Churches have close ties to local communities that go beyond the question of spatial form; they perform composite functions as places which connect various spaces together. With the advent of urbanization, contemporary church architecture has become i...
Churches have close ties to local communities that go beyond the question of spatial form; they perform composite functions as places which connect various spaces together. With the advent of urbanization, contemporary church architecture has become increasingly complex in order to meet the needs of large populations and provide social services. This has lead to certain tensions and problems in the configuration of public spaces within the church. Historically, Korean church architecture had often resorted to Gothic architectural styles and other imitations of Western culture. These were simple, temporary spaces designed to accommodate large numbers of people, often built using blueprints of older churches. But as Korea’s architecture industry developed over time, physical and formal transformations took place in the design of churches as well. With the advent of postmodernism and large-scale churches, church architecture became critical tools for church growth and competition between churches. In turn, such developments have resulted in transformations both scalar and theological for Christian architecture.
In this context, this paper will identify existing problems in the spatial and physical boundaries between contemporary church architecture in Korea and the city. I will analyze public spaces within churches on one hand, and spaces which mediate the boundaries between churches and local communities on the other to explore various ways in which churches can be situated in and connected to the city around them. Until now,
architecture has considered public space as for a nonspecific mass without predefined uses or relations, and in turn, has focused on openness as its central characteristic. However, in the case of churches, religious architecture must emphasize the distinctions between different spaces. As such, it becomes critical to understand how intermediate spaces are established in order to demarcate a public space within the church.
Intermediate spaces regulate the differences between the interior and exterior, and help establish the spatial experience of a church. Such spaces also serve as buffer zones, and work to prevent conflict between the binary divisions of space in church architecture. This paper draws on church architecture in Seoul and its satellite cities to explore the techniques
currently in use for these mediating spaces, and what lessons could be learned for future church designs. The spatial configuration of each case was analyzed in terms of: connections between interior and exterior, the
formation of vertical and horizontal spaces, the formation of border-spaces, and the arrangement of church programs. These various relations were first
coded diagrammatically; cases were then analyzed for types of connections to public space. Afterwards, the connection techniques in horizontal and vertical spaces were organized into the following typology: (1) Exterior
(Area within site but outside of the building) – Lobby – Chapel; (2)Exterior (Borders of site, horizontal) – Lobby – Public Space (Program)– Chapel; (3) Auxiliary Faclities (Cultural, Educational, Sport, etc.) –
Lobby – Chapel; (4) Auxiliary Facilities (Commercial) – Lobby – Public Space (Program) – Chapel. This typology also demonstrates the multidimensional aspects of mediating spaces. Next, these techniques were
evaluated to consider what types of planning elements can help strengthen the connectivity of public spaces in churches. Non-Korean cases were also consulted to explore two different perspectives on this question – ‘Planning methods for integrated publicness’ on one hand, and ‘Strengthening connectivity of public spaces through program-based interventions’ on the other. Ultimately, the paper concludes that these various techniques do not operate independently, but are complementary and interdependent.
Contemporary churches now function as public spaces that contribute to the local communities they belong to. They act as communicative devices for these communities, and memory devices for the city as a whole. The regular congregations of church communities have the potential to breathe life into the local community as a whole. All in all, it is becoming
increasingly important for church architecture to attend not only to churches as religious spaces, but as public spaces that can meet the needs of their local communities. Through a review of existing techniques in the production of public spaces, and the current range of their uses, this paper aims to present future directions for contemporary church architecture as it
responds to its changing social role.