Theology and Architecture Jacob Star

Jacob Star

Handledare/ Ander Wilhelmson, Tor Lindstrand

Supervisor

Examinator/ Per Franson Examiner

Examensarbete inom arkitektur, avancerad nivå 30 hp Degree Project in Architecture, Second Level 30 credits

8 juni 2017

Theology and Architecture

Theology and Architecture

2017-05-17

Bibliography

Heathcote, Edwin & Moffatt, Laura Contemporary church architecture (2007) Chichester; Wiley

Bieler, Ander Architecture in Worship (1965) Edinburgh; Oliver & Boyd Nyrén, Carl …som krokigt skall bli (1990) Solna; Svensk Byggtjänst Rappe, Axel Domus ecclesiae: studier i nutida kyrkoarkitektur (1962) Stockholm; Diakoni

styrelsen

Andersson, H. O. Rum för samling: om Rolf Berghs Arkitektur (1982) Stockholm: Arkitekturmuseet

Churches Visited

Gottsunda Kyrka, Uppsala 1980 - Carl Nyrén

Västerortskyrkan Stockholm 1956 - Cark Nyrén & Bertil Engstrand St Tomas Kyrka, Stockholm 1960 - Peter Celsing

Näsbyparks Kyrka, Täby 1980 - Rolf Bergh Sta Birgitta Kyrka, Stockholm 1962 - Rolf Bergh Årsta Kyrka, Stockholm 2011 - Johan Celsing Tibble Kyrka, Täby 1978 - Göran Kjessler Cathedral of St Mary of the Assumption,

San Francisco, USA 1971 - Pietro Belluschi What impact can architecture have on the theology of and worship in church architecture? What is their relationship? How could I combine my lifelong Christian

faith and my soon to be profession, so that I might use it to worship and honor God with my architecture? Also, what places might religion have in our society, now that we are becoming more multicultural and perhaps more religious as well. These were questions I wanted to study this semester, and a conversation with my friend gave me a real life example to base my work on, namely to design a church building for his growing church Husbykyrkan.

During this semester, I have studied various churches around Stockholm, and reading up on the theory, to complement my own experience of church life and how architecture can influence it. This, together with what I learned about the specific congregation, has resulted in the following proposal of an addition to Husbykyrkan.

Intro

Diagonal of chapel to show pillars in elevation Drawings of Baptismal font

1:100

Husbykyrkan is a charismatic Baptist congregation, some 40 years old. Their vision is to be a house of prayer for all nations, and to together grow in life, by becoming more like Christ Jesus, to grow in unity through fellowship in Christ, and to grow in number by more people accepting Christ. There is in other words a movement towards God, made known in Christ, a circular movement towards deeper relationship with each other, and an outward movement towards their surroundings and the world as a whole.

The building Husbykyrkan is in now was built in 1975 by the congregation themselves, which then consisted of around 30 people, all ethnically Swedish.

Over the past decades, the congregation has grown to almost ten times its size, nearly 300 members. The church has also become more international, with large groups from Iran, Eritrea, and Afghanistan. You can also see the international vision in the many bible verses in various languages, painted on the walls on the lower floor. During a typical Sunday Service these days, 100 to 120 people cram into the main chapel, and every semester new people are being baptized and join the congregation. The service has a pretty free structure, with some mixture of hymns, a sermon and joined prayer where anyone can add prayer topics, all translated into Farsi those who need it.

After about half the Service the kids run off to Sunday school. After the Service, the congregation gathers into the even more cramped fellowship hall, for ‘kyrkfika’. Aside from this main gathering, various smaller groups do things throughout the week, for example the youth group on Fridays, and a smaller service for the Eritrean group. They also occasionally rent out the fascilities for local parties or music cafés.

The church is thriving, and has a close history with its building, but they are outgrowing it. Aside from the small fellowship hall and chapel, the people I spoke to mentioned that they need more space for Sunday school and youth activities, as well as more storage space. The church needs a bigger building, but does not have the economy for it today.

