“To see the Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine finally open is emblematic of Lower Manhattan’s storied future and defining past,” says Santiago Calatrava, the architect who designed the structure. “I hope to see this structure serve its purpose as a sanctuary for worship but also as a place for reflection on what the city endured and how it is moving forward.”

Calatrava and his eponymous firm also designed and rebuilt the WTC’s “Oculus” transportation hub, which opened in 2016. The station’s arched wings “symbolize a dove released from a child’s hand,” or a phoenix rising from the ashes.

The Saint Nicholas church design is similarly intended to evoke the ideas of strength, resilience, and light, according to Calatrava. “Architecture can have an intrinsic symbolic value, which is not written or expressed in a specific way but in an abstract and synthetic manner, sending a message and thus leaving a lasting legacy,” he notes.

Taking architectural cues from another well-known Greek house of God, the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, the new church features four stone towers that support and surround a large inner dome. Calatrava also chose to sheath the towers in Pentelic marble, the same material that makes up the Parthenon in Athens.

The ridged dome is constructed from thin stone and laminated glass panels. Thanks to the lighting inside the church and behind the stone, “the entire church appear[s] to glow from within, invoking the feeling of being a beacon of hope amid the night.”

The interior includes more Byzantine-influenced design, with 40 windows and structural ribs and a glass painting of Christ in the center of the dome’s ceiling. In between the ribs is iconography of 20 prophets in traditional Byzantine colors.

In addition to the worship spaces, the church also has two “community” rooms on the second and third floors, areas that are open to the public for meetings and other activities. Calatrava feels “these spaces are a significant component of the building’s program as they accentuate the church’s open and welcoming relationship with the greater World Trade Center Memorial site, as well as the community of Lower Manhattan.”

The church leaders are grateful to have their physical structure restored, but they’re even more excited for what its return symbolizes. “This Shrine will be a place for everyone who comes to the Sacred Ground at the World Trade Center, a place for them to imagine and envision a world where mercy is inevitable, reconciliation is desirable, and forgiveness is possible,” said His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America in a statement. “The National Shrine…will stand as witness not only to the vitality of Holy Orthodoxy, but for America’s commitment to religious freedom. The Shrine will be a defiant symbol of opposition to the forces or intolerance around the globe.”

The post 20 Years After 9/11, the World Trade Center’s Only Church is Reborn first appeared on Dornob.

In fact, there’s now such a huge selection of strange Chinese buildings to choose from, Archy.com started an annual Ugliest Building Survey, and its 12th annual contest has a whopping 87 contenders in the running. That number may dwindle in the years to come, since President Xi Jinping issued a government directive calling for an end to “oversized, xenocentric, weird” projects, and that’s part of the point of the contest. The organizers hope pointing out ugly architecture will “promote architects’ social responsibility” and cut back on wastefulness.

Voting is open until December, when a commission of architects will select the final 10 winners. Here are some of the projects currently in the lead:

Donping Poly Plaza, Foshan, Guangdong

Nobody really wants a big imposing building in their city to look sort of like a modernized Eye of Sauron, do they? Incorporating a four-story atrium with a flying staircase design, a basement level, and four towers, this complex is supposed to be a lively gathering place for residents of Foshan New City. The reasons Archy listed for nominating this project include “extremely inharmonious with the surrounding environment and natural conditions,” “idolizes Western culture,” and “weird and vulgar.” Voters mostly just think it’s depressing.

Xi’an International Children’s Art Museum, Shanghai

Some people think this school inspired by the “Arabian Magic Carpet” is cute and fitting for its purpose, with its undulating roof and facade full of round cut-outs. Others seem to be experiencing a touch of trypophobia (fear of holes). It has been called “really psychologically uncomfortable,” “disgusting,” “vulgar” and even “secret terrorism.” One voter wrote of the building’s pale beige curves and orifices, “it’s like a breathing monster composed entirely of flesh and blood.”

