Myyrmäki Church ( fi, Myyrmäen kirkko, sv, Myrbacka kyrka), is a

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

in the

Myyrmäki Myyrmäki ( sv, Myrbacka), literally meaning "Bog Hill", is a district and major region of the municipality of Vantaa, Finland. The district has an area of and a population of about 17,000, making it the most populous district in Vantaa. It is h ...

neighborhood in the city of

Vantaa Vantaa (; sv, Vanda, ) is a city and Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. It is part of the inner core of the Greater Helsinki, Finnish Capital Region along with Helsinki, Espoo, and Kauniainen. With a population of (), Vantaa i ...

. It is located near Louhela commuter train station. The church was designed by architect

Juha Leiviskä Juha Ilmari Leiviskä (born 17 March 1936 in Helsinki) is a prominent Finnish architect and designer. He is especially known for his churches and other sacral buildings. Life and career The son of engineer Toivo Ilmari Leiviskä and teacher ...

and it was opened in 1984. It is also known as the Church of Light. In Leiviskä's own words: "To me, a building as such, 'as a piece of architecture', is nothing. Its real significance is revealed in counterpoint with its surroundings, with life and with light." In addition to the actual sanctuary, the building houses a separate chapel, two meeting halls, the parish offices, and facilities for children’s and young people’s ministries. The sanctuary seats 450, but with the adjoining meeting halls the capacity is over 700. Vantaankoski Parish is one of seven Evangelical-Lutheran parishes in Vantaa with a membership of c. 30,000. Myyrmäki Church is the main church of the parish. The organ of Myyrmäki Church was built by Kangasalan urkurakentamo in 1986. The sound of the organ is mainly

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

in style. Leiviskä has stated that when designing the church the ideal he had in mind was the

Neresheim Abbey Neresheim Abbey or the Abbey of Saints Ulrich and Afra, Neresheim (german: Abtei Neresheim or ) is located above the town of Neresheim in Baden-Württemberg, southern Germany. It is now a Benedictine monastery and is part of the Beuronese Congregat ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

, southern Germany, the late

church designed by architect

Balthasar Neumann Johann Balthasar Neumann (; 27 January 1687 (?) – 19 August 1753), usually known as Balthasar Neumann, was a German architect and military artillery engineer who developed a refined brand of Baroque architecture, fusing Austrian, Bohemian, Ita ...

. The British architecture historian

Kenneth Frampton Kenneth Brian Frampton (born 20 November 1930) is a British architect, critic and historian. He is the Ware Professor of Architecture at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation at Columbia University, New York. He has be ...

has discussed this aspect of Leiviskä's church architecture, stating: "The Baroque churches of Southern Germany are the conscious inspiration for these (church) works, as Leiviskä openly concedes, even if the syntax could hardly be more removed from the plasticity of Balthasar Neumann. An indirect, hypersensitive play of light on a set of highly susceptible layered lattices and planes is patently the aesthetic ''modus operandi'' in these churches. And to this ludic game we must add the equally playful layering of lights miraculously floating at the ends of imperceptible cords..."

Renovation

Myyrmäki Church is closed due to renovations. The church, which has suffered from indoor air problems, has been out of service since 2019. The comprehensive renovation project has begun with meticulous planning. Renovation work on site will begin in the autumn of 2022. The renovation is scheduled for completion in late 2023. Myyrmäki Church is being thoroughly renovated inside and out. Building services systems and yard structures will also be renewed. The structural solutions of the church have been typical of the time of construction, but today they have been found to be inoperative. The renovation takes into account the architectural value of the building. The appearance of the church and the church hall remain essentially the same. File:Myyrmäki church 1.jpg, View from south File:Myyrmäki church 5.jpg, Exterior view from north east File:Myyrmäen kirkkoa (2009).jpg, Interior view File:Myyrmäen kirkko.jpg, Interior view File:Myyrmäki compositional analysis.jpg, Plan diagram showing "unbounded space"

References

External links

Evangelical Lutheran congregations in Vantaa: Myyrmäki Church

Sibelius-Akatemia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Myyrmaki church Buildings and structures in Vantaa Lutheran churches in Finland Juha Leiviskä buildings