Ravnsbjerg Church

Rudolf Stegers

Description

Shopping centre, kindergarten and church are grouped around a rectangular square. The church has a wedge-shaped profile, which rises at an angle of 27 degrees to a height of 16 metres. Not only on this face does the building appear exceptionally closed. What contributes to its solid, heavy character are that the church sits on a plateau with sloping sides and ends; that the tower, though an independent freestanding structure, is only separated from the wedge by two, full height “hollow joints” the width of a door; that the reveal of the circular window creates the impression of very thick walls; that the sometimes reddish, sometimes brownish bricks are generally laid in English bond except for the sills, copings, lintels and around the circular window where they are aligned as soldier courses. The outward appearance of the building does not disclose that, in principle, this is an example of the rare “corner church” type. The plan shows a clear square form, extended on the west and east sides across the entire width of the church by an area of about a sixth of the square in each case. The length and breadth of the structure are 33 and 25 metres, respectively, a proportion of 4:3. With regard to use, the square is divided into quarters. While the vestibule is arranged in the southwest section and the hall with 90 chairs in the northwest section, the main church occupies the southeast and northeast parts. The narrow series of rooms on the west and east sides accommodate, on the one hand, the kitchen and technical installations, on the other the vestry and the organ loft.

The slope of the roof, covered externally with lead panels, is also a strong element in the interior. All parts of the space are so conceived that, wherever one stands, the greatest possible area of the underside of the monopitch roof with its beams and laths remains visible. Hence the low brickwork of the entrance hall and the framed timber and glass structure, not only over the folding partition between the parish hall and the main church, but also over the stone vestibule’s “paravents”. Nothing should interrupt the view upwards.

The furnishings of the church by the artist Erik Heide have a powerful presence. All the objects were made from the same Pomeranian pinewood that has been used for the roof and the partition. The altar is a two by two metre square table. Kneeling rests for Communion surround it on three sides. The posts of the pulpit are decorated with branded symbols of the Evangelists. A dove glides above the 7.2 metre high “Tree of Life”. In the morning light the round window glows brightly as if it were the sun. The sunlight shines to the west through the framework, and on into the remaining, less important parts of the building.

The architects define their buildings as “Romanesque” and “pragmatic”. The church is reminiscent, also with regard to its furnishings, of the solidity and massiveness of Romanesque architecture, as well as some of the work of Dominikus Böhm. But above all it calls to mind the Chorale: “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”.

Bibliography

Arkitektur DK, no. 3/1977, pp. 89-, p. A 56 | Bauen und Wohnen, no. 3/1978, pp. 121- | Dirckinck-Holmfeld, Kim: Guide to Danish Architecture 2. 1960-1995, Copenhagen 1995, pp. 198- | Johannsen, Hugo, Smidt, Claus M.: Danmarks Arkitektur. Kirkens huse, Copenhagen 1981, p. 195 | Lind, Olaf: Jutland Architecture Guide, Copenhagen 2002, p. 219 | Lindstrom, Randall S.: Creativity and Contradiction. European Churches since 1970, Washington D.C. 1988, pp. 40-, p. 45, p. 135 | Lund, Nils-Ole: Bygmesteren C.F. Møller, Århus 1998, pp. 126-, p. 134, pp. 148- | Møller, Mads: Romantik og Snusfornuft, Arkitektfirmaet C.F. Møllers Tegnestue, Haderslev 1993, p. 23, p. 30, p. 43, p. 54, p. 68