Cross-gate, Ivo Pavlik, Dukovany, Czech Republic, 2010

I'm always interested in landscape interventions, an aspect of site planning that most churches ignore, and I'm utterly fascinated by this cross-gate by Czech architect Ivo Pavlik.  The installation returns a cross to a landscape from which it had been absent, at the end of a path which leads from a cemetery to a lone mature tree in a landscape neighbored by a power installation.

The structure was created by casting the concrete walls between bales of hay, then burning the hay away (ala Zumthor), leaving behind a rough compelling texture.   The cross-shape was gilded to give it more prominence.

Is it a gate, a threshold, a portal, a pavilion? Do we pass through it, or shelter under it? The ambiguity of the space (and that hovering, cantilevered back wall) demands our attention.

via dezeen...I can't find any website for Ivo.  If you have information, let me know.