http://www.sunnyskyz.com/blog/808/This-Church-Might-Not-Look-Like-Anything-Special-Until-You-See-It-From-Different-Angles

This Church Might Not Look Like Anything Special, 
Until You See It From Different Angles
April 27, 2015

The architect group, Gijs Van Vaerenbergh, built 
this church in Borgloon, Belgium. It doesn't look 
like anything special... from certain angles.

A building that's almost entirely see through.

It consists of 100 layers of stacked steel, 
that are equidistantly staggered in a way that 
illusively change in appearance based on where 
the viewer is standing.

Credit: sokohilton.

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http://architecturelab.net/see-through-church-gijs-van-vaerenbergh/

Project Details:
Location: Limburg, Belgium
Type: Cultural – Public
Architects: Gijs Van Vaerenbergh – www.gijsvanvaerenbergh.com
Photos: Kristof Vrancken / Z33 – Mine Daelemans

The church is a part of the Z-OUT project of Z33, 
house for contemporary art based in Hasselt, 
Belgium. Z-OUT is an ambitious longterm art in 
public space project that will be realised on 
different locations in the Flemish region of 
Limburg over the next five years.

See-through Church / Gijs Van Vaerenbergh
© Kristof Vrancken
The church is 10 meters high and is made of 100 
layers and 2000 columns of steel. Depending on the 
perspective of the viewer, the church is either 
perceived as a massive building or seems to dissolve 
– partly or entirely – in the landscape. On the 
other hand, looking at the landscape from within 
the church, the surrounding countryside is redefined 
by abstract lines.

The design of the church 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.

See-through Church / Gijs Van Vaerenbergh
© Kristof Vrancken
The project is called ‘Reading between the Lines’ 
and can be read as a reflection on architectural 
themes such as scale, ground plan etc., but the 
project also emphatically transcends the strictly 
architectural. After all, the church does not 
have a well-defined function and focuses on 
visual experience in itself (one could even 
consider it to be a line drawing in space).

See-through Church / Gijs Van Vaerenbergh
© Kristof Vrancken
At the same time, the construction demonstrates 
that this visual experience is in effect a 
consequence of the design, due to the explicit 
reference to the various stages of its conception: 
the design drawing, the model…Moreover , as the 
church does not fulfil its traditional function, 
it can be read as a heritage related reflection 
on the present “emptying-out” of churches in 
the area (and their potential to re-use them 
in an artistic context.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnNxNFtLsyw
Time-lapse video of the building of the church

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