Detail of the project ed. 2024

moun­­tain-church-of-julong / Switzerland

Design­er Dr.-Ing. Dirk U. Moench
Loca­tion Julong New Town, 362102 Quanzhou, Fujian Province, China
Nation Chi­na
Design Team

Com­pa­ny: INUCE • Dirk U. Moench
Chief Archi­tect: Dr.-Ing. Dirk U. Moench
Year 2024
Pho­to credits

Pho­tog­ra­ph­er: SHIKAI

Pho­to external

Project descrip­tion

MOUN­TAIN CHURCH of JULONG
An Ark for the New Town

BACK­GROUND: Julong is a new town off the 7‑mil­lion-city of Quanzhou. Since open­ing its pop­u­la­tion has grown, attract­ing peo­ple from the entire coun­try. Today, it is home to a minor­i­ty of Protes­tants. For years they met in a shop front. With ser­vices packed, they decid­ed to build a church for 1000 atten­dees. Nes­tled at the foot of a green moun­tain, the site allows to cre­ate a land­mark for the entire town.

COM­PLEX EXPECTATIONS:
• Com­posed of believ­ers from dif­fer­ent denom­i­na­tions the young con­gre­ga­tion was expe­ri­enc­ing uncer­tain­ty with regards to litur­gi­cal and sym­bol­ic tra­di­tions. The new sanc­tu­ary was hoped to bridge gaps and estab­lish unity.
• In a broad­er sense the con­gre­ga­tion wished to cre­ate an inclu­sive sym­bol for a new begin­ning – for in this new city both Chris­tians and non-Chris­­tians share the expe­ri­ence of being far from home and hav­ing to estab­lish new bonds.
• The pro­gram was com­prised of the sanc­tu­ary and of a long list of sec­u­lar com­mu­ni­ty spaces. 

ARCHE­TYP­AL CHURCH: Aware of the ecu­meni­cal dilem­ma we searched for arche­typ­al motifs as guid­ing light for archi­tec­tur­al deci­sions. After deep thought an elder quot­ed: “You are Peter, I will build my church on this rock.” His wife added: “In Julong we are all for­eign. We wish to be an ark for arrivers, their haven.” 

FUNC­TION­AL­I­TY + ICONIC­I­TY: The church as an ark – float­ing above the world, anchored in the foun­da­tion of faith – an ancient idea. Moved by the imagery, alert of the task, our solu­tion com­pris­es two parts: The low­er por­tion, clad in gran­ite, resem­bles a ter­raced rock. It enables flex­i­ble sub­di­vi­sion, cater­ing to sec­u­lar needs. Atop rests the nave, adorned with GRC pan­els, evok­ing an abstract­ed ark. Its form steers clear of lit­er­al­i­ty and gives a nuanced rep­re­sen­ta­tion of the narrative.

PER­FOR­MA­TIV­I­TY + LITUR­GY: The design elic­its phys­i­cal and spir­i­tu­al engage­ment. Like a pil­grim­age believ­ers ascend the ter­races for wor­ship. At the top they are embraced by the Par­adise – a medieval ele­ment demar­cat­ing a church´s asy­lum; it pre­pares for the entry into the bel­ly of the ark. Con­trary to what the metaphor sug­gests, the sanc­tu­ary is not unworld­ly: upon enter­ing, one expe­ri­ences com­plete expo­sure to the moun­tain. Cre­ation becomes part of litur­gy, echo­ing the arche­typ­al scene of con­gre­ga­tion pri­or to all schism: Christ´s Ser­mon on the Mount.

Explana­to­ry report of the project
Down­load report

Pho­to internal

Tech­ni­cal drawings

BACK TO PROJECTS PAGE

 

×