Assignment
The Pastoor van Ars church, located in the city Eindhoven, needs renovation. The church is, like more and more others in Holland, without any function and will be brought back to life by changing this. The new function as a central meeting point of the surrounding inhabitants will make it an important new public feature.
Design the new “church” as an important central meeting point.
The design
In the design the tower of the church works as a landmark, central point and literally carrier for the new function of the church. The tower used to be abandoned and not accessible for public, a sad thing concerning the role it plays in the neighborhood. It will revive by making it the center of the design, using the rest of the church as an open central meeting point, contributing to the experience of the tower.
To hang the new function onto the tower requires some serious changes in construction. Because the brickwork of the old tower can not absorb all the different forces that will work on the new tower, a big construction is needed. This construction will be made of steel, contrasting with the old brick tower, accentuating old and new and able to carry every function easily. To keep the cantilevering function volumes in the air, most of the used materials are light weighted, like wood.
In detail the functional volumes will act like separate units made of one piece. This is not only visible in the materialization, but also in small details. For example the suggestion of thick walls, making the volumes massive and increasing the power of the tower.
