
In his book "The Three Pillars of Zen", author Philip Kapleau mentions the fear of emptiness in Western Societies; something the (Zen) Buddhist is searching for on his way to enlightenment.
This delightful emptiness, the non-place where our imaginations lose their meaning, the place of the totaliter aliter, is symbolized in the bare wall behind the altar in Schwarz's design. Today you are looking at a modified version with a separate celebration altar in front of the original one; a concession to the change in liturgy as demanded in the Second Vatican Council (though already Schwarz's design paid tribute to the demands of the liturgical movement, where the priest was already celebrating while turning his face to the people - almost 40 years before the 2nd Vaticanum).
Coming from the bodily world, withstanding the horror vacui, and exceeding the verge (symbolized in the altar zone), man will find redemption. The transition from crowd to people to people of God; the joining of community and altar; the relationship of architecture and liturgy; the articulation of ecclesiastical architecture*; and finally overcoming the fear of emptiness is an important message of this church.
My (old) coffee-table book of selected postings.
More MadScientist: eclecticimaging.tumblr.com, the guy behind this blog
@Steven: Many churches from 1900-1950 are extremely interesting and look quite provocative to us now. I'll try to get more of these. Unfortunaley many were destroyed in the war or modified afterwards.
@MARIANA: Original colours only - and the original design was even more reduced.
@PD: It's a church that puts emphasis on the spirit and less on the son.
@Ted: Thanks, Ted! I don't know who is displayed on that portrait photo in the background (it's not Schwarz), and these flowers are nice, but another quite interesting 'feature' was the sound installation happening there. A probably random series of sounds and noise was emitted from the gallery and collected in the circular disk (you can see it in Saturday's post), resulting in a very strange soundscape. A memorable visit, I can tell!
@Christine Walsh: Boooo-ooorn in the Rhiiiiine-lahand....! :-D
@Ronnie 2¢: Give it a chance - when in Aachen, try a visit, you won't regret.
@Evelyne Dubos: Yes, they break up the gray, sort of an anchor.
@António Pires: This is even the extended version. In old shots you will only note the black altar in the background, separated from the nave by an altar rail. Having read Schwarz's book on church architecture I think I understood what motivated him; the altar is the verge between our world (nave) and heaven (the white wall), and had to be accentuated this way.