COMPETITION FOR THE EASTER CHAPEL IN THE MONASTERY
3130 Herzogenburg
1996
TEXTPHOTOSPLANS
GMMK , Gert M. MAYR-KEBER ZT-GmbH, WB kapelle_herzogenburg 1996

The given situation - a narrow corridor space measuring less than 4 m wide and over 16 m long, its immediate proximity to the much-frequented passage to the courtyard and the monastery inn, the fact that natural daylight fell from one side only - led to the decision to modify the original commission - i.e., the adaptation of the existing space - and to propose the erection of a small new structure as an extension in both the spatial and functional sense which would meet the demand for a chapel in which many different types of service could be held and which would allow the most flexible use of the new room as a whole.

Taking the Three Divine Mysteries as a basis, the theme of the Trinity was explored on several levels in this design and variously articulated in architectonic terms.

The existing passageway, the transitional room and the new structure form three differently-formulated architectonic sections within the space as a whole, thus reflecting this triplicity. The basic forms of a circle (= new structure), square (= passageway accentuated by the ceiling decoration) and triangle (= splayed screen in the passageway) are fitted together as three different types of space that form an indivisible whole. The one is dependent on the other, no one element can exist on its own.

In the layout of the sanctuary, the altar, tabernacle and ambo are configured plastically as a trinity, which, grouped together by the dais on which they stand, reaches out into the chapel. The cross is incorporated into the roof, through which light floods, and projects itself (supplemented by spotlights) onto the cone-shaped surface of the wall behind the altar.