture, la fausse voûte et les supports qui prendront l'apparence de colonnes néogothiques une fois le décor mis en place. Le style néogothique se retrouve déjà dans les ouvertures en tiers-points de la façade, alors qu'elles sont en plein cintre sur les longs pans. Un décor néo-gothique animé Peut-être désirait-on à l'origine un décor à la Quévillon, on ne le sait pas vraiment. Les ouvertures en plein cintre de la nef et du choeur laissent supposer que le style néogothique n'y était pas prévu. On a par contre finalement opté pour une décoration inspirée de celle de la basilique Notre-Dame de Montréal, réalisée selon ce style entre 1824 et 1829. La mise en place de l'ensemble sculpté débute en 1842, sous la direction d'Antoine Prévost, menuisier de Beloeil. C'est à cette époque que la voûte et les colonnes sont conçues. La forme dynamique de cet espace structuré selon trois nefs d'égale hauteur est mise en valeur par la finesse des colonnes composées de faisceaux de huit colonnettes terminées par des chapiteaux au tailloir arrondi. On choisit, sans doute pour respecter la composition dynamique de la nef, de compléter l'ensemble par un choeur qui imite la structure à pans coupés des chevets des églises médiévales. La structure angulaire de la maçonnerie est alors littéralement habillée par le décor sculpté, créant ainsi un espace à l'arrière du retable comme on le faisait sous le Régime français. Des portes de chaque côté du maître-autel permettent d'accéder à cet espace avant de se rendre à la sacristie.

On the occasion of the opening in 2020 of the Main Cathedral of the Russian Armed Forces, stylistic trends of modern Orthodox architecture and ecclesiastical art are analyzed. It’s considered the phenomenon of the reconstruction of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, its influence on the development of monumental religious painting in Russia, as well as the building the Cathedral of the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church on Lubyanka. The problematic of the style of new Orthodox architecture and ecclesiastical art is formulated in terms of eclecticism (historicism) that has a programmatic symbolic meaning in the context of the “statization” of Russian art culture of the past few decades.

Malgré une tendance au renouvellement des formes architecturales à la fin du 18 e siècle due principalement à la formation européenne de certains concepteurs d'édifices religieux québécois, pensons ici à François Baillairgé, les habitudes de construire sont si fortement ancrées que les formes dites traditionnelles vont perdurer jusque vers 1830. Il faut bien comprendre qu'après la Conquête la situation des Canadiens français, majoritaires en nombre, mais minoritaires quant à leur pouvoir politique et économique, implique un attachement compréhensible aux réalisations culturelles, qui constituent alors un repère dans leur identification sociale en tant que communauté vivante et cohérente.

Addressing the voluminous and multifarious expressions of architecture and spirituality is a daunting task. Consequently, three focused perspectives inform our discussion. The first con­ siders the "objecthood" of architecture-the functional, typological, and material ways that buildings express and facilitate spiritualiry. Second, the phenomenological dimension of spiritual settings is addressed, including bodily experiences and feelings produced by. interactions with buildings. Third, are considerations of the cultural and social aspects of architecture, visa -vis spiritualiry, and its ethical, communicative, and symbolic fi.111ctions. These three positions align with the fundamental ways human reality unfolds: first person, individual, internal, or subjective reality (I, me); second person, collective, dialogical, or intersubjective reality (you, we, us); and third-person, empirical, external, or objective reality (it). A number of impulses define contemporary spirituaL...

Along the second half of the Twenty Century, even before being published the new ideas proposed by the Second Vatican Council, Mexican Architects were looking for new expressions in the design of Religious buildings. Taking advantage of new materials, building techniques and structural design such as the use of hypars, new churches are design with a contemporary aesthetic and following the distribution that the principles of the Second Vatican Council established for the liturgy. An example of the transformation from the old model distribution into the new liturgical needs is the Church of the Holy Cross design by Antonio Attolini Lack in Mexico City.

B.O.A is one of the honorable mentioned projects in Arch Out Loud- Tokyo Vertical Cemetery 2017 -

The design approach is merging the spiritual part of the traditional funeral with the practicality of the modern way.
This is conveyed through the ritualistic symbolic modernized program. In order to make an intimate visual connection between the live city and death; a flip is in order. The project’s vital parts (Wake, Funeral and Cremation) will be rooted under the soil turning the entire entity upside down.
The ashes will stay in the erected urned columns for seven days, until transferred into the roots of the centered Bodhi tree to help the human spirit reach Buddhahood.

