50 Year Series. Bjarnaneskirkja Church
Photo Essay by Ste Murray
Bjarnaneskirkja Church is located in Austerland, the eastern region of Iceland; a sparsely populated area with a vast, untouched landscape. As you arrive, the scale of the church emphasises this, sitting modestly in its context, oriented westwards towards Vatnajokull, the largest ice cap in Iceland.
Bjarnaneskirkja Church was designed by Icelandic architect Hannes Kr. Davíðsson who is well known in Iceland for his major work of designing Reykjavík’s Art Museum, Kjarvalsstaðir. The inception of the church was contentious, taking 19 years to complete construction of the modest structure. This was due to various disagreements and conflicts on the appearance, structure and location of the building. Despite this controversy, the church is now considered to be one of Iceland's most important examples of modern architecture.
The church is made up primarily of an uninsulated, concrete shell which is whitewashed inside and out. The structure is purist in its form, consisting of a triangular tower and a curved nave, merged together. There are two substantial glazed elements, both of which are facing westwards to allow the evening light into the church; one at the top of the triangular tower, and one at the top of the curved nave, above the entrance door. The building is restrained in its symmetry; its minimal form and materiality pairs with the sparseness of its surrounding environment, maintaining a balanced equilibrium between the two.
The form of the church was inspired by the glaciers and the mountains that surround it, and in some sense, it could be described as a monument to Icelandic nature. Despite this, the church's angular composition can feel alien when set against the backdrop of the rolling Icelandic landscape. Consecrated in 1976, the age of the church has begun to show at its edges. The white washed shell is now discoloured and peeling in corners, as though a blanket of snow has finally allowed foliage to break through in the spring.
50 Year Series
This photo essay is part of a series that documents buildings in their 50th year, with a specific focus on Brutalism and Modernism.
Choosing one building per year, at the 50-year mark offers a photographic focus within a myriad of choices. This, not those. Fifty years also feels like an appropriate timespan for reflection and a re_presentation of architecture to a contemporary audience. And yet, in all its immensity, half a century often places buildings inside a temporal limbo – the building might be ‘too old’ to serve today's needs without extensive changes, while at the same time being ‘too new’ to be authentically romanticised. In this in-between state, this series becomes both tribute and critique.
Unlike commissioned work, there is no inherent endorsement through architects, clients or contractors attached to the building. What happens is, therefore, a more raw and honest approach.
