Category: Religion

Infinity Chapel in Construction : Curved Wallssacred spaces; chapel design, modern church design; minimalist architecture

September 16th, 2009

view of chapel from mezzanine; Infinity Chapel by hMa, August 2009

detail of curved walls under construction, August 2009

view of mezzanine and curved wall; Infinity Chapel by hMa

Click here to view all photos of Infinity Chapel at www.hanrahanmeyers.com

Shown above are in-progress photos of Infinity Chapel designed by hanrahan Meyers architects. The chapel design evolved out of conversations between the Architects and the members of the Church: Tenth Church of Christ, Scientist.

The clients requested a minimalist chapel design that included dyanmic curves and that was in touch with Nature. The final design for the Chapel reflects research by the Architects into hypercubes and other advanced mathematical forms. The Chapel interior is a cube, deformed by light.

hanrahan Meyers architects specialize in the design of public buildings that connect to light and to nature. The Chapel's windows look out into a public meditation garden which will be the focal point of members sitting in the pews during sermons. The garden is planned to have plantings including a background of Ilex and ivy, with Japanese Red Maples in the foreground. The garden design is a collaboration between hanrahan Meyers architects and GRDN: www.grdnbklyn.com.
Award winning Sustainable Architecture : Hyper-Practice (as slow as possible) contemporary ideas in architecture; sustainable design

September 1st, 2009

Just as a hyper-cube has ever changing facets, hMa aspires to have a ‘hyper-practice’. Even with its infinite folding and unfolding - the hyper-cube is a unique and singular object. Even as it incorporates, time and infinite possibilities of form and information, the hyper-cube retains its ability to be recognized.

hMa has a similar image of their practice which they see as a unique figure intellectually joined to a hyper-spherical object. As a ‘hyper-sphere’ – hMa is a generative practice that grows, stretches, and morphs over time, without losing its original form. Idea diagrams for hMa's most recent project, 'Infinity Chapel', are presented below, relating Infinity Chapel to the shape of an infinity sign, as well as the three-dmensional shape of a hyper-cube. Infinity Chapel is designed as a minimalist chapel with the form of a perfect cube, deformed, through time, by light. This deformation process pushes Infinity Chapel into the form of a hyper-cube.

hypercube diagram

If we could, hMa would leave the planet with our own architectural version of John Cage’s musical composition, Organ² / ASLSP (As SLow aS Possible) – currently being played over 639 years by its interpreters in Germany. Cage’s piece is an all-encompassing time-piece that touches the earth lightly. Using a similar approach to our architecture, hMa hopes to achieve a similarly powerful impact, using minimal means.

Infinity Chapel represents hMa's overall concept of buildings that move and transform, over time. The Chapel is dynamic in form and self-sustaining.

Infinity Chapel by hanrahan Meyers architects

hMa sees their practice as a sustainable approach to creating buildings and places of beauty. John Cage’s engagement with the world made an impact on people’s lives through works that were often silent, but powerful. hMa strives to impact human life through a similar relationship between art and beauty by building projects that respect the environment and occupy the planet with minimal impact.

To see hMa’s version of an ‘infinite unfolding over time’, visit our website, www.hanrahanMeyers.com. Pass through the site’s main portals by hitting: ‘hMa blog’; ‘Cultural Conversations’; and ‘hMa Research’. These three portals keep hMa engaged in the world in a way that changes, in reaction to time, just as you would expect a hyper-practice should.

left: John Cage; right: the bellows for the custom-made organ currently playing Cage's "ASLSP" in a performance in Halberstadt Germany scheduled to take 639 years to complete

http://archidose.blogspot.com/
Light ResearchInfinity Chapel by hanrahan Meyers architects

March 11th, 2009

HANRAHAN MEYERS ARCHITECTS: LIGHT STUDY MODEL

hanrahan Meyers architects (hMa) have pursued investigations into light as an area of special interest. hMa has pursued light by developing new window and skylight prototypes, and through the use of color both as a direct and reflected medium.

