See-through Church

Hey friends!

When I browse one of my favorite website, Yatzer.com, I found this interesting church in one of their articles.

Belgian architects Pieterjan Gijs and Arnout Van Vaerenbergh have taken the concept of transparency literally into a church, as they have constructed a transparent, see-through church in the Belgian region of Haspengouw.  The project is an ambitious long-term art installation in public spaces which will be realized in different locations in Limburg, the Netherlands over the five next years as part of the Z-OUT project for Z33 House for Contemporary Art.

This ten metres structure is made of 100 stacked layers and 2000 columns of steel plates. The most interesting part of this church is the play of light and shadow which is only perceived when you are is inside the church.  During different times of the day, the church interior changes, according to the position of the sun and the direction of the sun light.  The play of light and the shadows creates a feeling of supremacy, spirituality and of something supernatural conveying religious emotionalism

Why use steel as a material? The application of steel – a rather bold material - metaphorically makes a statement about the bold relationship of church and religion in the Netherlands.  According to the architects, the amount of church goers is constantly decreasing; the churches themselves are falling into disuse more and more often, therefore the future of these emptying and abandoned churches is a current issue among several artists.

This are the video of the church construction

This project named "Read Between Lines" - to perceive or detect an obscure or unexpressed meaning – translating the meaning of transparency from the realm of information to the realm of the observable, the evident and the real. While the traditional understanding of transparency refers to knowing everything there is to know, 'Reading between the Lines' extends the idea of the transparent as the unseen or even the covert.

In conclusion, Gijs and Van Vaerenbergh in collaboration with Z33 for the Z-OUT project introduce art, through architecture, into a public space that enters into a dialogue with its surroundings both formally and content-wise.

Resources :
http://yatzer.com/See-through-Church-by-Gijs-Van-Vaerenbergh

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