Glass Bridge Tower of Jiuhuanghsan Mountain in Mianyang, Sichuan

Something about the monumental figures standing on either end of this glass bridge in the Jiuhuangshan Scenic Area seems to make it extra terrifying for many onlookers. Comments include “Really insulted the beauty of this mountain,” “nightmare-inducing,” and “don’t look at me, I’m afraid.”

Hainan Danzhou Hengdahaihua Island Complex

There are so many outlandish structures on this series of three manmade tourist islands that the Ugly Buildings contest organizers couldn’t choose – they just lumped them all together as one big anger-inducing mass. “This is the garbage dump,” wrote one voter. “A game of capital, making a pile of rubbish, what a bad thing to do with this money,” wrote another.

Violin Church, Yanbu, Foshan, Guangdong

This local church isn’t even the only violin-shaped building in China, but locals hate its garishness, its overuse of concrete, its high cost, and the way it has apparently overshadowed more demure adjacent buildings. It was nominated because “the function of the building is extremely unreasonable.” Fair enough.

South Gate of Zijingang Campus, Zhejiang University

You might be surprised to learn that this comparatively tame-looking structure has earned the most votes by far. But Chinese voters are annoyed that such a high-cost, high-profile project is both painful to look at and dysfunctional. Apparently, the unnecessarily extravagant gate impedes both vehicular and pedestrian traffic, forcing everyone to stare at it even longer while they’re stuck in the area. “When the design plan came out, the teachers and students in the school objected to the curse,” wrote one voter.

The post China’s Ugliest Buildings Contest Shames the Wasteful and Distasteful first appeared on Dornob.

Designed by SYN Architects, the “Hometown Moon” chapel in the Shandong village of Tai’an is a two-story structure with an enormous semi-circle of glass and concrete sitting atop a reflecting pool, causing it to appear as one great shining orb. Inside the ground floor, an identical half-circle descends from a mirrored ceiling, producing a similar effect.

The 11,000 square-foot ceremonial hall was commissioned by the Shandong Lushang Group as part of a larger project to develop a 20-square-mile mountainous region of rural villages, and to bring more tourism and business to the area. The Hometown Moon is the second attraction on that particular hill. In 2019, the billowy “Hometown Cloud” structure emerged from the green hillsides of Tai’an, but the regional planners wanted more.

The Moon was strategically placed to face the Cloud without blocking the view of the beautiful mountain behind it. SYN Architects took great care to incorporate the Hometown Cloud into their plans for the chapel, creating an entire experience with nature for visitors. For instance, the parking lot was purposefully set far away from both structures, requiring guests to take a roughly 10-minute walk through the bushes and rocks, further immersing themselves in the natural surroundings and breaking away from their normal lives.

As they journey, tourists will catch glimpses of the semi-circle rising above the pond, and the spectacle will dip playfully in and out of sight until they reach the chapel where the moon then looms large in front of the surrounding landscape.

Once inside, the lunar-like orb continues to glow, suspended from above and flanked by mossy rocks that mimic the outside world. Visitors can reach out and feel the celestial sphere as it almost touches the floor.

The symbolism of the Moon, especially one that never sets, was chosen for this event center, especially considering the many weddings that may be held in the chapel. Single individuals, entering as less than whole, emerge bonded with their other half, now a fully completed entity. The traditional Buddhist principles of harmony, perpetuity, comprehensiveness, and endlessness are also embedded in the contemplative spaces throughout the facility.

The Beijing-based company hopes that connection with those values and the organic world around the Hometown Moon will provide a long-lasting repose from the rush of every-day living.

“Since the completion of the building, it has started a dialogue with users and nature. I look forward to seeing it being modified over time, further blending with the environment as the trees grow,” says Zou Yingxi, lead architect of SYN architects. “Each architecture has two destinies: being destroyed or being protected. I look forward to creating an architecture that is reluctant to be destroyed. It will be the highest achievement of my career. For this reason, I will bestow deeper meaning to my architecture and create more emotional bonds for its users. I hope that the Moon can become this kind of architecture. Even if it disappears in time, it will still exist in our spiritual world.”

