THE CHURCH OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY

Vienna, Austria

This church, known as Wotruba Church, sits on a grassy hill overlooking the city. It is an asymmetrical jumble of concrete blocks, stacked precariously one upon another. The chapel is named after the visionary architect, Fritz Wotruba. The sculptor-cum-architect said he was inspired by the French gothic masterpiece Chartres Cathedral, though you can hardly see how, given the brutalist design he ended up with. Built on the site of a former Nazi barracks, the church is formed from 152 concrete blocks, bolted together like a house of blocks in mid-tumble. The windows are built into the irregular spaces between the blocks. The interior of the chapel is mundane, with regular church seats and uniform psalm books tucked into their backs. Were it not for the chaos of the church walls all around, it would not seem that different from any other around the world. The untreated concrete surfaces are in astonishingly good condition, neither weathered nor cracked. The church may seem cold and abstract in comparison to more traditional churches, but the experience of walking into this giant brutalist sculpture is heavenly in its own right.  

I sketched this one on a perfect Sunday morning from a perfect view-point, on a bench across the lawn from the church. An older gentleman approached me while I worked, and after trying a few languages, asked me in English if I knew what the sign on the bench said? He translated – “Meant for Meeting Friends”. Noticing my architect’s scale, he asked if I was an architect? Turns out, he was an architect also. I showed him a few of my Prague sketches, and he immediately recognized the Dancing House. While at work, the choir and congregation sang unfamiliar songs, but with a universally understood spirit.