Ingénieur de la Marine et « architecte par goût », Jean-Nicolas Trouille est une figure étonnante à plus d’un titre. Fils d’un cordonnier versaillais, il obtient un poste de dessinateur au port de Brest en 1776 et se voit confier d’importants projets de construction à partir de 1787. L’agrandissement de la nouvelle Intendance de la Marine et la reconstruction du Refuge Royal lui permettent de développer des techniques structurelles innovantes ainsi qu’un langage décoratif qui tranche avec les usages brestois. L’objet de cette conférence était de présenter ces innovations et de chercher à comprendre comment Jean-Nicolas Trouille, architecte autodidacte, a pu se les approprier.

This papers examines three early Christian memorial sites in Jerusalem and Bethlehem (church of the Nativity, Eleona church on the Mount of Olives, and Church of the Resurrection) erected in the 330s in the time of Constantine the Great and his mother Helena. All three churches included rock caves as memorial sites. The paper shows that the three differing variants of architectural staging of these caves within the memorial buildings weren‘t merely architectural attempts found within the framework of a process of architectural innovation, when it was a matter of finding adequate settings for a successful and rapidly expanding religious community and its places of remembrance.
The architectural analyses of the three building concepts provide specific insights into the ideas of the appropriate spatial and medial staging of a 'sacred place'. I suggest that the architectural presentation of the cave spaces within the new buildings was linked to the semantics of pre-Christian places of worship, in order to create an associative  context to the commemorated events easily recognizable by a contemporary visitor.

Автореферат диссертации на соискание ученой степени кандидата искусствоведения: "Архитектура современных православных храмов Беларуси: традиции и мировой контекст" / Abstract of PhD thesis "Contemporary Belarusian Orthodox Christian Church Architecture: Tradition and Global context" (Written in Russian. Short abstract in English is on the last page)

Studying contemporary mosque architecture necessitates dealing concurrently with both the past and the present. Burdens of the past cause a crisis at a point when architects attempt to design prayer spaces that avoid historicist references while attending to the religion’s liturgical requirements. This crisis indicates the moment at which architects are forced to become critical of what is preceding, and thus creates a challenging situation in the evolution of mosque architecture. This article takes the Sancaklar Mosque, designed by Emre Arolat Architecture (EAA), as its main object of research in order to assess this challenge. The Sancaklar Mosque presents a significant attempt to free mosque design from the prevailing formal practices observed in the majority of current mosques, by rejecting any clear reference to the historical mosque type and the use of any conventional mosque elements. However, I argue that while Sancaklar Mosque displays a clear break with the past, it is not ahistorical. The mosque suggests both a suspension of discussions on mosque architecture reduced to formal significations and historical prototypes, but also a different way of dealing with the past, which is, in this article, conceptualized as ‘defamiliarization’. The Sancaklar Mosque provides a significant example for a project in which familiar codified formal elements are displaced as a particular response to the challenge that architects face when designing religious buildings.

Zusammenfassung: Die Bezeichnung "Raum der Stille" umfasst eine Vielfalt an Typen und Konzeptionen von Sakralraumformen, die schwerlich unter einem gemeinsamen Nenner zu fassen sind. Meistens wird unter "Raum der Stille" eine relativ neue Sakralraumform verstanden, die dadurch gekennzeichnet ist, dass sie meistens in einem den Raum umfassenden säkularen Bereich verortet ist wie in Flughäfen, Krankenhäusern, Einkaufszentren usw. Im Zuge einer zunehmenden Pluralisierung der Sakralbaulandschaft in Westeuropa und Nordamerika gibt es eine zunehmende Vielfalt von Sakralbauformen, die, abhängig von Konzept und Gestaltung, entweder dem monoreligiösen, dem interreligiösen oder dem multireligiösen Bereich zuzuordnen sind. Außerdem gibt es "Räume der Stille", die sich dieser Dreiteilung entziehen. Hierbei handelt es sich meistens um schlicht gestaltete Räume, die wenig bis keine Symbolik verwenden und eher als "leerer Raum", "neutraler Raum" oder "Freiraum" gestaltet sind. Obwohl meistens konzeptionell gedacht als toleranzfördernder Begegnungsraum zwischen Menschen unterschiedlicher Glaubenstraditionen und (nichtreligiöser) Weltanschauungen, geht die konkrete Nutzung von Räumen der Stille oftmals mit Konflikten zwischen unterschiedlichen Nutzergruppen einher.

