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| Architect Cha Tae-kwon poses inside the chapel of St. Andrew's Anglican Church in Pohang, South Gyeongsang Province, during a recent interview with The Korea Times. He broke away from the conventional 'isolated' indoor space tenaciously embraced by Korean churches. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul |
Architect proposes new post-COVID-19 style for places of worship
By Ko Dong-hwan
POHANG ― The global spread of COVID-19 has brought thousands of local church communities to their knees.
The effects have been unprecedented. The central government, seeing rising infections in religious circles, first forced churches to shut down for months to control the disease's spread. Only online services were available. Then, in-person services were allowed under strict conditions, mandating attendees wear masks and sit a safe distance apart.
But on July 10, as the new infection rate persisted, the government banned religious groups from all gatherings except for regular services. The move sparked objections from more than 200,000 people in an online petition on the presidential office's website. They condemned the action as "discrimination against churches."
It is not difficult to understand the government's hard-line policy.
An enclosed space crowded with singing, praying people ― who are sometimes sharing food and water ― is an ideal place for mass infection.
Shincheonji Church of Jesus, one of Korea's mega-church communities with almost 240,000 registered members, was the target of an enraged public in February after infected members ― more than 4,200 as of mid-July ― caused a series of cluster infections outside the ranks of the secretive church, centered around its Daegu branch.
And from May 20 to July 10, the country's central disease and safety countermeasure headquarters counted over 370 "church-related" infection cases. This includes all patients whose illness can be traced back to a churchgoer.
Most of the cases have a common feature ― the infection spread among a densely packed crowd in an enclosed space.
Jeju Island-based architect Cha Tae-kwon has proposed an alternative design to the cookie-cutter architectural designs for chapels and gathering halls for so many Korean churches, which he called an "abomination."
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| Originally built in 1983, St. Andrew's Anglican Church in Pohang was shaken by an earthquake in 2017. The impact badly damaged the structure and destroyed the crucifix on top. The city ordered its demolition. Courtesy of St. Andrew's Anglican Church in Pohang |
"Church constructions following the coronavirus pandemic must shift from enclosed isolation to open space," Cha ― who demonstrated the idea with his latest work, St. Andrew's Anglican Church in Pohang ― told the Korea Times. The 191-square-meter church, whose chapel can fit no more than 100 people, was rebuilt after an earthquake badly damaged it in 2017.
Cha realized this "openness" with seven-meter-wide folding doors on both sides of the chapel that create a "breathing channel." With the doors open, the 100-square-meter chapel extends its indoor space to a stone-grass courtyard. This also allows people outside, including passersby, to see what's happening.
"It enables natural air circulation, and the space for a service can extend to the outside," Cha said. "The chapel, also built with wood for the upper half, can utilize its space in a more versatile way."
That means when the chapel is too crowded, the folding doors can be opened and the courtyard can be used for additional seating.
"Like today's modern homes that an increasing number of architects now cherish, the church has people move through outside spaces instead of having them cooped up indoors," the church's Rev. Daniel Roh Hyun-mun said.
Busy with finishing touches to the church's chapel and priest's office, he had paint stains all over his clothes when he spoke to The Korea Times.
"At our church, we are directly linked to the outside and neighbors," he said. "Some curious people approached me and asked if it was a cafe or what kind of construction method this structure used."
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| Unlike other larger churches in Korea, St. Andrew's Anglican Church in Pohang is an unassuming structure. It is in a previously neglected neighborhood that was once a landfill. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul |
It cost 400 million won ($331,000) to build the new church ― a relatively modest amount. All the money was donated by members of the Anglican Church of Korea and fellow communities overseas, including in Japan and Hong Kong.
But hiring an expensive construction company was not an option. To fit the budget, 25 priests from the Busan Diocese of the Anglican Church of Korea donated their time to work on the church. Rev. Roh even brought discarded scraps of stained glass from another church construction site in Busan's Dongnae-gu for reuse at his chapel. "This church was made possible with help from so many people," he said.