The post SYN Architects Shoot for the Moon with New Event Hall in China first appeared on Dornob.

In a traditional cathedral, the altar where the Eucharist is performed is situated at the very top of the cross layout or apse, with a pulpit, lectern, and raised seating separating the congregation from the rituals. With this new layout, the church seeks to engage worshippers by allowing them to encompass the altar, instead of simply observing the “holy act” from afar.

“We invite people into the apse, surrounding the altar, forming a community,” says lead designer Robert Gutowski. “It is also similar to the liturgy of early times, when Paleochristians simply surrounded a table in their own home — what is known as Domus Ecclesiae.”

“The church clearly defines its purpose: while the Creator and the almighty God are at the center of traditional liturgy, modern liturgical efforts have shifted emphasis to the re-creator God, the image of a perpetually redeeming Christ,” he adds.

The architecture of the edifice is all symbolic of that updated religious perspective. The oval shape of the building and courtyard represent “perpetuity,” incorporating both the eternal nature of divinity and the constant need for fellowship with Christ and his followers. However, the two ellipses fashioned by the church and connected courtyard are set on different axes. This ties in a traditional compositional detail found in most Catholic churches, in that the nave — the area where the congregation sits — is typically slightly offset from the apse.

“We cannot name one single church that sits on the same axis, because pretty much all of the historical churches in Europe have this tiny ‘mistake,’ which actually became a symbol of the broken body of Christ,” explains Gutowski. The inside of the new house of worship also applies this “broken body” symbolism by making every alcove asymmetrical, and by angling the reinforced concrete ceiling at unconventional slants.

The altar is made of one single wedge of dark green onyx stone, creating a striking contrast to the white walls and Carrara marble of the altar platform. The two steps of the platform are rounded, too, adding to the altar’s feeling of approachability. The modest wooden pews constitute a semi-circle around this space while a rectangular skylight brings in natural light from above. On top of that, the altar and alcoves are illuminated by spotlights for added emphasis.

The Saint Pope John Paul II Church also includes several rooms adjoining the liturgical hall. These include the priest’s living quarters, an educational room, a communal room, a guest room, an office, a service room, and bell tower access.

The Gutowski architecture firm won the bid for the Paty project in a 2004 design contest. The structure was completed and consecrated in April 2019. According to its website, the company focuses on “complex and significant cultural buildings, high performance sustainability, and community renewal projects.” It has produced over 50 projects in its 16-year history, including a gymnasium and concert hall in Pannonhalma, an UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the Korda Pilgrim House in Mariazell, Austria.

The post Minimalist Hungarian Church Designed to Engage Modern Worshippers first appeared on Dornob.

Okuda San Miguel continues his career of taking street art to new heights with “Kaos Temple,” a remarkable renovation that transformed the chapel into a sanctuary for skateboarders. The original structure, designed by architect Manuel del Busto and built in 1912, was in rough shape, falling apart after many years of neglect.

Collaborating with the Church Brigade skate group and sponsor Red Bull, San Miguel got to work on the rainbow-colored project, painting the walls, vault, and glasswork in his distinctive geometric style. Taking inspiration from pop surrealism and traditional indigenous art, San Miguel often paints animals and faces, saying he likes using a wide variety of bright colors for his portraits to symbolize multiculturalism.

The artist didn’t start with any preconceived ideas when he first started planning the design for this project. Kaos Temple came together almost by intuition. San Miguel simply went inside and allowed his imagination to fill in the blanks, using the architecture itself as a guide. For large specs like this, he typically starts with a latex primer and spray paints over it. He likes using spray paint because it’s a forgiving method, allowing him to quickly correct mistakes — or decide he likes them enough to keep them.

The name of the project comes from San Miguel’s own “Kaos Star,” a large three-dimensional metal sculpture with many points. A crowdfunding campaign helped the project come to life, and it remains one of the artist’s largest and most impressive works. Skaters travel from all over the world to experience this highly unique indoor skate park.

