Roman Catholic Church
Ateliér Štěpán
How to Build Heaven / Heaven above Lesná / The Rainbow Church / The Futuristic Church / Inner Universe/ God’s Touch Intention Architect Marek Jan Štěpán has occupied himself with the idea of this church intermittently for the past 30 years. However, the intention to build a church first came up in the relaxed atmosphere of 1968 and was finally fulfilled after 50 years. Its location was chosen by the architects of the wonderful housing estate, František Zounek and Viktor Rudiš. The church is fully funded by the church offerings and donations. It is the first church to be dedicated to Bl. Marie Restituta who was born approximately 600 meters from its location.
Urbanism. The church is located in the heart of the housing estate at the mouth of the Čertova rokle ravine. The area is covered with tall concrete apartment buildings. The new church cannot compete with them in terms of size, which is why it has been designed to be very simple in expression, elementary in geometry, and therefore easily legible. A rectangular plateau is laid out on the plot that defines the sacred district. There are three basic masses on it – the church, the tower, and the spiritual centre (designed by Zdeněk Bureš). The original centre is rectangular, the tower is triangular and the church is circular, which means the three basic geometric shapes are all represented. The sacred district is built on a completely different scale which differentiates it from the surrounding blocks of flats and creates a dominant on a wholly new level.
The Circle. The church has a circular floor plan. The circle is an age-long symbol of heaven and eternity (in contrast to the square, which refers to earth and transience). The heaven is reflected back in the colourful annular window that embraces the church just below the roof. It might be said that the circle is floating above Lesná or, on a figurative, transcendental level, that the heaven is floating above Lesná. There are several reasons why we chose a circular shape for the church. The circle is the shape of fullness, it is the full stop in the area of the housing estate and its spiritual focal point that should serve as a place where people can break out of the daily hustle, rest for a while, or recollect themselves. The circle is also very close to the contemporary perception of the liturgy in the church that represents the community of the Apostles and Jesus around the table during the Last Supper. The tabernacle is located in a tall apse illuminated from above that is situated on the left side of the church. The church wall is torn by a triangular opening at this point, which serves as a reference to the tear in the Jerusalem temple curtain.
A Morgan (NRz - brushed stainless steel) door handle was used throughout the project. The handle is available with a choice of 2 finishes, with a 5 - 15 year warranty depending on the type of design, with magnetic rosette construction, for use on interior and exterior doors.
Collection of Morgan TiN-K handles, mechanics with magnetic rosette.