Curious Christian

Reflections on culture, nature, and spirituality from a Christian perspective

Unusual Churches

Published by

Matt Stone

2008-11-15

If you want to see some of the most unusual church buildings on the planet, click through to Village of Joy where you’ll find a collection of 20 Unusual Churches.

There has been a lot of talk within alternative worship circles about how space communicates. What do you think these buildings are saying?

Tags Architecture

3 responses to “Unusual Churches”

Steve Hayes

2008-11-16

In some, I think a great of thought has been given to the envelope, perhaps not so much to what does on inside.
I’ve seen some of them

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Steve Hayes

2008-11-16

I was going to add (before my hard disk started churning for nothing, necessitating a reboot) that looking at them, I liked the Turkish and Greek ones best.

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Matt Stone

2008-11-16

Here are some of my impressions. I thought the Church of Hallgrímur, Reykjavík, Iceland looked very cold and foreboding. The Cathedral of Brasilia in Brasilia, Brazil felt a bit paradoxical, welcoming but with strange 70s vibe and a cultivated a dead zone around it. Paoay Church in the Philippines again left me wondering if they still conduct human sacrifices there, but strangely I liked it. Duomo in Italy conjures up all sorts of gothic horror stories for me. Church Ruins in Goreme, Turkey, would be a great place to visit but I don’t know about worshipping there. Green church, Buenos Aires, Argentina, is thought provoking – I wonder how this could be taken further. Borgund Stave Church, Lærdal, Norway, looked fascinating … but again, from a tourist perspective. Paraportiani Church, Mykonos, Greece, yes I could imagine worshipping there. Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Spain left me wondering what it looked like on the inside. St. Basil’s Cathedral, Moscow, Russia is a place where I think the Wiggles would love to worship. Very colourful. A nice change from protestant beige. Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil was another one that had me wondering about human sacrifices. Overall, some great creativity here but many communicate things I am not so sure churches should be aspiring to communicate. If I was designing a worship space I would be wanting to communicate faith, hope and love. That would demand a certain warmth and light. I agree the Greek church is one of the more appealing.

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