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THE ARCHITECTURE OF PRAYER

JANUARY 2023

The Architecture of Prayer

The Center Art Gallery at Calvin University presents The Architecture of Prayer, an international survey of the contemporary church. The exhibition showcases drawings and travel photography of historic church buildings in dialogue with new projects built between 1999 and the present-contributed by aver 40 global architecture firms-including: 

Ad Jaye Associates Centerbrook 
Coop Himmelb(L)Au 
Dellekamp Arquitectos 
John Pawson 
Mario Botta Architetti

Marlon Black Well Architects
Neri&Hu 
Niall Mclaughlin Architects

Olson Kundig 
Ply+ 
Robert A.M. Stern Architects

Shigeru Ban Architects

AUCKLAND CASTLE WING EXTENSION

MAY 2019

Auckland Castle Wing Extension

Following the completion of the Auckland Tower, the Faith Museum is our second project at Auckland Castle and is an extension to the Grade I listed Scotland Wing. Unlike its vertical sister, which wears its expressed timber structure on the outside, the Faith Museum is singular and monolithic in its appearance, forming a continuous horizontal stone edge to an enclosed courtyard. Cop Crag sandstone, local to the north-east of England, is the external treatment for the roof, walls and weatherings of the building. Far from being homogenous, the stone is alive with natural variation which ranges from delicate lacy swirls to something resembling animal markings.

The principal internal space is a 9.5m tall gallery which follows the steeply pitching roof form, supported by a procession of closely-centred fine metal trusses. The Museum is largely inward-looking, borne of its intended purpose for contemplation and preservation of religious artefacts. This provides further enjoyable contrast and conversation between our two buildings in how they seem to view one another: the Tower’s expansive 360˚ views offering a full appreciation of the Faith Museum in its entirety as begins to take form, whilst the introspective Museum offers the only the slightest peek of its neighbour over the wall.