Chapter Three: Case Studies of Contemporary Sacred Minimalist Interiors In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the levels of contemporary sacred interiors established within the minimalism realm (Vasilski & Nikolic, 2017: 336). This concluding chapter will analyse three precedent studies of sacred interiors as well as the minimalist design elements that have been utilised in the space. This will be undertaken through an analysis of architectural spatial features as well as gathering secondary scholarly sources. The analysis of architectural spatial features will involve an investigation of material choices, lighting strategies and the implementation of scale and the gathering of secondary scholarly sources will analyse published plans and images of the interiors, as well as commentary from the architects and design critics. This analysis of architectural books and articles will utilise the historical and contemporary framework that was discussed in chapters one and two to emphasise how these influences have informed the evolution of minimalism within sacred interiors. The first precedent study will look at the Saint Moritz Church in Germany, designed by John Pawson, to highlight how minimalism within this sacred interior provided a more significant value than merely just aesthetic. The second precedent study will focus on Church of the Light in Japan, designed by Tadao Ando, to study the notion of how Japanese culture and Zen Buddhism has become westernised, therefore being utilising a method of implementing and communicating minimalism in an aim to achieve transcendence. The third and final precedent study will examine the Bruder Klaus Field Chapel and will look at how the architect, Peter Zumthor, implemented aspects of minimalism to draw similarities between this chapel and living a monastic life as a hermit. These sacred interiors have been chosen as they are all at different scales and different geographical locations, which emphasises the diversity of minimalism. The case studies were also selected as the architects that completed the works, Pawson, Ando and Zumthor, have been noted for their contribution to the development of minimalism (Bertoni, 2002: 11). This chapter seeks to demonstrate that several architects who substantially contributed to the development of minimalism within contemporary sacred interiors, implemented this aesthetic within this architectural typology to draw parallels between the historical and contemporary influences that were outlined in the previous chapters.
Saint Moritz Church, Augsburg, Germany (2007) Saint Moritz Church is a Catholic church located in Augsburg Germany and was originally built as a Romanesque basilica in 1019 and was rebuilt over a century later with the influence of Gothic style architecture in 1229. It was once again redeveloped, through a Baroque-style approach in 1714 (Schoof, 2013). British minimalist architect John Pawson (1949-), completed the latest redevelopment of the church in 2007 with the intention to maintain the rich history, whilst restoring the remaining structure that had been destroyed by bombs and fires during World War II (1939-1945). Pawson redesigned the function of the existing form, through a minimalist lens, to best support the liturgy as well as to illustrate 26