The above project is hMa’s prototype study for a glass screening device. The screen can be adjusted to allow differing aspects of light through a set of metal pieces, which forms a flexible ‘fabric’ in front of a clear glass window. The window looks toward a busy urban street, and sits in front of a private library collection; a space for reading and storing books. The screen removes the disruption of an urban landscape, while allowing natural light to filter into the library. The library contains rare books, and the screen is designed to control the quantity of natural light.

Read more on Light research in Victoria Meyers' book Designing with Light.

LIGHT MONITOR DIAGRAM FOR HMA'S INFINITY CHAPEL

INFINITY CHAPEL SKYLIGHT ON CHAPEL STAGE, GARDEN CHAPEL IN BACKGROUND. PHOTO: MICHAEL MORAN

For more information about Infinity Chapel, visit hMa's website: www.hanrahanMeyers.com.
Won Buddhist Training Centercampus master plan

November 30th, 2007

Campus Master Plan: A Rural Layout

hanrahan Meyers architects (hMa) have a designed a new Won-Buddhist Retreat that will be approximately 2 hours north of New York City on a rural site. The site is mostly wooded, with a swath of Meadow on the western edge where buildings can be built.

- The site features relatively unspoiled Natural features with native vegetation. All site development will occur in the western edge where the trees have been removed. The rest of the site will be untouched.

- The site plan shows buildings in a rural arrangement, creating a primary impression of the forest’s uninterrupted expanse reinforced by buildings oriented to the path of the sun. The site is large enough to accommodate the program without crowding, maintaining sufficient space so that the Nature of the site permeates the buildings. The Program that we are showing includes a Meditation Hall, a Dining Hall, and Housing.

- The Visitor experience hMa has designed for the master plan and buildings: One with Nature.

Nature Gate

Carefully planted trees and Grasses form a Natural Gate to the site. Gateways that are almost invisible, but present. Using the sound of Nature as the entrance to the site. Initial Entrance Experience: Stone crunching underfoot; leaves rustling in wind; tall grass blowing in breeze.

Stone Gate at the Ridge

A stone base marks a datum across the site. Structures with stone walls create a datum in the Landscape. Architecture becomes a means of measuring site.

From the Stone Gate at the ridge, visitors will be able to glimpse the various structures in the landscape. All structures to be constructed with the same sensibility as the Stone Gate using natural materials. Treating buildings as part of Nature.

View of the buildings

Buildings on the site all share common sense of Natural Materials with the Stone Gate; stone base with wood construction above. The buildings become like the site; like trees sitting in the earth.

View from Meditation Hall:

A sense of being outside when you are inside. A space lit by natural light, so the Meditation Hall is tied to the natural rhythms of Nature and sunlight. Beams overhead that modulate the light, like leaves on the trees. A place that allows the users to feel the awe of Nature.

Building the site into the building, as well as building into the site.
Best Wishes for 2007

February 12th, 2007

stair

second floor gallery

hanrahan Meyers architects (hMa) are pleased to announce the opening of the Juliana Curran Terian Pratt Pavilion. Pratt Pavilion is a focal point of Pratt's Brooklyn campus, and forms the focal point of the new Pratt Design Center. The project will be featured in an upcoming issue of Arquitectura Viva,was a featured project on Archidose, and will be featured on Architecture Week's weekly blog. The project is being featured in an upcoming Phaidon Press book on significant new architecture in Brooklyn.

hMa also will start construction on the Infinity Chapel, designed for the Tenth Church of Christ, Scientist congregation. Infinity Chapel is sited on the ground floor of an existing building one block North of Washington Square Park in Lower Manhattan. hanrahan Meyers redesigned the facade of the building with a floor to ceiling clear glass storefront, facing onto MacDougal Street. This project is a significant change for the Christian Scientist congregation, who are pursuing a very open, public image for their house of worship and Christian Science Reading Room. The Church hired hMa after discovering Victoria Meyers' book, Designing with Light, published with Abbeville Press in 2006.

For more details about the above referenced projects, please visit hMa's website : www.hanrahanMeyers.com

hMa donates a portion of the firm's income each year to Nature initiatives. This year, we are donating funds to the Conservation Fund, in support of their Wildlife Corridors initiative. This program creates natural zones through cities and towns, connecting wildlife movement between natural preserve areas.

hMa wishes you a successful 2007.