Church of the Light

Ando was asked to enlarge a small Protestant compound in a quiet Ibaraki suburb on a budget that allowed only the plainest concrete box. He designed the addition in 1987-88 and built it in a year, finishing in April 1989. A freestanding wall enters the 113-square-metre rectangular hall at an angle, splitting the room without touching its corners and forcing the congregation to turn before facing the altar. Behind that wall Ando cut a full-height cross into the east concrete panel; he wanted the outside weather to enter with the light, though the church later glazed the slit to keep out rain. The formwork itself carries the design: panels are marked with the tie-hole grid Ando had used since Row House in Sumiyoshi, the building's only ornament besides the cross. Pews and floor are unfinished plywood on trestles, chosen for cost rather than effect. The chapel was the first phase of a larger rebuilding of the site, completed a decade later with a freestanding Sunday school wing. It remains an active Protestant church, and visitors are asked not to disturb services.