Moritzkirche: John Pawson

The Church of St Moritz has been through many changes since its foundation nearly a thousand years ago. Devastating fires, changes in liturgical practice, aesthetic evolution and wartime bombing have each left their mark on the fabric of the building.

The purpose of this latest intervention has been to return the existing architecture, from aesthetic, functional and liturgical perspectives, with considerations of  sacred atmosphere always at the heart of the project. The work has involved the meticulous paring away of selected elements of the church’s complex fabric and the relocation of certain artifacts,  to achieve a clearer visual field.

Drawing on existing forms and elements of vocabulary, an architectural language has evolved that  is recognizable in subtle ways as something new, yet has no jarring foreign elements.

Moritzkirche
Location: Augsburg, Germany
Date: 2008 – 2013
Project Architect: Jan Hobel
Photography: Gilbert McCarragher

John Pawson