CHAPEL OF LIGHT

A chapel of light in the landscape of the Novohradské Mountains. This little temple is built on the site of a vanished farmhouse. It stands as a symbol of roots, renewal and connection with the past. Each stone, laid one by one, becomes a celebration of place and time.

Project year: 2014

Principal architect Zuzana & Jan Kurz

Completion year: 2014 – present

Project year: 2014
Principal architect Zuzana & Jan Kurz
Completion year: 2014 – present

The chapel became a kind of cornerstone embedded deep within our souls. This later emerged as a real structure with its very first building stone taken from the original room of the farmhouse on which the chapel now stands.

When we decided to spend our whole lives in one place and dedicate them to the landscape of the Novohradské Mountains which we call home, we felt the need to create a visible sign of that decision. We also wanted to revive the once-inhabited village, of which only our farmhouse and the ruins of the thirteen original buildings remain. We explored various forms of how to make this visible in the landscape, but we eventually realized that the typology of a chapel is such a deeply rooted and meaningful element of our culture that there was no need to invent anything new. It would be a chapel – a chapel of light in the landscape of Velký Jindřichov.

And so it happened. We found a place near the former village green, beside the ruins of the old inn, directly on the remains of one of the original farmsteads. As we searched, we kept stepping on the same small patch of ground until, one day, we cleared the rubble and found ourselves standing in a corner room of the same size and shape as the future chapel. We knew immediately this was the place where we would begin laying the stones. The construction has been ongoing for several years now, but we know everything has its own time. It’s not an easy task, so each summer we raise the structure a little higher, and it’s always a celebration, watching it grow together with our friends.

Materials

Stone  •  Glass  •  Clay  •  Concrete

Materials

• Stone
• Glass
• Clay 
• Concrete

All work © KURZ architects