Description

Bjuv is a community of 14,000 inhabitants formed from several parishes. It lies in Scania and for more than a century was shaped by the coal and steel industry. Built in the middle of a then new settlement and destined for the amalgamation of two free parishes of Methodists and Missionarists, the church centre presents the visitor with an elongated structure 40.76 metres in length, rising towards the back to a height of nine metres. The church itself occupies the depth of the site. Approaching from the road, a wall to the right defines the path to the entrance; but to the left, buildings and spaces are ranged piece by piece in increasing importance. There is a hierarchy of functions: the youth centre, a courtyard with trees and bushes, the parish hall and the main church.

Up to the point where one enters the church, the building material and the construction have already had their effect. The bricks came from a local brickworks. They are dark, with red and blue tones and are fire bricks, which are particularly durable. Each course follows a pattern of three stretchers followed by a header, an uncommon brick bond whose rhythm is created by the architects. They wanted raw walls and coarse joints; in some places, remains of mortar cling to the bricks. Thanks to its materials and construction, the building will certainly continue to age gracefully.

Around the entrance area of the church are, to the right, the cloakroom, a chapel and an office, and to the left an assembly hall with 90 seats in front of a “stage”, under which there is a pool that enables the rite of baptism to be performed, in which the candidate kneels in the water. The space opens up towards the southwest and northeast, on the one side out into the courtyard, on the other – when the folding partition is pushed to one side – into the 11.5 metre deep second hall with 80 seats where, on Sundays, church services are held. Here, too, the dark brickwork has been used, and on the floor there are brown tiles. Pitch pine has been used for the pews, with cushions made of sailcloth.

The beams, windows and ceilings give the roof a stepped form in concrete, glass and wood. This progression of steps follows a tradition of designs such as the House of Friendship by Hans Poelzig and of the Maria-Regina-Martyrum Church by Rudolf Schwarz. The church does not have a tower. The bells hang in a vertical shaft to the side of the altar. Their sound radiates to the outside through an opening under a small canopy. Otherwise the rear wall is completely closed.

When they commissioned the building, the two parishes were not seeking anything monolithic or monumental. They wanted a centre not only for Sundays but also for use on weekdays. The huge cross made of iron sections next to the path to the entrance and the stepped roof in the background nevertheless make a strong gesture.

Arkitektur DK, no. 1/1971, pp. 35-, pp. A26

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Originally published in: Rudolf Stegers, Sacred Buildings: A Design Manual, Birkhäuser, 2008.