saint hedwig's CATHEDRAL

Renovation | Public Building

The focus of our design is the reconstruction of the center in the St. Hedwig’s Cathedral in Berlin. Today’s inventory has an opening in the center, leading to a small room from which the crypts are arranged in a circle. Our design should particularly appreciate the church’s function as a meeting place and at the same time it should offer an aesthetic and functional solution that consider the fundamental aspects of the religion. A special requirement therefore is to emphasize the compound of the crypts to the light.

The offsetting of stairs from the center to the sides of the round church makes it possible to perceive the space as a large and uniformly designed room. In order that sufficient light falls in the crypts, we have embedded glass in the ceiling of the ground floor. The light rays are perceived by this structural element in the form of a halo that illuminates the basement.

Compared with the current inventory, through separating the floors, the space is also designed “private” and can be used as a place of meditation. The light can also be considered an analogy, a symbol of divinity by illuminating the round church through the skylight dome and at the same time representing the afterlife through its rays shining down the crypt.

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Model Building and Design Studio | III. Semester Bachelor
Prof. Burkhard Lüdtke  | Technische Universität Berlin
Project by C.E.Beckmann | M.S.Flau

Location: Berlin, Germany