TEMPPELIAUKIO "THE ROCK CHURCH"
Helsinki, Finland
The Rock Church, or to give it its
correct name,
Temppeliaukio, is another church – like the earlier Mikael Agricola Church –
that has its origins in an architectural contest.
A plot had been set aside in 1906
for a church in
the newly extended part of Helsinki that is today called
Etu-Töölö. The
independence of Finland put plans on hold until 1932 when a content was
announced. Once again, the committee was unhappy with the results
– as they had
been at Mikael Argicola – and once again the contest was re-run
– this time in
1936.
The design chosen was the second
runner-up, but
then the Winter War (between Finland and the Soviets during World War
II) put
paid to plans and it took a long time for a new contest to be arranged.
It was 1961 before a new design
was finally
chosen, and this time it was a radical and unusual plan by brothers
Timo and
Tuomo Suomalainen. The proposal was for the rock to be hewn away and
the church
set inside it. The design was met with derision – with nicknames
such as “rock
mosque” and “devil defence bunker”. In 1968 the
foundations of the church were
daubed with the word “Biafra” in a protest about the costs
of building put in
the context of the famine in Biafra – this was the first recorded
graffiti in
Finland.
Only a year later the church was
complete enough
to be dedicated and in 1971 the name was official made Temppeliaukio
Church. By
that same year over 100,000 people were visiting the church annually
and any
doubts about its suitability were long forgotten.
The church is carved deep into the
bedrock of a
hill and is entered from street level. The roof is a part-glass and
part-copper
dome some 24 metres across. The interior is a mixture of copper, glass
and
concrete and gives an impression of unremitting modernity but at the
same time
the clever use of natural, diffuse light and rounded edges gives a
gentler,
more ecclesiastical feel than many modern churches. Because there is
nowhere
for bells when a service requires them a recording is played.
Today, the Rock Church is a
fixture on
Helsinki’s
tourist route and is, arguably, the most unique attraction the city has
to
offer.
Photo - Andrew J. Müller
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