MONDAY (# of people)

Evening service, Iranian group (70) TUESDAY

Evening service, Afghanistan group (25) WEDNESDAY

Retired group (daglediga) meetup (20) Evening service, Eritrean group (?) Choir practice, (25)

THURSDAY

Board meeting (or other group) (8) FRIDAY

Youth group (20) SATURDAY

Worship Service, Eritrean group (25) SUNDAY

Bible Study (25)

Main worship Service (115)

Sunday School (3 groups) (20 kids) Fika afterwards

HUSBYKYRKAN TODAY - A REGULAR WEEK HUSBYKYRKAN TODAY

The vision of the HusbykyrkanThey want to be a house of prayer for all nations, and to grow grow grow.

Grow in life, by becoming more like Jesus Christ Grow in Unity, by fellowship in Jesus Christ Grow in numbers, by new people accepting Jesus Christ - Congregation equidistant from Eucharist table and Pulpit- Centered focus, congregation looking eachother in the eye- Low Eucharist table, close to the congregation - Paralell gaze towards the front, the ‘spectacle’- Individualistic- Raised and seperated Eucharist table creates a sense of distance between the holy and the profane, turns it into a ‘pagan’ altar

Holy Circumstantes

Profane

Photos Existing Church

Photos Existing Church

Photos Existing Church

Drawings of Existing Church

Architect: Karl-Erik Hjalmarsson

Site Plan 1:200

Section 1:100

Floor 0 1:100 Floor 1 1:100

Facade Northeast 1:100 Facade Northwest 1:100

Facade Southwest 1:100

Facade Southeast 1:100

Step 3: Add my addition toward the east

Attaching the addition in this way works well with the existing openings in the chapel, and allows the open space in north of the building to be used in a better way. This also gives a lot of space for a new chapel, while allowing for an entrance towards the subway and walkway.

Step 1: Distinguish two main parts

Chapel: time devoted to material, patial qualities, nice wood work.

The rest: governed by utility, redone multiple times.

Step 2: Keep chapel, raze utilitarian part

Keeping it all and adding more is difficult in regards to the existing organization. Tearing down the chapel seems uncalled for, since the congregation built it and the chapel had many good qualities in the materials, known form etc.

Site Plan 1:1000

The current Church building is located in central Husby, a housing area built in the 1970s.

Advantages of Site:

• Close to public Transportation (marked in blue)

• Next to main walkway through area

• Close to main road

• Next to a park, not cramped between buildings

• Park good for outside activities

Site Map, Stockholm

Site Map, Husby 1:50 000

Site Plan 1:1000

Existing Program Proposed Program Top floor (330 sqm):

Main Chapel (seats 120) Fellowship Hall (seats 90) Office

Kitchen

Office/Storage

Coat room (8m of hangers) Restrooms (2)

Windbreak Storage (2) HallStairs

136 sqm 86 sqm 16 sqm 20

11 sqm sqm 12 sqm

9 sqm 10 sqm

7 sqm 23 sqm 8 sqm

Top floor (575 sqm):

Main Chapel (seats 220) Fellowship Halls (seats 160) Office

Kitchen

Coat room (18m of hangers) Restrooms (1)

Windbreak

HallInterpretation booth Elevator

Stairs Alcoves 229 sqm

175 sqm 21 sqm 31 sqm 26 sqm 5 sqm 4 sqm 43 sqm 5 sqm 3 sqm 9 sqm 15 sqm Bottom floor (208 sqm):

Smaller group rooms (3)

Coatroom Garbage Storage (6) Restrooms (2) Installations (2) HallStairs

Pentry 92 sqm

7 sqm 6 sqm 56 sqm 6 sqm 15 sqm 33 sqm

8 sqm 5 sqm

Bottom floor (535 sqm):