If you ever get a chance to see it in person, it would be highly worth your while to spend as much time as you can just taking in all of the details. You’ll spot many of San Miguel’s favorite motifs, including skulls, owls, monkeys, bulls, dogs, eyes, nude figures, and of course, the multi-pointed star.

The artist describes this abandoned-church-turned-skate-park as “a magical and alluring work” that represents a creative expression of cultural vibrancy to promote new arts spaces. He’s certainly earned the attention of the public, and it would be cool to see more projects in this vein — whether from San Miguel himself or from other artists he has inspired.

“I need to create in order to be happy and to feel good,” he said in a 2016 interview with Fluoro. “Art is the meaning of my life. When I am working on the lift in a big building and see the movement of the cars and people in the streets, I feel freedom and alive. I am out of the mechanic capitalist world, closer to the sky.”

The post Okuda San Miguel Turns 100-Year-Old Church Into Kaleidoscopic Skate Park first appeared on Dornob.

A recent renovation of the St. Moritz Church in Augsburg, Germany illustrates the contemporary development of a religious institution in a particularly poignant form. The structure’s history is remarkable—one of the oldest parishes in the town, it was founded in 1019 in honor of the patron saint of St. Moritz, survived a fire in 1084 and a partial collapse in 1299.

Over the next four centuries, it was rebuilt several times, gaining a bell tower, Gothic details, a square tower and a dome. In 1715, the church was entirely reconstructed in magnificent Baroque style, but most of its newly embellished interior was destroyed by bombs on February 24 and 25, 1944. The tower and external walls remained intact, and the interiors underwent a series of changes and expansions throughout the 1950s and 1960s.

Eventually, the parish decided they wanted St. Moritz to be reborn once again, this time with the needs of the future in mind. London-based architect and designer John Pawson was commissioned to redesign it with “clarity” and “minimalism” as primary goals.

Completed between 2008 and 2013, the result is nothing less than stunning. With cleaner lines, brilliant natural light and a studied contrast of dark and light, the new interiors offer an updated perspective on what a church can look like, drawing a line between past, present and future.

“The church of St Moritz has been through many changes since its foundation nearly a thousand years ago,” says Pawson. “Devastating fires, changes in liturgical practice, aesthetic evolution and wartime bombing have each left their mark on the fabric of the building. The purpose of this latest intervention has been to retune the existing architecture, from aesthetic, functional and liturgical perspectives, with considerations of sacred atmosphere always at the heart of the project.”

“The work has involved the meticulous paring away of selected elements of the church’s complex fabric and the relocation of certain artifacts, to achieve a clearer visual field. Drawing on existing forms and elements of vocabulary, an architectural language has evolved that is recognizable in subtle ways as something new, yet has no jarring foreign elements.”

Callbacks to the church’s storied past are all around, from the grand proportions to the elegant statuary. They’ve been pared back just enough to allow them to shine against the gallery-like backdrop of white, giving them an even greater sense of importance.

Dark-stained pews anchor the space, and the Portuguese limestone that makes up the floors and pulpit is echoed in the frame of each window, where thin slices diffuse the sunlight to produce an ethereal effect.

Outside, the church retains its Baroque appearance—tower, buttresses and all. Inside, it’s a whole new world of simple lines and dazzling light. Balancing respect for the past with hope for the future, this modern renovation feels like a testament to the resilience of history in an ever-changing world.

The post Minimalist St. Mauritz: German Church Gets a Modern Makeover first appeared on Dornob.

Harnessing some of its most captivating original features, including a set of majestic stained glass windows, dramatic vaulted ceilings and open spaces, exposed brick walls, and wooden ceiling turnbuckles, this revamped holy house does a great job of paying tribute to its past while serving an entirely modern purpose.

Now encompassing six bathrooms, seven bedrooms, and a few large public areas, the church has been lovingly converted into a contemporary eclectic home by American designer Linc Thelen. Thelen created a fluidity throughout the new home by leaving the 25-foot-high lower level of the building open-plan, allowing the living area, kitchen, and dining room to all blend seamlessly into one another. He wanted to preserve the essence of the building’s heritage by keeping the stunning golden windows and other original features he believed would bring character to the space while still making it feel like a livable and loveable residence.

