ØRESTAD NEW CHURCH

The new church in Ørestad must support the undergoing development of churches, where the traditional use of churches for mainly Sunday service and High Mass has been surpassed by secular cultural events as the main purpose for visiting the church. It must be a modern church with a wide range of unformal activities. A church of today as well as the future, which invites inside and offers a spiritual gathering place for conversations, reflection, contemplation and tranquility as well as a unformal gathering place for cultural events, local activities and communities.

Our proposal for the new church invites the whole community in all its rich diversity. It offers a common space for the inhabitants of Ørestad that serve the daily needs in the social life of the neighborhood and offers a place where they can experience a soothing atmosphere in a sacred space. It offers a framework for cultural events as well as to celebrations of life's important milestones.

Its does so by introducing a transparent façade and a softer edge zone surrounding the churchroom that conveys a transition from the hectic everyday life outside to the spiritual, quiet life inside. A zone that invites passing buyers inside a relaxed and unpretentious atmosphere. A sheltered place where time is slowly brought to a standstill – a gap.

All the church functions are gathered under one monumental roof that drapes itself like a stretched tent cloth over the many different rooms. The distinctive tiled roof "floats" on top of a light facade consisting of a wooden colonnade and large glass partitions. To mark unique funktions – the chapel and the church tower - the bricks are used in the facade, both as fully bricked sections and to create patterns.

The transparent arcade that surrounds the church contains a solid core of rammed earth walls that defines the church's central space. The rammed earth creates a sense of grounding, thus separating the main space of religion and rituals in a heavy effective material, which is surrounded by the bright spaciousness of the arcade.

“Inside the central church room the ceiling rises symbolically and monumentally like an inverted vault, challenging our spatial and existential consciousness. Great contrasts are formed - from the light and transparent base, to the heavy, closed upward-striving roof volume that connects heaven and earth.”