Medieval-style wooden chapel near Brno wins National Architecture Award
This year's National Architecture Award was awarded to the Chapel of Our Lady of Sorrows, designed by Jan Říčný, in Nesvačilka near Brno. The Association of Architects, which has organized the competition since 1993, announced the winners on Monday.
The cylindrical, 25-meter-high wooden chapel in Nesvačilka, which cost approximately CZK 24 million, was largely funded by religious believers and consecrated last year.
The main structure consists of seven fir beams, each carved entirely with axes. These beams symbolize the seven sorrows of the Virgin Mary, while the eighth beam, set horizontally, completes the image of the cross.
The Roman Catholic parish of Moutnice was the investor behind the chapel’s construction, which blends medieval techniques with modern technological innovations. The concept and design were conceived by René Václav Strouhal, the parish priest of Moutnice.
I spoke with Jan Říčný, the designer of the award-winning chapel, who shared the inspiration behind the project’s medieval techniques and religious symbolism:
“We decided to incorporate symbols into the chapel’s structure to express the emotions from the story of Mary. Since it’s the Chapel of Our Lady of Sorrows, we included these symbols in the architecture as an expression and as a narrative. They are also part of the load-bearing structure of the chapel. One part of it consists of seven hand-hewn beams, which are carved with axes. The beams are made of solid wood, just like all other parts of the building. This is very important for us because we are using traditional techniques.”
The traditional techniques refer to medieval building practices, which Říčný said were invaluable as a basis for the project:
“When you look at the contemporary way we work with wood today, engineers use glued wood, laminated wood, which is produced in factories and goes through all these processes. It’s connected with steel parts. But we use wooden joints, which are traditional.”
The choice to use medieval construction methods also contributed to the use of natural materials that would not disrupt the landscape, Říčný explained:
“In the Baroque era, they tried to place certain points in the landscape. In this way, it’s very traditional to have a point in the landscape made of materials that aren’t so common in this agricultural area. The forests are a little farther away, and the stone isn’t from the area either; it’s from a quarry a few kilometers away. We used natural materials to connect with the landscape. And it will have a [long] lifespan. It is exposed to the weather, so it has to work with the weather. I think it’s good to open this discussion that it is possible to build wooden buildings which are exposed to the weather; it works.”
This year, 155 projects competed for the Grand Prix of Architects – National Architecture Award. In the first round of evaluation, the jury selected 50 projects to advance to the finals, from which the winners were chosen. Prizes were also awarded to the creators of works in the categories of sustainable construction, family homes, interiors, design, landscaping, new buildings, and renovations.
