Design Competition: Parish of St. Joseph (Pilaite-Vilnius, Lithuania) 1999
by Julie Minkunas
This is a conceptual design that I offer, which if accepted, would be physically constructed by a native local architect.
The purpose of this conceptual design proposal is to metaphorically and functionally express the desire for the sv. Juozapo
parish community which seeks to find its place in a world of uncertainty, its "axis mundi" in the undeveloped sub-urban area of
Pilaite.
The randomly curved placement of buildings used for daily parish activities overlaps with the ordered orthogonal grid,
representing a marriage between the sacred and profane aspects of life. There is a sacred axis (east-west), which further
reinforces a sacred edge to the site. It also poetically expresses a person's journey through life: from birth to death, to
resurrection. As the direction of the curve approaches the grid, it seeks to intersect with the sacred axis. At its intersection with
this axis, the curves and the pure form of the grid evolve into one combined shape, giving the location of the church its
significance.
Approach / Procession / Views:
1. Automobile:
As the visitor approaches the church via the parking lot, a view of the exterior crucifix is framed by an opening in a wall which
extends from the rectory. It is meant to act as a subtle reminder of the sacredness of the church - a place of worship.
2. Pedestrian:
Emerging from the landscape, sprinkled with trees, one captures significant views of the parish community's center. A curved
wall represents the bond between the community center and the church buildings. Sheltered inside the foyer of the the center,
the curved wall acts as a display partition wall, exhibiting artwork made by the orphans and other parishioners of the
community. This curve the evolves into an exterior wall of the church, which holds religious art, "vitrazai," depicting the 14
stations of the cross, "kanciu kelias." These are symbols of one of the main foundations of the christian belief system. They are
extruded further from the exterior wall of the church, as if to proclaim their message to the outside community. Glass side
panels on each piece let indirect sunlight into the arcade of the church, and also reflect the artificial light, illuminating from the
interior of the church onto the curved wall, accenting it at night.
There is a paved pathway leading into the more private courtyard entrances to the the parish hall and the church. Here, the
curved wall creates a gateway to this area, expressing a special significance of procession - a threshold of passage, from
public space to private space.
Landscape:
The landscape is divided into land-use zones, reminiscent of traditional courtyards. These zones are for private and group
meditation use, private residential use, and recreational use - as noted on the plan drawings.
The Sacred Axis:
In this axis a variety of symbolism comes into play. Located at the west end of the sacred garden, there is an outdoor chapel
used for prayer and meditation. Here, a person is one with nature, among a grove of special trees placed on the ordered grid
system. The chapel, represented by a sculptural element, is under open sky, reminding an individual of the ancient beliefs,
significant and unique to the Lithuanian culture.
There is a row of lights along the sacred axis, which appear to ascend in height, in the terraced landscape of the garden. They
are meant to pay tribute to the deceased parishioners, while maintaining their spiritual presence by their incorporation within the
garden, used for ceremonial events and meditation.
The garden's special trees continue within the church metaphorically. Here, they become man-made structural tree columns.
In this way, a bond is created between ancient and modern day spaces for ritual and worship.
The main entrance into the church is marked by a protruding wall, along the sacred axis, which acts as a bell-tower. Once
inside the foyer of the church, the participant blesses himself/herself with holy water, reconfirming his/her life within the Roman
Catholic church. A screen wall made of an ornamental metal unifies the holy water and the baptistry areas. The mortuary is
located below the baptistry, to create a vertical axis of procession, symbolizing the beginning and end of the physical existence
of man. The mortuary can be accessed by a stairway or an alternate exterior ramp, leading from the sacred garden along the
edge of the property wall.
The entry doors leading to the nave of the church are at either side of the sacred axis, leaving special significance for the central
isle, to be used only once inside the nave. At the opposite end of the church on the sacred axis, is the altar.
The symbolic sculptural wall representing Christ's resurrection, is located outside the church. It is viewable through a picture
window behind the altar. It's true form is only obtained when the worshiper proceeds along the central isle inside the church (or
along the sacred axis). This wall represents the resurrection in that natural light eminates through the actual shape of the
cross, created by the edges of solid walls. These solid walls are ornamented with traditional lithuanian carvings, depicting
half-moon, sun ray, and floral shapes.
A secondary axis begins with the altar at one end, and the rectory at the other end. Events which occur on this axis are reserved
for the clergy.
The north wall of the church creates a strong edge for the site. Narrow slits act as windows below the roof line. As seen from
the exterior of the building, open slits in the wall echo these same dimensions, like traces of upward motion. The arched beams
penetrate through the wall, implicating upward, lifted and curved motion.
The roof is the result of a split-arc, split at the sacred axis, reinforced by a rigid truss-system. At this split, a clerestory window is
formed. Through this window, southern sunlight is able to wash the arched ceiling with natural light. There is also a light-shelf
ceiling located at the arcade, which reflects southern sunlight in order to wash the other arched ceiling with light. Tension wires
which are anchored to the edges of the arched beams, are deeply imbedded within the thick northern exterior wall at one end,
and within the arcade columns as shown in the section drawings. These tension wires, anchored at their base in the concrete
foundations, relieve the stress from snow loads which may occur at the highest points of the arched roofs.
The method of conserving heat in this design is obtained by the fairly low roof heights of all buildings in this project. Because
the maximum height of the ceilings is rather low, (not more than 8 meters) heat is not wasted as much. By putting more
windows on the southern faces of these buildings, natural sunlight is able to enter the spaces, allowing for passive solar heat.
Other insulation and water vapor barrier materials to be used in construction are dependant on construction methods used by
local architects, native to the region.