Friday, March 14, 2008

Friday Feature Church - St. Henry's, Turku, Finland





"Inaugurated in 2005, St. Henry’s Ecumenical Art Chapel in Turku is...a very simple building with a shape that reminds you of a fish or a boat. The roof, or actually all of the outside, is made out of copper. The inside of the chapel is made completely out of wood. This 12 meter (40 feet) high ceiling looks much higher than it really is. The natural light changes the balance of light and shadow constantly, thus the inside of the chapel never looks exactly the same."

Architects Matti Sanaksenaho, Pirjo Sanaksenaho and Enrico Garbin


Reverent, contemplative, innovative while still honoring an iconic local form and using locally resonant materials, full of light. Just beautiful.

It would rest my soul just to be in this place, whether a service was going on or not.

And if you doubt that design matters, "the Chapel is second in number of visitors to religious sites in Finland".

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