Most of the interior adheres to a color palette of black, white, and gray, while the stained glass adds splashes of red, green, and yellow to the mix, with accessories and fixtures featuring additional gold accents. The lower level also contains a separated master bedroom, bathroom, and closet, while the upper level houses the other bedrooms, a playroom featuring a custom-made climbing wall and sliding barn door, a game room, and a nursery. The ultra-macho game room has actually been built in the church’s old bell tower, allowing for further fantastical thinking when the inhabitants are deep in their leisurely element and overlooking downtown Chicago.

Meticulous care was taken with the redesign in order to to work around a few major challenges that arose in the process, including the installation of proper of heating and cooling systems and the owners’ request for an isolated additional room to accommodate their growing family. The home was designed playfully in order to portray the personalities of the owners, providing them with a luxurious suburban home in a vintage farmhouse design style. The occasional modern twist keeps the space functional but leaves enough of a unique aesthetic to spark some really interesting conversations among guests!

After entering through a pair of wooden blue double doors, visitors ascend a short set of steps and walk through the entrance hall, emerging in an open space consisting of raw materials, canvas-like white walls, staggering volumes, and brass accessories. In charming juxtaposition to these elements are the vestiges of the old church: thick wooden beams, a black quartz chimney, and of course, the whole holy exterior. The wallpapers tend to feature bright prints or geometric shapes, while the floors are adorned with colorful ceramic tiles. A few of the church’s nooks and crannies have been turned into reading corners and other creative crawl spaces, adding allure and curiosity to every possible living space and ensuring that every feature is used to its fullest potential.

The post Chicago Church Transformed Into a Residential Dream first appeared on Dornob.

St. Barnabas Anglican Church – Sydney, Australia

The original St. Barnabas Church was erected in 1858 and stood for 148 years until it was destroyed by a fire in 2006. Six years later, the ruined structure was demolished to make way for a more modern church designed by Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp. The new church is not at all like the old one, which people would often walk by without even noticing. In such a busy part of Sydney, the new church is a more inviting space. A cross is still visible from the outside, but it is part of the façade, helping to reveal the light that’s within. Without that shining cross, people might assume that the new St. Barnabas was a fitness center or a college building, but definitely not a church.

YMH Church – Gyeonggi-do, South Korea

Designed by Oh Jongsang, the YMH Church was initially thought to have too simple of a design for the pastor’s liking. He was eventually won over by the architect, who explained to him that the minimalism of the design was being used to counterbalance the excessiveness of the world. When people come to worship at a church, they want a place of respite from the hectic world outside. They want to be in a place of peace, with the entirety of their attention going to worship. Although the pastor liturgically understood the concept, he failed to grasp it architecturally. There was not a large budget for this project, which also included a residence for the pastor on the upper floor.

Tainan Tung-Men Holiness Church – Tainan, Taiwan

The pastor of this church wanted it to resemble the biblical metaphor of an eagle soaring high and serve as a transition point for non-believers to be born again and transformed into believers. Designed by MAYU Architects, the façade of the church is filled with perforated aluminum screens, which the architect named “feathers” in keeping with the metaphorical desire of the pastor. These screens filter natural light as it enters the sanctuary. In comparison to the hardness of the street outside, this more delicate façade makes the church feel very welcoming to the community.

The Closest Church – Gyeonggi-do, South Korea

In the midst of a residential housing complex lies the Closest Church. It too acts as a type of community focal point for those hungry for divine intervention. Designed by IDMM Architects, this church, like many of the firm’s other projects, uses concrete formalism to distinguish sections of the building and frame certain views. The church functions as a landmark for its densely-populated neighborhood. Since it was built on such a small portion of land, the architects had to arrange parts of the church vertically in order to maximize the amount of available space inside. The result is a sculptural place of worship that few would recognize as a church if not for its glowing cross.

