Concrete has been the most widely used building material since the new construction revolution. The development of materials science has continuously changed into countless forms.
Among these forms, the editor feels that the one that best reflects concrete itself is the concrete architecture of the brutal era. The rough and brutal texture and the exaggerated shape that can accommodate almost any imagination give people unparalleled visual shock and spiritual impact.
Today, I would like to introduce you to St. Mary's Cathedral in Germany, which is, in my mind, the pinnacle of brutal concrete architecture.
Architectural design: Gottfried Bohm
Year built: 1968
Project Location: Nerwigs, Germany
St. Mary's Cathedral rises like a mountain among the trees, its jagged concrete volumes soaring into the sky.
The church was built at a popular pilgrimage site in western Germany, attracting countless visitors and pilgrims worldwide for centuries. Yet unlike its medieval and baroque predecessors, the unabashedly modernist pilgrimage church reflected a significant shift in its creator's perspective: a new way of thinking about the postwar German people and the wider Catholic Church.
Pilgrims have been traveling to Nevergues since the late 18th century. The site was too popular for the existing Baroque monastery, leading to constructing an auxiliary structure in the early 20th century, even with this purpose-built structure, the surge in pilgrim numbers after the Second World War caused the Nervigus Church to exceed its modest capacity greatly. In 1960, it was decided to build a new pilgrim church to cope with the large influx of tourists.
With this goal in mind, the Archdiocese of Cologne organized an architectural competition in 1963-1964. The competition called for a church with a seating capacity of 900 people, plus standing room for more than 3,000 people; other required elements included two chapels, a confessional chapel, a sacristy, a bell tower and other ancillary spaces. The jury and Archbishop of Cologne Josef Frings unanimously decided that the plan of German architect Gottfried Bohm was the winner.
Despite being located in a small, relatively remote community, the Pilgrimage Church is monumental. Bohm was a famous German Expressionist who believed that sacred architecture—contemporary or otherwise—should evoke emotions in the viewer. Whether by rail, road or on foot, a mountain-like concrete spire can be seen from a distance. The path leading to the church is bordered by a wall on one side and offices and cloisters on the other, creating a formal sense of procession where pilgrims complete the final leg of their journey.
If it weren't for the metal cross adorning the tallest spire, it would be impossible to tell that this imposing concrete building is a church. According to Boehm, the building consists of a series of concrete cubes and pyramids, jagged, amorphous volumes designed to reflect the area's mountainous topography.
Once visitors enter the church, the towering structure is briefly obscured in a relatively low-ceiling foyer, providing a moment of visual suspense before entering the hollow volume of the main worship space. Like the exterior, the interior is constructed from irregular geometric shapes of concrete on a cathedral-like scale, with the junctions of the sloping roof planes above punctuated by louvers that allow natural light to enter the space.
The interior space is dominated by the altar, which, although not exactly on the same axis as the main entrance, was placed in the center of the space according to the Archbishop's preference.
In keeping with Bohm's unique style, the otherwise featureless gray concrete is punctuated by brightly colored stained glass windows. Mainly colored red, blue and green, Bohm designed the windows and abstractly depict some typical Saint Mary-related themes, including a large red rose.
Classic design works often have a unique charm. They reflect the design philosophy, shape control, and detail processing of the master architects involved in the design project. They are worth learning.
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