The Church of the Light that was designed by Tadao Ando is more focused on simple and minimalistic approach hence the name and the whole idea is a beacon of calmness. Sitting on the suburban area of Japan on the periphery of Osaka, this institution nestles amongst the much homogeneous mixture of culture that has been more or less developed. Its structural walls basically retain the traditional outlook of Japan in contrast to the modern architecture that is invading Osaka. This approach by Tadao Ando has brought the past into the present unlike with Le Corbusier’s vision of a wall as a mere carapace reduced from being structural members.
The Chapel is a large rectangular space of three cubes that has a wall at 15 degree angle that never intersects any part of Chapel walls or ceiling. The geometry is as simple as six walls and a roof, a stripped down incentive for which needs a logic that can expunge all that is not necessary. This church of the light is a small structure for a parish church and it maximizes whatever it has; this phrase: ‘less is more’, defines the church.
From the exterior one sees the simplicity with recognizing the truth and the identity of material. This purity which is found in the details is rather astonishing. It was found that the architectural ornament in the case of the reinforced concrete is completely absent from the structure. Of course, the concrete seams and joints are crafted by master Japanese carpenters, including Ando, to offer a polished surface with perfect joint alignment. As such, the seams of the concrete form work closely following the contour in the crosses extrusion on the eastern side of the church.
It has a such a humble profile that notes of harmony and serenity can be attributed to it. It’s hushed, there is only straight defined line and one over all surface of concrete by. Its introverted design functions as an actual link between the congregation and the religion since the outside world is excluded, and the spiritual is within this structure. Among the slits that distort the image of the facade is a cruciform that is incised behind the altar out of the concrete mass.
Tadao Ando has reduced religious paraphernalia into that cruciform protrusion, which others have condemned as pathetically lacking, void and formless. This is not a shocking experience since materialistic design is most of the time misunderstood as less effort being invested in the product. However, there is a whole level of stylish design being used by Ando and his contractors and is invaluable to a sensitive observer.
Have you ever entered somewhere, and immediately felt enlightenment there? Many would say they did so when they stepped into a huge antique basilica or cathedral. The irony thing is that the Church of the Light, a small space of approximately 100 sq. m., has the ability to raise awareness just by its genus loci. This is because void and light interplay when used in such a small room makes it appear that it is connected to a great entity. It is precisely at this point where one is quickly be separated with the Spiritual and Secular, inside oneself , and one fights either forward in humiliation or backwards in mortification . Concrete itself contributes to making the church darker because it is made the priests to minimize commercialization of the church making it more peace full place to worship.
To regulate circulation into the space, there is an angled wall and yes, it is at 15 degrees. Straight from the chapel, one is met with the wall which turns them left into a lobby like area. It shows as the symbolic sieve, the door as a narrow gate, for the people who goes into the church of the light. A threshold is introduced rising to the height of the ceiling, at which a turn to the right leads to the main chapel space.
The purpose of the manipulation of the circulation sequence is achieved as one is in the passage through the wall. That is the exact point one turns back around as they are as far from the crucifix of light on the other side of chapel as is possible. In this way the spectacle of the crucifix is also effective in reducing the extent of openings to which the light is emitted from.
The light coming out of the cross and calculated slits in the building’s fabric dematerialised the interior concrete walls and turns the darkened space into a glowing box. This is overwhelmingly surreal and it goes on changing material into immaterial, dark to light, light to space.
“Light is the origin of all being. Light gives, with each moment, new form to being and new interrelationships to things, and architecture condenses light to its most concise being. The creation of space in architecture is simply the condensation and purification of the power of light.” – Tadao Ando
He intersected intangible light and solid concrete in a way that a church is supposed to elicit, that is – wonder. It is almost hypnotizing and charming, sin and saint, separation within each sinner’s soul. However, the light is not only from openings on the wall but also from the crack between the wall and the roof. The shadow created is nothing so short and it looks quite magnificent.
The Church of the Light is a new build to an existing Christian complex in Ibaraki. The budget was relatively low, about $250.000 US in construction costs, a financier of the church’s construction is the church’s congregation. However instead of compromising the architectural qualities of his works, Ando successfully tackled this problem by employing his ordinary palette of affordable materials an example of which include reinforced concrete and wood.
The space is mostly limited by the concrete volume, the wood is used for all the parts of the space through which one interacts such as the tables, pews, and the floor.
The Sunday School addition is intended to complement the chapel. Essentially it has a meeting area, a kitchenette, an office and a storage area, which makes the functional purpose of the room serve as a utility. In contrast with the chapel, this structure is non symbolic and lays emphasis upon home like appearance. As the chapel it is a rectangular volume penetrated by a freestanding wall.
The wall is extremely passive in the textualized and localized space of the Sunday School unlike the chapel. From the street it looks like a scenery of the adjoining chapel wall.
On the other side of wall in the angle corner is a small built court yard space with circular concreate bench for smaller gatherings.
This church is seen as a place of retreat where the outside world is forgotten and the natural world is emphasized in a rather abstract manner, that is, Ando’s control of the light. It invites the basic tenets of Christianity with its minimalist, yet highly effective architecture.
For lovers of religious architecture do not miss The Utterly Majestic Assinie-Mafia Church, a building that tells the story of dedication right down to the foundation it was built on.
Project Information:
Architect: Tadao Ando
Location: Ibaraki, Osaka, Japan
Project Year: 1999
Photographs: Naoya Fujii, Antje Verena, ibaraki-kasugaoka-church.jp