Larger activity room (2) Larger group rooms Small Chapel

Coat room (13m) (12) Storage

(7) Restrooms (2) Installations HallElevator

Stairs Pentry 86 sqm

106 sqm 19 sqm 12 sqm 135 sqm 21 sqm 15 sqm 81 sqm 4 sqm 9 sqm 15 sqm

Floor 1 1:200

1

2 2

3

4 B

A

B

A

6

8

7

15

5

1. Main Chapel 2. Fellowship Hall 3. Coat Room 4. Office 5. Kitchen

6. Translator booth 7. Childrens corner 8. Restroom 9. Storage 10. Small Chapel 11. Group Room 12. Pantry 13. Installations 14. Broom Cupboard 15. Baptismal font

The Plan

I planned to design for a Sunday Service with roughly twice the number of people, but organized the addition in a similar way to the existing building.

Downstairs are larger rooms for Sunday school and other more physical activities, a small chapel for devotions, as well as a small pantry and storage space.

The space created between the new and old chapel naturally became the central hub, with the main entrance and coat room, the office and the vertical communication. Although the old chapel would not be used as such anymore, it was an excellent candidate for the new fellowship hall, giving the vital act of kyrkfika more dignity, and with the small addition of a new door, could easily be connected to the outside during the summer months.

The new chapel was naturally placed in the eastern corner. It needed to be bigger but, assuming they continue in a similar manner to today, larger and smaller groups of people will use the chapel. For more flexibility, I created a sort of subdivision in the chapel, with a main part, and an annex, similar to how Nockebykyrkan has organized its chapel. Also, rather than using a via sacra or basilica form, I opted for a more circular principle, I had read being called circumstantes, to enhance the communal sense already present in the Service today. Alcoves were also places to allow for a children’s corner, a translator booth, and a place for intercessory prayer. When designing the main chapel I wanted to connect it to this congregation, and one might see the three movements I mentioned earlier. The pyramid ceiling, with the cross shaped window and the pillars give a movement upwards, ‘heavenwards’, with the wood panels enhancing this direction.

The circumstantes organization and arrangement of the floor tiles enhances the circular movement. They do not come to stare in parallel, but to grow together in their Christian journey. Finally, the large window gives a connection to the outside world, an outward direction.

Floor 0 1:200 Alt 3

Alt 2 Alt 1

Floor 0 1:50

11

11

11 10

3 3

14 9

9

9

13 9

9

9 9

9

9 9

9

8 8

8

8

12

8 8

8

1. Main Chapel 2. Fellowship Hall 3. Coat Room 4. Office 5. Kitchen

6. Translator booth 7. Childrens corner 8. Restroom 9. Storage 10. Small Chapel 11. Group Room 12. Pantry 13. Installations 14. Broom Cupboard

Section B-B 1:100

Foundation

Cladding 50mm

Concrete 350mm

Stiff Insullation 250mm WallInt. Cladding 22mm

Solid Wood 95mm

Stiff Insulation 50mm Vapour Barrier

Air gap 22mm

Steel Plate RoofInt. Cladding 22mm

Horizontal Lath 22mm

Vertical Lath 22mm

Stiff Insulation 300mm Vapour Barrier

Air gap 44mm

Steel Plate

Section A-A 1:100

The exterior

The basic shape of the addition is thought to be influenced by the old building, but reinterpreting the old saddle roof into a the pyramid shape, which also enhances the interior of the new chapel. The roofs next to the pyramid slant up towards it, to show the focus, and the choice to use the same material as facade and roof gives the addition a holistic feel while creating a clear distinction between old and new.

The smaller windows along the southeast facade have the same proportions as the large one, and hopefully create a sense of movement towards the staircase to the north.

On the northeastern facade, the cross shaped opening is aimed to be seen during the day as dark against light, and at night during evening services as a light against the then dark roof.

Facades 1:200

Exterior view

Model 1:500 Model 1:50

Process Models References