Project Description
FROM THE ARCHITECTS:
This design proposes a church with a vertical emphasis, creating a distilled space for religious ceremonies, and an accessible venue to the community for a variety of activities both day and night. The proposal reflects the industrial past of the site, taking one of Copenhagen’s landmarks – Masterkraanen – as an inspiration.
Analysis of traditional church architecture (in Copenhagen especially) suggests that the organization of church buildings is mainly horizontal. Although churches themselves may be tall, there is no functional use made of the verticality of the church (except in a notional or spiritual capacity).
Taking this as a starting point, we developed the concept of a Vertical Church. This new church would be able to provide operational space for a full range of activities (mass, concert, lecture, etc.) – but as a vertically inhabited space, the building becomes more intense as well as more flexible. The skin of the building is designed as an exterior structural skeleton with a fractal pattern creating sharp shadows inside. From a distance, it appears as a blurry abstract cloud with a distinctive silhouette.
In using raw materials (wood, concrete, etc.), we preserve the stature of the building as well as making it a more sustainable project.