Sentimental faith
What originally drove Cha, a Christian, to question conventional churches in Korea was his critical view that churches instilled a "sentimental faith" in visitors ― instantaneous emotional immersion with help from the surrounding indoor environment. He said this was unrelated to one's religious depth and commitment to God. And conventional churches likely shared those environmental faults that made visitors vulnerable to the virus.
"Space affects human minds, and in that sense, church spaces can influence visitors to have sentimental faith," Cha said. He calls it the "Jonah complex." Referencing the biblical figure from the Old Testament, who was swallowed by a giant fish and lived inside it for three days until being freed, the architect compared Jonah's experience to those who want to experience the same spatial effects from inside a dark, enclosed space with gleaming lights.
"Such church spaces can provoke people with the Jonah complex, encouraging them to seek nothing beyond mystic religious admiration. I found that those spaces were naturally vulnerable to spreading of the coronavirus pandemic," Cha said.
"God doesn't exist in a specific space. He exists everywhere in the world he created. And churches must keep expanding to vindicate that world. So I wanted to design church chapels that are more open-spaced ― and safe."
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| The church's chapel, with its folding doors open, is directly linked to the courtyard. The extended space has versatile uses for a church that cherishes its neighbors and, most importantly, lowers the risk of coronavirus infection among visitors. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul |
Having studied architecture and theology, Cha first came across St. Andrew's Anglican Church in Pohang when he heard that it was seeking donations for reconstruction. Feeling pity, he studied the site's topography, designed a floor plan draft for his version of the new church and submitted it. The church liked it.
"I visited Notre-Dame du Haut three times and was deeply impressed," Cha said, referring to a 1955 Roman Catholic chapel in Ronchamp, France, that is one of renowned architect Le Corbusier's most popular works. "But that was all the impression I needed. Same with how I felt about Ando Tadao's famous Church of Light. In turn, I figured that building a church space should be about more than just giving such a sentiment."
Construction 'grows'
Resuscitating an enclosed church space isn't just about gutting the structure for natural ventilation. It also involves as many eco-friendly features as possible. St. Andrew's Anglican Church in Pohang embraces green principles, including solar energy. And instead of erecting a giant crucifix typical of Korean churches, trees were planted around the church site.
"I thought the Anglican Church of Korea would reject my idea of forgoing the crucifix," Cha said. "But the bishop from the Busan Diocese and Rev. Roh surprisingly accepted my suggestion."
Rev. Roh attributed it to the Anglican Church's unique doctrine ― which "sets itself apart from Orthodox and Catholic Churches," according to the priest. It tries to minimize architectural style and assimilate elements of indigenous culture and environment into new Anglican churches around the globe.
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| The priest's office at St. Andrew's Anglican Church in Pohang. The slanted roof is for solar panels that will be installed later and the terraces are reserved for gardens. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul |
The priest's office has a slanted roof for solar panels that will be installed later. The rooftop and a terrace are for gardens. Even the roof that connects the chapel and priest's office was hollowed out for a garden. It is an environmentally conscious practice ― covering exteriors with plants ― adopted for buildings worldwide, including the Oasia Hotel in Singapore, Central Park Sydney, the Bosco Verticale in Milan and the Flower Tower Paris.
Cha believes building a structure creates environmental damage that must be repaid with eco-friendly features.
"In France, new buildings must employ green gardens and solar panels on rooftops and use wood as building material for 50 percent or more," Cha said. He mentioned Paris Smart City 2050 that aims to turn the city into a paradise of plant-embedded smart architecture to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 75 percent.
Cha encourages eco-friendly green construction. He also wants stronger action against illegal construction practices in Korea that undermine original plans. "Maintenance of a structure according to its architectural plan is as important as building it according to the floor plan," Cha said.
"When God forced Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden, he gave them food and clothes but not a shelter because they could use a cave," Cha said, elaborating on his professional principles mixed with Christian faith.
"Humans then began to learn how to build shelters and civilizations at the cost of natural damage. Architects thus should recognize their original sin of devastating nature and indemnify it by striving to protect and coexist with nature."