Victory Christian Church – Auckland, New Zealand

Similar to the four aforementioned churches, this church was given an addition to make it more approachable to the community. DKO Architecture designed a new entrance that looks something like the entrance to the corporate headquarters of a global sports brand. On top of the entrance is a parking lot, playground, and landscape, where members of the congregation can sit and reflect on sermons or simply continue fellowship after the service is over.

These five modern churches do not have the stodgy architectural features that are lovely to photograph, but they end up being much more inspiring to their visitors. Even though a church is a place of worship and its design (as well as everything else about it) should come secondary to that purpose, modern churches provide a truly unique spiritual experience. They tend to be brighter, more welcoming, and a lot more focused.

The post Modern Churches Breaking the Traditional Mold first appeared on Dornob.

The project was commissioned by the Diocese of London, who called for a church and community building that would be able to accommodate various functions like social gatherings, yoga classes, parent and child groups, exhibitions, musical performances, art classes, and literary workshops. The winning proposal was developed by the local design firm Denizen Works in collaboration with boat-building company Turks and conceives of the brief in the form of a church atop a barge, enabling the entire structure to float along the canals and moor at regeneration sites that have already been specified by the diocese. They hope to erect more permanent congregations at these sites once the floating church is unable to accommodate more parishioners.

The boat’s unusual shape is inspired by both church organ bellows and the expandable roofs of camper vans. The translucent structure will consist of a durable hull and a collapsible rear made from sail material. Denizen Works explains, “the concept was developed to provide a dramatic and transformative space within the confines of a barge designed to traverse the London canal network. During its nomadic existence, the boat will alternate between two distinct characters. When navigating the waterways, the boat will be compact and low-lying so as to pass beneath bridges. When moored, the boat will bloom into an illuminated beacon with its sculptural pop-out roof canopies. The largest canopy will provide a dramatic internal space for worship through to arts and cultural events.”

London’s canals are often thought of as idyllic places with a quintessentially British character, and in recent years, especially in East London, the canal boats and barges that line them have been becoming increasingly coveted as living spaces and homes. The concept of putting a church on a canal boat is no doubt tapping into this new idea of canal boats as trendy, and with the proliferation of these types of dwellings on social media, the winning design seems to have been a wise choice on the part of the Diocese of London. Barges and canal boats are also steeped in British history and have appeared again and again in popular culture, so this barge’s association with the church could possibly cause the public to form positive psychological connections between the two. The church is set to be completed in December 2018, and it should be up and running as soon as the following year.

Denizen Works architect Andrew Ingram says “As architects, it’s been fascinating to engage with a different strand of the construction industry. We have designed a boat which we think will become a landmark on the London canal and provide its users with a unique and inspiring space.”

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With its two street-facing gables, stained glass windows and quiet, tree-lined double lot in Chicago’s Little Italy, this church still looks like it has for over a century from the outside, albeit a bit spruced up. Built in 1901, the church closed its doors to congregants in 1920 and sat abandoned for many decades before the University of Chicago began using it to house various campus ministries. Today, it’s a gorgeous light-filled residence for a family of five, renovated for maximum comfort and minimalist beauty by the firm Linc Thelen.

The seven-bedroom, six-bath home still boasts the original sky-high ceiling height, as well as original details like the arched stained-glass windows within creamy brick walls and exposed beams. To make it feel cozy and comfortable as a family home, the architects brought the ceilings down in the bedrooms and children’s rooms.

Unsurprisingly, lots of secrets were discovered during demolition, like a host of nooks and crannies accessible via narrow crawl spaces and rickety wooden ladders. While some were opened to fit modern amenities like the washer and dryer, others were left intact as play spaces for the kids. The house also boasts a fun climbing wall, a Murphy bed in the nursery and multiple fireplaces.