Summary: The term “Multifaith Space” – mostly used for lack of a better word – encompasses a variety of types and concepts of sacred space forms that are difficult to subsume under one common denominator. Most of the time, the term “Multifaith Space” is used to denote a relatively new form of sacred space, which is characterized by the fact that it is usually located within a secular space which encompasses the multifaith space, such as airports, hospitals, shopping malls, etc. The increasing plurality of the sacred landscape in Western Europe and Northern America coincides with an increasing variety of these sacred space forms, which, depending on their respective concepts and designs, can be assigned to either the monoreligious, the interfaith or the
multifaith domain. There are however also multifaith spaces that elude this three-way division: these are mostly neutral designed rooms that contain little to no symbolism and are more or less designed as “empty spaces”, “neutral spaces” or “free spaces”. Although predominantly conceptually conceived as a tolerance-promoting meeting space between people of different faiths and (non-religious) worldviews, the concrete use of multifaith spaces is often accompanied by conflicts between different user groups.

Cultural communications among nations consist of various subjects and architectural art styles are the most distinct and recognized subjects in this area of studding. The republic of Dagestan in south of Russian Federation, not only from the past has cultural and historical relation with Iran, but also CT located in the Historical geography of cultural Iran. This relationship was more due to the political and social domination of Iran from Sassanian period till Tsar’s reign in 19th century. This land is close to Northern provinces of Iran, Gilan and Mazandaran. Dagestan has so many cultural interrelationships with these provinces. In the province of Mazandaran very special architectural art style could be observed which is comparable and similar with religious monuments in south Dagestan. These similarities could be seen on wooden decorations such as on columns and windows, painting on roof and walls, plan of the buildings. In this article has been tried to focus on these similarities and compare two styles.

This paper aims to analyse the architectural elements and spatial concept of  Bruder Klaus Fieldchapel, which was defined by Peter Zumthor as “a worship space and not a consecrated church in a clerical mind”, in order to determine its role in the history of the religious architecture. The building was analysed using two approaches, the sensual image and the spatial experience, to which Zumthor pays attention through his design process in general.
The exterior mass of the chapel is a large, solid monolith with strict and sharp lines. Standing still in the middle of the wheatfields, it has the typical characteristics of a landmark. Thus, with its image like a menhir, which is one of the most ancient worshipped images of the mankind, it creates the centre inviting the visitor to approach, circumambulate and explore.
In the interior, the oculus constitutes the spatial concept of the chapel. Meaning “ Eye of  God” and first used on the Pantheon, oculus emerged often in the designs of churches with a central plan in the second half of the 20th century. There is a close relationship particularly between this chapel and the Baptism Chapel of the Neu-Ulm St. Johann Baptist Church by Dominikus Böhm in terms of using the oculus, striated walls and placement of the water basin.
Spatial experience of the journey from the exterior to the core of the chapel is similar to the spatial sequence of the Pantheon. In general, it is based on mystification and the dualities of sharp-organic, light-dark, smooth-striated between the interior and exterior experiences of the building.
With all its characterisctics analyzed through the paper, Bruder Klaus Fieldchapel has a close link to the history of religious architecture, although it has a single space and no liturgical items.

Ogni architettura a destinazione pubblica è l’esito di processi di mediazione e di negoziazione tra una pluralità di attori sociali.
Tale osservazione è particolarmente significativa e delicata per l’architettura delle chiese post-conciliari: le comunità cristiane sono infatti chiamate dalla costituzione Sacrosanctum Concilium a promuovere una partecipazione attiva dei fedeli focalizzata sugli aspetti della celebrazione, ma aperta anche a tutte le dimensioni afferenti la sfera liturgica, tra le quali l’architettura gioca un ruolo decisivo, non riducibile all’aspetto meramente funzionale.
Il rapporto tra il progetto – che richiede competenze tecniche e culturali sempre più interdisciplinari – e la committenza ecclesiale – divenuta un soggetto corale, partecipativo, sinodale – costituisce quindi un aspetto sempre più delicato, dai contorni labili, in cui diviene necessario definire i margini di autonomia dei diversi soggetti, negli ambiti disciplinati dalle norme sia ecclesiastiche, sia civili.
Lo studio del rapporto tra autonomia (del progettista e del committente) e norma (liturgica, canonica, tecnica) è il cuore del progetto di ricerca interdisciplinare e internazionale proposto da Dies Domini. Centro Studi per l’architettura sacra e la città della Fondazione Card. Giacomo Lercaro, i cui esiti sono raccolti nel volume ARCHITETTURA E LITURGIA: AUTONOMIA E NORMA NEL PROGETTO. Una trentina di autori ha indagato sia gli aspetti teorici della questione (le fonti normative e le loro interpretazioni nel quadro delle diverse discipline e dei diversi contesti geografici), sia i risvolti progettuali ed esperienziali dell’equilibrio tra l’espressione di sensibilità particolari e la dimensione canonica dell’architettura ecclesiale.

