In the 1960s, Walter Maria Förderer designed eight churches in Switzerland and Germany. Influenced by Le Corbusier, and even more so by the collages of Kurt Schwitters and Gothic architecture, Förderer designed cascades of concrete blocks and strange totemic objects that now form some of Europe’s most avant-garde religious buildings. — Wallpaper
It is always a delight and a mystery when one learns of a new name to add to their account of architecture history — a delight because with their name comes new buildings, textures, contexts and drawings to discover; a mystery because their near erasure from historical canon can appear suspiciously willful.
While Gottfried Böhm and Le Corbusier are perhaps the first to come to mind when considering the significant architects of Post War European churches, Walter Maria Förderer rightly deserves a spot on the list. Like Corbusier, Förderer was a Swiss architect obsessed with the structural and material properties afforded by concrete, and was uniquely determined to treat the material as he had during his earlier career as a sculptor.
The Church of St. Nicholas (above) is one of his most exemplary works. Though the building does employ a small handful of modernist principles, it signals an interest in post-functionalism (a term later coined by the deconstructive architect): "Förderer’s work was superficially hard-edged, but self-consciously formalist, even decorative and playful, in its manipulation of space," Jonathan Bell writes. "Staircases ‘hung’ in voids, boxed forms featured deep-set windows and quirky extrusions, while strange totemic objects rose up in defiance of modernism’s rejection of the eccentric."
Fortunately, St. Nicholas and the seven other churches Förderer built throughout Switzerland and Germany are well preserved to this day, as they have proven to be welcome additions to the centuries-old towns and villages their sharp forms and brutal materials contrast so profoundly.
7 Comments
Stunning!
"eccentric" is an understatement.
There was a time in my career when I would have really liked these buildings. But that time is long past.
The stepping and staggering of his formalism reminds me a lot of Legos.
"cold as a church"
Thanks, a find. Elemental and strong. I like the way these churches blend in with and complement the Alpine site. Formalist maybe, but also they are expressive in ways much done now is not. I'll certainly take them over:
(And I can't look at this church now without thinking about the architect's behavior.)
I'm curious how well Förderer’s designs match the character of the people, the nature and practice of their beliefs, but of course know nothing. My sense is they are buildings that arise from place and are not imposed abstractions, out of context.
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