Church of Martin Luther in Hainburg by Coop Himmelb(l)au
The new chapel designed by architect Wolf D. Prix from the Viennese studio Coop Himmelb(l)au was consecrated on April 30, 2011, symbolically 1700 years after the issuance of the Edict of Galerius, which permitted Christians to practice their religion, build churches, and enjoy other freedoms. The day after the church's gates opened, the restrictions on the EU labor market for workers from new member states were also symbolically lifted, which is a highly relevant topic in Hainburg, as approximately 300 of the city's total 6000 residents hold Slovak citizenship due to favorable land prices. The local community is in close contact with the nearby parish in Bratislava's Petržalka, evidenced by the participation of the highest bishop of the Slovak Evangelical Church, Miloš Klátik, at the ceremonial event.
The project for the Dr. Martin Luther Church in Hainburg is a gift from Wolf D. Prix to his hometown. The Evangelical church, which was built in less than a year on the site of a former church in the city center, offers not only an open and elevated space for worship but also a social hall and other rooms that smoothly connect in form and height to their surroundings. The symbolism of the church is derived from a massive table, where the 'cloud' roof rests on four reinforced concrete legs with a trio of skylights. In designing this unique roof, the author particularly focused on the atmospheric lighting of the interior space that opens onto the main street, where its folded façade invites passersby to services. Shielding from external noise and internal intimacy is evoked by a symbolic wooden wall with a cross symbol behind the glass façade. The main space of the church is enclosed by a glass children's corner, a baptismal font, and the social hall at the back. Both main rooms of the church can be combined into a single space.
However, the delicate twenty-meter bell tower and the roof structure of the church draw the main attention, inspired by the shape of the nearby Roman ossuary. The architects also admit to being inspired by 'light cannons' in the La Tourette monastery or the sculptures of Henry Moore. The 23-ton roof structure had to be constructed in Baltic dry docks, as the technology for complex 3D shaping of 8mm steel plates is currently only available to the shipbuilding industry.
The church project, with a stretched budget of 1.4 million euros, constitutes a tiny fraction of Coop Himmelb(l)au's current portfolio of completed buildings. For instance, their newly completed conference center in China could accommodate two thousand Martin Luther churches, but according to Wolf D. Prix, even small objects can have a significant impact on the entire community and completely transform their surroundings.
The project for the Dr. Martin Luther Church in Hainburg is a gift from Wolf D. Prix to his hometown. The Evangelical church, which was built in less than a year on the site of a former church in the city center, offers not only an open and elevated space for worship but also a social hall and other rooms that smoothly connect in form and height to their surroundings. The symbolism of the church is derived from a massive table, where the 'cloud' roof rests on four reinforced concrete legs with a trio of skylights. In designing this unique roof, the author particularly focused on the atmospheric lighting of the interior space that opens onto the main street, where its folded façade invites passersby to services. Shielding from external noise and internal intimacy is evoked by a symbolic wooden wall with a cross symbol behind the glass façade. The main space of the church is enclosed by a glass children's corner, a baptismal font, and the social hall at the back. Both main rooms of the church can be combined into a single space.
However, the delicate twenty-meter bell tower and the roof structure of the church draw the main attention, inspired by the shape of the nearby Roman ossuary. The architects also admit to being inspired by 'light cannons' in the La Tourette monastery or the sculptures of Henry Moore. The 23-ton roof structure had to be constructed in Baltic dry docks, as the technology for complex 3D shaping of 8mm steel plates is currently only available to the shipbuilding industry.
The church project, with a stretched budget of 1.4 million euros, constitutes a tiny fraction of Coop Himmelb(l)au's current portfolio of completed buildings. For instance, their newly completed conference center in China could accommodate two thousand Martin Luther churches, but according to Wolf D. Prix, even small objects can have a significant impact on the entire community and completely transform their surroundings.
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