Sommario:
I. LE FONTI NORMATIVE LITURGICHE PER IL PROGETTO D'ARCHITETTURA
II. LE INTERPRETAZIONI DELLA NORMA: PROTAGONISTI, CONTESTI, PROBLEMI
III. RICERCHE E RIFLESSIONI SU NORME, MODELLI E AUTONOMIA
IV. ESPERIENZE DI PROGETTO, TRA NORMA E LIBERTÀ

Interventi di Mariella Annese e Milena Farina; Luigi Bartolomei; Carla Bartolozzi e Francesco Novelli; Giorgio Della Longa; Esteban Fernández-Cobián e Veronica Lorena Orozco; Barbara Fiorini; Donatella Forconi; Tiziano Ghirelli; Luigi Girardi; Tino Grisi; Andrea Longhi; Francesca Leto; Judi Loach; Claudia Manenti; Antonio Marchesi; Andrea Marcuccetti; Stefano Mavilio; Tiziana Proietti; Virginio Sanson †; Giancarlo Santi; Roberto Tagliaferri; Roberto Vanacore, Patrizia Santaniello, Bruna Di Palma e Felice De Silva; Zorán Vukoszávlyev.

A génese dos primeiros modelos de templos surgidos logo antes ou na sequência imediata das resoluções do Concílio de Trento (1545-1563), de concepção já adequada a uma liturgia e culto reformados, constituem uma das questões mais importantes da história da arquitectura do período moderno. A situação portuguesa não é excepção e constitui, aliás, um caso de estudo de particular interesse e relevância mesmo a nível europeu, pelo impacto produzido no seu espaço continental e ultramarino. Em discussão estará o papel da Companhia de Jesus no surgimento precoce de um modelo de raiz nacional, periférico em relação à realidade artística itálica, e a importação de formas e linguagens deste contexto e o seu reflexo na formação de um italianismo português igualmente de grande fortuna na nossa arquitectura religiosa.

At the onset of the modern movement in architecture, the fashion industry played a major role in how architects approached their designs. From Le Corbusier, who “identified color with dress”  and was influenced by the whitewashed surfaces of Mediterranean architecture, to John Pawson, who spent several years in Japan and was influenced by Cistercian abbeys, the modern and modern revival movements have been intricately imbued with aesthetic elements of fashion and minimalism. Finding influence in the same structure, the Abbey of Le Thoronet, Le Corbusier and Pawson have taken this “architecture of truth, tranquility and strength” and blended its aesthetic principles of light, simplicity, and functionalism in their own works of contemporary sacred architecture.  The long tradition of Cistercian architecture, espoused by the architecture of Le Thoronet, lends its aesthetic and formal principles to modern Cistercian structures. For John Pawson, this is seen in his two commissions for Cistercian abbeys: Novy Dvur and Sept-Fons. John Pawson’s Cistercian structures reveal that extreme minimalist architecture has created an inextricable bond between the function and form of these sacred spaces.

The Church of St Elijah in Vučitrn was built from 1823. to 1834., when it was consecrated. It was built by the people of the parish, on the spot where they had buried liturgical objects few years ago, which then served as an evidence of the existence of an earlier church for gaining the permission from the authorities.
It is a single-nave church, built of a cut stone, with its interior divided into the sanctuary, the nave and the narthex. With its architectural features as the gallery above the narthex designated for women, gable roof and the method of construction that was achieved for the church to be dug in in the ground to a certain height, this temple is a typical example of church architecture in the framework of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the Ottoman Empire. For understanding this art, the achievement of Debar’s zographs (painters) in its decorating is just as important. Zograph Dičo from the village of Tresonče painted iconostasis in 1846, while his disciple Blaža Damjanović, painted the church in 1871. Since the church was twice burned and vandalized, in 1999 and 2004, when the wall paintings were destoryed, iconostasis was transferred to the church of the Banjska monastery. The main characteristic of the iconographic scheme and the visual poetics of their icons is the emphasis on tradition and the respect for the dogmatic character of icons. Also, they follow the zographic model of icon painting which developed in Italo-Cretan workshops in the XVI century, combining with baroque and rococo decorative solutions.
The context of construction and forms of the interior design of the church has given a significant example of the nineteenth century art in this part of the Ottoman Empire. It is a paradigm of specific mode of construction that was adorned with a dominant model of religious painting of the time.