The stained glass stands out more than ever now that it’s set against stark white walls and ceilings, and the original nave is now a spacious and wide-open living room, kitchen and dining area. While most of the surfaces have been modernized, the clock tower was left almost exactly as it was found, with the second-level floor taken out for views all the way to the top.

The post Church Conversion: Chicago Chapel Turned Into Holy Home first appeared on Dornob.

Dutch web design company Acato smelled something fishy at their offices – literally. They were located above a fishmonger, not exactly an ideal working situation for creative types. The company enlisted Rotterdam architects BBVH to help them convert a run-down 19th century church into a stylish new workspace.

The church, located in the center of The Hague, was essentially gutted and divided into usable parts. The space was opened up by removing superfluous walls, and the main church hall was turned into the company’s offices.

Thanks to the high ceilings that are characteristic of churches, the architects were able to install a dramatic winding staircase. The stairs lead to a glass-enclosed meeting room that was once the church choir’s balcony.

The staircase is made of wood and wrapped in steel, giving two very different impressions. Seen from the outside, the white steel looks crisp and industrial, but from the inside the rich wood looks warm and inviting. That rich wood carries over into meeting rooms and other common areas.

Smart touches like bright color splashes, plenty of glass, an open floor plan and live plants all help to keep the offices feeling airy and comfortable.

The post Decaying Church Converted Into Bright Modern Offices first appeared on Dornob.

A historic 19th century church with soaring ceilings, stained glass windows and all of the design details you would expect in such a structure is now available for short-term rentals in Utrecht, Netherlands. Built in 1870, the church was converted into a spacious residence, its interior painted white for a bright and open effect. The addition of modular floors and stairways adds more living space without compromising the building’s original layout.

St. Jakobus closed its doors as a place of worship in 1991. It was one of hundreds of churches in The Netherlands that have been phased out as church membership declines, going through various stages of alternative usage, including a period as a small concert hall and showroom for antique furniture.

Zecc Architects purchased it and transformed it into a spectacular residence, preserving its historic facade and the arches of its vaulted ceiling. They partially removed a mezzanine floor that was installed for concerts to recapture the church’s sense of space and enable daylight to flood the interior.

The bedrooms, a study room and a bathroom are enclosed within the modern modular insert, which is detached from the church structure and could be removed if the building goes through yet another transformation. The former parapet area is now a large dining space, with two of the church’s original pews used as seating.

Located in the central city close to major attractions, the church accommodations are available to rent via Wimdu.

More from the architects

“The old Catholic St.-Jakobus Church is transformed into a spacious house. The church stands inconspicuously in a street facade at the Bemuurde Weerd in Utrecht city. Since 1991 there were no longer divine services in the church and until 2007 the church was used as a showroom for antique furniture. Also, the church was let out as meeting-place or used for small concerts. For these functions, in the ‘90 there a large mezzanine floor was added. This floor was an important factor in the design process. The mezzanine floor has been substantially modified to recover and enlarge de spatial qualities in the church. More private spaces (bedrooms, a study room and a bathroom) are on the ground floor.”

“The exceptional quality of this project is that the church has been transformed into one dwelling. With this new situation, eventually, it is imaginable that the church can be converted for public purposes such as a library, bookstore, museum or even a church again! The original church construction is hardly modified. The existing wooden floor, stained glass windows and old doors are maintained and repaired where necessary. The new white floor sculpture is kept free from the church walls, columns and arches. The sleek stucco volume is constructed from steel, wood & sheet material. Glass surfaces in the volume constantly offer another insight of fragments in the church. Moreover, they reflect historical elements, which creates a fusion of old and new.”

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A 500-year-old cloister and attached late-19th-century building in Barcelona that served as a fabric store for the past twenty years has been transformed into an expansive apartment for a couple with a baby. The building retains its notable architectural details, but is brightened with new wood floors and lots of white paint.

Spanish interior design studio Minim carried out the restoration, using white not only to reflect light in what must have been a dark space, but also to call attention to the home’s most interesting features.

The rustic arches and columns contrast with the smooth, bright new surfaces. One exterior arch was opened to create a large window in the living area.

