Description
Surrounded to the north and west by a large residential estate totalling some 6000 flats, bounded to the south and east by intersecting roads, the church in Resthof/Steyr stands on a plot of land measuring 28.2 by 29.8 metres. The concrete monolithic construction of almost chthonic solidity has a light colour that shimmers grey/green/brown. The corner that faces the road junction is marked by a rectangular tower-like glass protrusion. Instead of bells it contains a coloured, illuminated sculptural installation by Keith Sonnier. Twelve loops of intertwined neon tubing suggest the contours of a fish. This early sign, originally a secret means of recognition among Christians, is so powerful at night that it has almost become a sign for the entire neighbourhood.
On its west side, the front of the building is covered by a concrete canopy supported by seven cylindrical columns. Due to its size and the repetitive rhythm of its parts, the 6.8 metre deep loggia or stoa has a certain dignity, even solemnity. Entering through the glazed entrance and lobby, one continues along a central west-east axis, which extends through the building like a backbone towards the black stone font at the rear. The axis divides the building into two halves, the space of the church on the left and, on the right, all other auxiliary rooms including a 9 by 4 metre inner courtyard which is partially enclosed by concrete walls, partially glazed, and designed like a Japanese garden.
The building does not awaken associations; it does not recall a fortress, a tent or boat. Architects may see a relation to the free plan in the work of Mies van der Rohe as exemplified by his Barcelona Pavilion. The five spaces of the complex – church, chapel, sacristy, lobby and “cloister” – are open to one another, creating a flowing space yet without compromising the underlying grid of the floor plan. This hierarchy of functions, in other buildings denoted by a front-back or centre-edge relationship, is never unclear. The is because the main church space and sacristy are higher than the lobby and “cloister”. And, as if to emphasise this still further, the processional route begins outside from the road and leads right around the church space used for the Sunday Mass, the first half outside – east-north – the second half inside the building – west-south – effectively walking around a volume within the volume of the building.
The church floor is slate; the walls and ceiling are clad with birch panels. The pews are arranged in three groups around the low podium, and the altar and can seat 150 people. The deep red of the altar is the strongest colour in the entire building. The 7.2 metre high space of the church is naturally illuminated by strips of glazing at roof and ground level, and to the south and east by the long frameless windows onto the inner courtyard and pond next to the font. When, at dusk, the downlighters illuminate the walls, the wood glows almost like gold.
Architektur Aktuell, no. 11/2001, pp. 130- | Architekturzentrum Wien (Ed.): Architektur in Österreich im 20. und 21. Jahrhundert, exhibition catalogue, Basel 2006, p. 248 | Archithese, no. 5/2003, p. 66, pp. 68- | AV Monografías, no. 95/2002, pp. 86- | Baumeister, no. 12/2001, pp. 76- | Bauwelt, no. 37/2003, pp. 18- | Detail, no. 9/2004, pp. 992-, pp. 1078- | Häusler, Wolfgang, Lienhardt, Conrad (Ed.): Keith Sonnier. Skulptur Licht Raum, Ostfildern-Ruit (n.d.) 2002, pp. 59- | Kunst und Kirche, no. 2/2001, pp. 124- | Lienhardt, Conrad (Ed.): Sakralraum im Umbruch. Kirchenbau der Katholischen Kirche in Oberösterreich seit 1948, Regensburg 2004, pp. 180- | Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Schweizer Ausgabe, 4. 4. 2003, p. 81 | Orte Architekturnetzwerk Niederösterreich, Nitschke, Marcus (Ed.): Raum und Religion. Europäische Positionen im Sakralbau. Deutschland, Österreich, Polen, exhibition catalogue, Salzburg and Munich 2005, pp. 26-, pp. 80- | The Phaidon Atlas of Contemporary World Architecture, Comprehensive Edition, London 2004, p. 539 | Riepl Riepl Architekten. Sites, Vienna and New York 2008, pp. 150- | Stock, Wolfgang Jean (Ed.): European Church Architecture 1950-2000, Munich 2002, pp. 206- | Stock, Wolfgang Jean: Architectural Guide Sacred Buildings in Europe since 1950, Munich 2004, pp. 232- | Wöhler, Till: Neue Architektur. Sakralbauten, (n.p.) Berlin 2005, pp. 158-
Drawings
Site plan
Ground floor
North-south section through the altar zone
North-south section through the font and chapel
East-west section through the central axis that divides the building
Photos
View from the southeast with illuminated beacon by Keith Sonnier
Church space with view of the red-coloured altar block
Originally published in: Rudolf Stegers, Sacred Buildings: A Design Manual, Birkhäuser, 2008.