Let There Be Light

Peter and Gabriele Riepl do not see their role as one of creation, but rather, one
of rebirth: the reinvention and reconditioning of existing spaces rather than the invention of new ones. It is fitting, then, that their latest masterpiece takes the form of a church, a long-used site of worship, albeit one that does not conform to any of the entrenched traditions of ecclesiastical structures. It features not the monumental domes and gables of St Peters Basilica, or even a humble spire per se. Riepl Riepl’s church is instead crowned by a blazing fluorescent light feature courtesy of Keith Sonnier, and is more reminiscent of a modern art gallery or, at a long stretch, Moses’ holy burning bush on the slopes of Mt Sinai.

Before Riepl Riepl’s creative vision was realized in 2004, the congregation of the Resthof district in Steyr, Austria had been forced to worship for over a decade at a nearby multi-purpose hall. In a sense, this means that the church, while certainly a strikingly new feature among the 1970s housing blocks of the Resthof landscape, is really just a new home for the existing religious community.

The church is entered from a sweeping forecourt and through the loggia, to a awe-inspiring collection of interconnected spaces, varying dramatically in height and light. The walls of the vast main area are lined with plywood paneling, where the congregation gathers around three sides of the central altar on blonde timber pews, worlds away from the dark, enclosing churches of old. The church has an ethereal yet earthly look: window strips at floor level allow natural light to peep into the minimalist space at the edges of the wooden panels, casting a heavenly halo around the natural timber features and stone floors. A large glazed aspect opens out onto an idyllic garden scene, creating harmony between the internal and external spaces.

Riepl Riepl’s design is unique for an ecclesiastical building, in the sense that it creates the aura of natural safety and serenity essential for any place of worship, yet still manages to satisfy modern ideals of stark beauty: the designers have worked with existing materials, space and forms without presuming to be the ultimate creator of them. Light continues to play an elemental role in the image of the church, though Keith Sonnier’s light installation ‘Tears for St. Francis’ (2002) is perhaps a breakaway from the elegant, understated congregation area over which it towers. The traditional church steeple is replaced by writhing coils of red and blue neon, that glow at night like a freeze-frame disco trapped within the glass tower. It transforms the church into the central feature on the Resthof skyline; a modern-day physical and spiritual beacon.

Inside, the light feature extends downwards with ice-blue neon tubes that hang above the altar like tears, frozen mid-fall. The ultimate ambience is as though an artificial sky and artificial daylight had been transplanted into the altar space. Sonnier’s light sculpture thus seems to capture the central theme of the project: the unity of internal and external, and the subtle manipulation of the natural into shapes and forms of the artificial.

The open planning of the internal areas also encourages the free movement and interaction of the congregation who use the space, as well as that of the light which enters it. The low, squatting position of the building, however, emphasises the archtects’ realisation of the need to balance such exposure and freedom with the sense of secure homeliness that a church demands. Riepl Riepl Architects have created an unusual and striking church, and its simplicity, beauty and sense of openness will ensure that all feel welcome to enter its doors. +

Previous. Neon is the new black in this modern interpretation of a religious building.

Top. Replacing the typical church steeple, bright neon lights glow like a radical beacon for the congregation of Resthof, Austria.

Second. Like tears for St Francis, Keith Sonnier's eponymous light installation illuminates the alter space.

Third. Natural light and serene picture-window gardens also play an essential design role in the church. Floor-level window apertures create a natural halo around the walls and ceiling.

Bottom. Blonde timber pews and stone floors and pillars create a subtle sense of rawness to the congregation.

Images courtesy of Dietmar Tollerian and Riepl Riepl Architekten.