ABSTRACT

This chapter examines nature in sacred buildings. Central in the author investigation are the east wall of the church in Tautra Mariakloster, the Cistercian monastery at Tautra, Norway; and Otaniemi chapel, situated on the campus of Helsinki University of Technology in Finland. The chapter explores the ways in which these buildings incorporate the changing vistas of light and nature outside. Drawing on Christian Norberg-Schulz and his theory of place, the author sees architecture as a creative and meaningful implementation of human relationship to the natural environment: to landscape, light, water and vegetation. Orientation towards the east has been important in church architecture. From early Christianity, the congregation has turned towards the rising sun during prayers. Church architecture involves an explanation or clarification of a relationship to the environment, the hermeneutic aspect is particularly prominent when it comes to church architecture.