TARGET 160217

THE SEE-THROUGH CHURCH

Except for its odd coloring, this church looks normal from this vantage point.



But if you are attending church there, it looks quite a bit different. You can see through it.

The church was not built for the purpose of being a church. It was a part of the Z-OUT art project of Z33 house for contemporary art based in Hasselt, Belgium. The people around the church are not parisioners, but art entheusiasts. Z-OUT is an ambitious longterm "art in public space" project that will be realised on different locations in the Flemish region of Limburg, Belgium over a period of five years. The theme for the year in which this church was constructed was, "Reading between the Lines".



This is not a glass-walled building. It is completely open to its natural surroundings. It consists of 100 layers of stacked steel strips, that are equidistantly staggered on 2000 steel spacers

  
  

The structure is designed so it gives the illusion of changing in appearance based on where a person is standing.



When you are inside, you see through the walls, feel the breezes, hear the outside sounds, and can commune with both God and nature at the same time.



Looking up into the spire, the light from the outside gives a golden glow to everything and everyone underneath.



There is a hymn whose chorus is, "Let the blessed sunshine in". This church does just that.



The church's design is based on the architecture of the multitude of churches in the region, but through the use of horizontal plates, the concept of the traditional church is transformed into a transparent object of art.

However, the church is an art piece and does not fulfill the traditional functions of a church. As a work of art, its designer, the architect group, Gijs Van Vaerenbergh, says that, reading between the lines, it can be interpreted as a reflection of the present "emptying-out" of churches in the area and their potential to re-use them in an artistic context. Many of the churches in Europe, in fact, have become culturally and publicly more valued for their historical art and archetecture than for their religious purposes.

FEEDBACK MAP



If you got impressions for which this feedback is insufficient, more information,
pictures and videos can be found at the following web sites:

Sunny Skyz website
Architecture Lab
YouTube video of the church's construction
Gijs Van Vaerenbergh (the architect's web site)