At the apex of the mighty hipped roof, the new altar for the people and the ambo are positioned on a cross-shaped altar island. Above this, an inwardly widening body of light emphasizes the central position.
On the east wall of the church, two “light scoops” interpret the side church windows, simultaneously creating a circulating spatial effect and emphasizing the east side.
Instead of a picture wall, a gilded alpha and omega were carved into the east wall and the valuable late Gothic crucifix was positioned in the center. When entering from the existing sacristy, the altar wall swings sculpturally into the church space and supports the mediated entry of the priest through the people into the center of the congregation.
Just as the congregation gathers around the altar, the space around the altar closes in.
Christ freed from the cross is the center of Alpha and Omega – the beginning and the end
The parish church of St. Michael in Regen is divided into two very different sacred spaces. The “old” church – Romanesque at its core – and the large extension to the church from the 1960s.
In our project for the redesign of St. Michael’s, the church extension from the 1960s is defined as the new center. The centrality of the space, already hinted at in its cubature, is emphasized and reinforced by several new structural measures.
The baptistery is positioned at the intersection of the former church extension, creating a baptistery for smaller celebrations in the Romanesque section.
invited competition, 2000
awarding authority:
Diocese of Passau
address:
Kirchplatz 20, 94209 Regen
staff:
Kathrin Grumböck
Sabine Kroupa
modell construction:
Studio R, Michael Ratheiser
picures:
© Herbert Schwingenschlögl