St. Stephen’s Cathedral – bio-structural system architecture
This is a cathedral project which is located in St. Stephen’s Cathedral in the center of economic, religion and tourism in Vienna, Austria. Various types of layers were applied to accomplish the complexity of multiple social functions since the new cathedral is facing those complicated issues of social changes. In addition, this new design of St. Stephen’s Cathedral proposes possibilities of the very contemporary architectural form.
The form manipulation is one of the main experimental issues to enter this project.
The processes discussed above is not only based on the belief in religion for architecture but also based on my belief in design of architecture.
The beginning of the description, I would like to write a short story to define my belief.
“The sunlight through the stained glass plays on my face when I get off the subway.”
“I usually have a cup of coffee in the square while basking in cathedral hymns.”
“People pass through me to the theater”
"And I just take a seat in the nave for talking with god.”
"My religion is just my life.”
About form
St. Stephen Cathedral is characterized by the strong aesthetic form the structure. To pay tribute to the great architecture, my design concept starts with the original system of special structure; I extracted a column and point arch to analyze the composition and logic of structural line.
-Catalog-
· Arch: the prototype is transformed with direction and decoration
· Column: twist the structural line, and embed the spaces in the different part of column, and then increase the density and scale of the structure. This language is applied in different situation in whole project.
A single column and an arch system were extended and applied to the whole building.
Choose a row of the structural system from cathedral to text the catalog.
About function
Complexity of multifunction
Cathedral – religion
Underground – traffic
Theater – art
Department store, coffee, plaza – business and tourism
- Sanctity in the space-
· Isolation- the big opening in the site emphasis the holiness of god; distinguish the god from of human on the land.
· the form of structure with direction- Continue the rising language from traditional structure and add twist to show a special feeling with unpredictable direction of the structure to present nobleness and greatness of god.
· stained glass floor- The stained glass is the traditional element in cathedral design as window. In this project, it was converted into floor and applied primitive cross to be the new cathedral plane. People walk on the cross on stained glass floor with cautious attitude, and view through diverse space like train station and theater to make all space start to communicate with vision.
- The process of design-
· preserving the holiest special structure of cathedral, altar.
· transform from the old structure
· the growing structure into the basement
· the railway through the bottom
· plaza
· a huge opening surrounds whole structure and develops cross route of stained glass
· the tower structure
· sphere spaces
· the skin
