I had never seen this austerely handsome church before. You are exactly right how the individual bricks give the total shape a pleasing detail absent from most international modernist structures.
This church is absolutely stunning. I took a detour there to go see it when I was in Copenhagen in late July, after finding it online. The Interiors are awe-inspiring too, and one thing that struck me was how the fact that it seems to be made entirely from the same relatively small bricks (I think some are differently sized, but close enough) makes you appreciate the scale a lot more somehow, because you have a mental scale for everything far above you based on the bricks around you.
I also loved the interior details like the elegant metal lighting fixtures, as well as how the natural light interacted with the structure as it changed outside.
A very similar church right here in the DMV is the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Baltimore. A mid-20th-century Gothic + Art Deco masterpiece and perhaps my favorite cathedral of all time (the interior especially). Happy to show you around the area if you're ever in MD!
Absolutely adore the architecture of the early-to-mid-20th century. Your writing reminds me a lot of the Amsterdam School, German Brick Expressionism (think Hoechst AG Technical Administration Building in Frankfurt), as well as the work of architects like Paul Philippe Cret and Jan Kotera. Something about these early modernists married the avant-garde of new materials and building technologies with the grounded, human qualities of their Beaux-arts educations in such a rich and fresh way that neither their romanticist predecessors nor modernist contemporaries seem to do. Nowadays, there seems to be a renewed interest in the "human-scale," "traditional architecture," and "anti-modernism." I think much of this is warranted, but I hope the best this movement can provide isn't just some derivative form of historicism. Let us not forget that there is a third way!
I agree -- Hallgrimskirkja is a worthy pairing with this church. And it's concrete, not brick! The amazing thing about it is that it looks completely different depending on how close you're standing to it. I took some pictures here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/LNfFwpqYbyhx9fMp6
Henry, I spent a few days in Copenhagen in April and walked out to find Grundtvig‘s Church, via some impressive and not-so-impressive private apartment blocks and social housing. I find imaginative large brick buildings very compelling: I suspect the key is the contrast between the small individual unit and the massive whole. We had already been to Hamburg on our trip and there are wonderful brick buildings there. I‘ll post a note with a few photos. If you’re ever in Manchester, you might look at the exterior of Roger Stephenson‘s excellent extension to Cheetham‘s School opposite Victoria Station
I was in Copenhagen last year I found a very nice sensible integration of modern architecture in the city. It seemed each modern building tied into the space and flow of the city, it was part of the city instead of a brutalist bruise on it. It also has a wonderful modern acoustically wonderous opera house, with the finest cinnamon role I ever had in my life. I also loved the neoclassical Museums such as the Glyptotek (in the farthest corner of the third floor tucked away is Manet Absinth Drinker a masterpiece of focus and humanity at the brink) , and the SMK had an amazing collection.
I had never seen this austerely handsome church before. You are exactly right how the individual bricks give the total shape a pleasing detail absent from most international modernist structures.
Hallgrimskirkja In Reykjavik is another spectacular example of modern gothic. https://maps.app.goo.gl/Ww41FFKqUZXJLqE58?g_st=ic
This church is absolutely stunning. I took a detour there to go see it when I was in Copenhagen in late July, after finding it online. The Interiors are awe-inspiring too, and one thing that struck me was how the fact that it seems to be made entirely from the same relatively small bricks (I think some are differently sized, but close enough) makes you appreciate the scale a lot more somehow, because you have a mental scale for everything far above you based on the bricks around you.
I also loved the interior details like the elegant metal lighting fixtures, as well as how the natural light interacted with the structure as it changed outside.
Posted some pictures, including of the interior, here: https://x.com/bschne/status/2081050473923006940
A very similar church right here in the DMV is the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Baltimore. A mid-20th-century Gothic + Art Deco masterpiece and perhaps my favorite cathedral of all time (the interior especially). Happy to show you around the area if you're ever in MD!
Absolutely adore the architecture of the early-to-mid-20th century. Your writing reminds me a lot of the Amsterdam School, German Brick Expressionism (think Hoechst AG Technical Administration Building in Frankfurt), as well as the work of architects like Paul Philippe Cret and Jan Kotera. Something about these early modernists married the avant-garde of new materials and building technologies with the grounded, human qualities of their Beaux-arts educations in such a rich and fresh way that neither their romanticist predecessors nor modernist contemporaries seem to do. Nowadays, there seems to be a renewed interest in the "human-scale," "traditional architecture," and "anti-modernism." I think much of this is warranted, but I hope the best this movement can provide isn't just some derivative form of historicism. Let us not forget that there is a third way!
I appreciate the aesthetic. It's as if he wanted the church itself to resemble a pipe organ.
Such a delightful Renaissance man you are, Henry. I can’t think there are many around.
Beautiful! What does the interior look like?
I agree -- Hallgrimskirkja is a worthy pairing with this church. And it's concrete, not brick! The amazing thing about it is that it looks completely different depending on how close you're standing to it. I took some pictures here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/LNfFwpqYbyhx9fMp6
A glass wall has no grain to restate anything in. It can only be the shape it was cut to.
Brick costs more to lay than to make. The future of that aesthetic runs through whoever still knows how to lay it.
Henry, I spent a few days in Copenhagen in April and walked out to find Grundtvig‘s Church, via some impressive and not-so-impressive private apartment blocks and social housing. I find imaginative large brick buildings very compelling: I suspect the key is the contrast between the small individual unit and the massive whole. We had already been to Hamburg on our trip and there are wonderful brick buildings there. I‘ll post a note with a few photos. If you’re ever in Manchester, you might look at the exterior of Roger Stephenson‘s excellent extension to Cheetham‘s School opposite Victoria Station
I was in Copenhagen last year I found a very nice sensible integration of modern architecture in the city. It seemed each modern building tied into the space and flow of the city, it was part of the city instead of a brutalist bruise on it. It also has a wonderful modern acoustically wonderous opera house, with the finest cinnamon role I ever had in my life. I also loved the neoclassical Museums such as the Glyptotek (in the farthest corner of the third floor tucked away is Manet Absinth Drinker a masterpiece of focus and humanity at the brink) , and the SMK had an amazing collection.