Rich in symbolism and tradition, religious architecture has always been marked by the grandiosity and extravagance of its interior spaces. For the architects and designers who created these spaces, everything from the scale, to the materials, to the lighting were tools to be used in optimizing their form and function and creating a place for users to connect with their faith.
Whether seen in churches, mosques, synagogues, temples, or chapels, religious architecture has always abided by certain historical patterns; however, this doesn't mean that it was free from the influence of other architectural styles that defined different eras of history.
Religious buildings shaped by Brutalism--a scion of the Modernist Movement that had its heyday between the 1950s and 1970s--stand out thanks to their constructive sincerity, geometry, and the roughness of their surfaces. Reinforced concrete shaped by rugged wooden framework is the principal material used in Brutalist structures to create the rough, untreated surfaces that define the movement.
Seeking to trace Brutalism's influence throughout European architecture, photographer Stefano Perego has compiled photographs of religious architecture --churches, temples, and sanctuaries--designed in the Brutalist tradition. In this article, we highlight 20 Brutalist works of architecture from throughout Europe--Germany, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, Italy, and Switzerland --designed by the likes of Le Corbusier, Gottfried Böhm, Arrigo Arrighetti, Adalberto Libera, Léon Stynen, Juliaan Lampens, and Fritz Schaller, among others:
Germany
St. Hildegardis Chapel / Gottfried Böhm
- Year: 1962-1970
- Location: Düsseldorf, Germany
Pilgrimage Church / Gottfried Böhm
- Year: 1963-1968
- Location: Velbert, Germany
St. Paulus Church / Fritz Schaller
- Year: 1966-1968
- Location: Neuss, Germany
Johannes XXIII Church / Heinz Buchmann + Josef Rikus
- Year: 1968
- Location: Cologne, Germany
Christi Auferstehung Church / Gottfried Böhm
- Year: 1968-1970
- Location: Cologne, Germany
Austria
Parochial Church of the Resurrection of Christ / Günther Domenig + Eilfried Huth
- Year: 1966-1969
- Location: Oberwart, Austria
Zur Heiligsten Dreifaltigkeit Church / Fritz Wotruba + Fritz Gerhard Mayr
- Year: 1974-1976
- Location: Vienna, Austria
Belgium
Kerselare Chapel / Juliaan Lampens
- Year: 1961-1966
- Location: Oudenaarde, Belgium
Sint-Ritakerk Church / Léon Stynen + Paul De Meyer
- Year: 1963-1966
- Loation: Harelbeke, Belgium
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Saint Buenaventura Cathedral / Miroslav Matasović
- Year: 1972-1973
- Location: Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Monastery of Our Lady of Health (Crkva Gospe od Zdravlja)
- Year: 1990-1994
- Location: Neum, Bosnia and Herzegovina
France
Church of Saint Peter / Le Corbusier
- Year: 1963
- Location: Firminy, France
Church of Saint John / Maurice Blanc
- Year: 1963-1965
- Location: Grenoble, France
Italy
Church of Christ the Redeemer / Nicola and Leonardo Mosso + Livio Norzi
- Year: 1954-1957
- Location: Turin, Italy
Cathedral of Christ the King / Adalberto Libera + Cesare Galeazzi
- Year: 1956-1975
- Location: La Spezia, Italy
Monte Grisa Sanctuary / Antonio Guacci
- Year: 1963-1965
- Location: Trieste, Italy
San Giovanni Bono Church / Arrigo Arrighetti
- Year: 1968
- Location: Milan, Italy
Church of Saint Paul the Apostle / Benvenuto Villa + Maria Rosa Zibetti Ribaldone
- Year: 1971-1973
- Location: Gallarate, Italy
Church of Saint Mary of Carmine / Gianni Lamedica
- Year: 1979-1981
- Location: Fossombrone, Italy
Switzerland
Heiligkreuzkirche / Walter Förderer
- Year: 1966-1969
- Location: Chur, Switzerland
- Related Article:
Futuristic Architecture of the 70s: Photographs of a Modern World with a Twist of Science Fiction
- Check out more of Stefano Perego's work and his social media pages.
- Discover even more religious architecture and articles or news about Brutalist architecture.
Stefano Perego (1984) is an architectural photographer based in Milan, Italy. He collaborates frequently with architectural studios as well as artists and is the co-author of the book SOVIET ASIA (Modern Soviet Architecture of Central Asia). His interest in architecture of the second half of the 20th century has been the focal point of his photography capturing Modernist, Brutalist, and Postmodernist works.
