The Church of Light, is located in a small town of Iberaki, which is right outside

the sprawling metropolis of Osaka, Japan. The designing began in January of

1987 and the finished design work was completed in May of 1988.

Though in a small neighborhood outside of Osaka, it is a prime example

of a piece of outstanding architecture tightly knit into the urban fabric.

Building type : Christian church

Building size:113 sq mt

Site area: 838.8 sq

Structure : reinforced concrete

Concept:

This church is seen as a place of retreat where the outside world is forgotten and

the natural world is emphasized in an abstract manner.

This church beckons the fundamental simplicity of Christianity with its low tech,

yet powerful design.

A. Main chapel

B. Sunday school

C. Minister home

The penetration of light In the

chapel prove as the focus of the

chapel where the seating is

arranged in a manner facing the

focus.

Context

The idea of the design was to use light

in a way that would strengthen the

power of spirituality

Concept

The site is a corner plot

on a junction of four roads

and has access on the sout

h east façade.

The cold reinforced concrete blocks compliments

with the warmth of wood and the penetrating light

bringing about an experience of solace and hope.

While the space is primarily defined by the

concrete volume, wood is used for all of the elements that one engages such

as the seating and the floor.

The chapel consists of a rectangular volume of three cubes

that are punctured by a wall at 15˚ that never touches the

other walls or ceiling of the chapel. Circulation into the

space is controlled by the angled wall.

Upon entering the chapel the wall is immediately encountered and forces

a left turn into the wall allowing a right turn into the main chapel space.

The purpose of the manipulation of the circulation sequence is realized

as one passes through the wall. At this particular point one pivots around

as they become totally aligned with the crucifix of light at the end of the

chapel.

By keeping the amount of openings to a minimum, the power of the light

penetrating from the crucifix is intensified.

Circulation

Materials

The furniture and the severity of the grim ambient that houses it, combined

with the lively and ever-changing performance of light and shadow,

manage

to provide stress and intensity along with purity and tranquility, which is in

itself the essence of the spirituality that this space conveys.

Furniture

The wall is the commanding element that

is easily recognized in the exterior and

the interior of the structure.

Once inside the chapel, you emerge from a very small, cramped even, entry into an open

space, which is the sanctuary. Here the floor slopes down to the main alter which is at the

foot of a large cutout cross-punctured into the concrete wall. The church of light pays

immense focus on how the entry is acknowledged as a part of the larger whole of the design.

Here one enters off the main part of the site into this small side entrance delineated by

a diagonal concrete wall cut at a 15-degree angle. The concept here is that one

relieves the stresses of the outside world and emerges into the sacred interior.

Thus when one enters the chapel, which does not offer any air conditioning

even in winter, the caverneous space of coldness is pre reflectively drawn

to the warmth and brightness of the crucifix at the end of the linear axis.

Access and Entry

Connectivity between the exterior

and interior

The access to the compound was made intentionally indirect . Visitors are forced to enter the

complex at the northeast corner through a side street via a forecourt that leads to a corner of

the church near the minister's house, arriving to an area located in the back of the church.

From there one enters to a tiny little square, which houses a circular bench. Through This

space organizes the accesses to the main church and adjacent chapel.

The small, cramped entry

way, leading to the sanctuary

The building, constructed in concrete,

has given up any ornament in favor of

the spirituality that gives light,

enhancing its sacredness. Due to the

reduced budget at the short time

of construction, the main church had

no special elements aside of the

concrete walls and the calculated

openings, and probably because of

that, is that the church transmits such

strong spirituality.

Brutalism and Spirituality

Light is the most important elemental material Ando uses in his work. He

had a quote stating, “In all my works, light is an important controlling

factor. I create enclosed spaces mainly by means of thick concrete

walls. The primary reason is to create a place for the individual, a zone

for oneself within society. When the external factors of a city’s

environment require the wall to be without openings, the interior must be

especially full and satisfying.” It may seem almost impossible inspire

such a large amount of emotion from a seemingly fairly empty space. It

is because the space is so empty that all of the focus is placed on the

light as a design feature. There is no other distractions within the space

to detract from the reverence and significance the light gives.

Light

Volumetric Composition

Transitional

access

Seating

Altar

Spatial

Transition

The space

follows a

hierarchy from

the access to

the seating and

the altar.

Whereas the

congregation

area, the service

areas and the

office space flow

in the sequence

in the Sunday

school.

The composition consists of

pure geometric forms of the

cuboid, the plane, and the

cylinder in repitition.