The theme continues from the cloister into the remainder of the 2,150-square-foot home. Modern furniture in punchy pinks and purples have a big impact against the serene monochromatic background.

The tranquil effect created by the designers reflects the shift in the use of the space, from a bustling retail store to a comfortable and private place of refuge.

The post 500-Year-Old Cloister Converted to Home in Barcelona first appeared on Dornob.

The post Change of Congregation: Lovely Little Church Now a Home first appeared on Dornob.

Architects who are asked to restore old or damaged buildings typically decide to bring those buildings back to their former glory. But David Closes decided to take a different path when he was charged with converting the classic Sant Francesc Catalonian church building into a cultural center and auditorium.

The church was built in the early 1700s and was once part of the Sant Francesc convent. After the convent was sacked in 1835, it was left to deteriorate on its own until 2000, when the rest of the buildings were torn down. Only the run-down church was left standing, and it was this fragile and partially collapsed building that Closes set about transforming.

Rather than bringing the building back to its former state or even simply restoring the shell and giving it a modern interior, Closes did something truly extraordinary. He plunked a new building down inside and outside of the church’s ruined shell. He used collapsed roof sections as skylights and kept some of the building’s original walls as beautiful components of a building that embraces both the past and the present.

One of the most compelling parts of the renovation/conversion is the exterior stairwell. The gorgeous floating glass stairwell was added outside of the boundaries of the original building to avoid having to alter the shape of the nave. Other components were added outside of the building in order to minimize the permanent impact to the shape of the structure while highlighting its new, modern purpose.

More from the architects

“The renovation of the building has been developed with the goal of differentiating the new elements constructed (using contemporary construction systems and languages​​) from the original elements of this historical church. With the aim of preserving all aspects of the building’s past, the intervention has not hidden traces, wounds or scars. Thus, they have remained visible depressions, holes where the altarpieces once were, traces of missing elements.”

“Another challenge was to maintain the unity and dimension of the nave of the church, even with new volumes for uses and requirements the church had never had before: stairs to climb to the upper floors, toilets, and equipment rooms. To preserve the sense of space and unity inside the church, these volumes have been located, in part, outside the building or have been placed inside in a way which maintains the vision of unified space, in both the nave and the main chapel.”

The post Ancient Catalonian Church Keeps Ruins and Gains a New Soul first appeared on Dornob.

Recently resold in Sydney, Australia, this large corner church looks quite ordinary on the outside but hides a modern house, chic baths and a commercial marble kitchen within.

A pair of alfresco terraces match soaring cathedral ceilings, held up by thin steel members and existing structural elements, while iron details and original windows add a touch of human-scaled decor.

Above the main level of this church to home conversion sits an adults-only retreat for parents while letting them look down on kids playing below, with glass railings and floor-to-ceiling glazed walls.

Lower-level Italian stone floor tiles and wooden flooring are heated from underneath, making the transition down into and up out of the open-air pool all the more appealing.

More about the sale of this converted church home, via Daily Mail:

“Realtor Alexander Phillips of PPD Real Estate agency has just listed the apartment at the front of the building with an asking price of $3.6million – $655,000 more than the average price of a four-bedroom in the neighborhood, which was $2.95million in September this year. Once home to a working-class immigrant community, Bondi Junction is now an ultra-desirable suburb popular among young professionals for its proximity to Bondi Beach on one side and the CBD six kilometers away on the other.”

About this adaptive reuse architectural project, via the architects themselves:

“For this luxury development on the site of Sydney’s last mill, BKA inserted two spacious apartments into the shell of a substantially intact early ecclesiastical Gothic church. Two terrace houses were also built adjacent to the church, with all three volumes responding to the proportion, scale, and rhythm of their late Victorian and early Federation neighbours. Restrained colours and a shared palette of timber and stone bridge the divide between old and new, while lighting and landscaping additions breathe new life into the remaining historic fabric.”

The post Sold in Sydney: Refab Church Turned Modern Home + Pool first appeared on Dornob.