The Canopy

Athens, Greece

2018

The Armenian Church architecture follows a unique architectural style dating to the apostolic era of Christianity in the Armenian Highlands (Հայկական լեռնաշխարհ). The unique style is the result of the last 1900 years during which the church developed its distinctive features like the pointed domes, the vertical emphasis, the tall narrow windows, arches and a composite roof. 

In the Armenian Evangelical Church of Greece, the building is being revisited to reinforce the original qualities and warmth of a place of public Christian worship. The works in the church aim to restyle three of its main interior features; the entrance, the stage and the roof.  Bringing together the two entrances of the building, the church is having one passage into its main hall, one passage to bring everyone together in the liturgy. An approach to entering the church is put in the side door. The new layout for the side entrance is guiding people arriving at the church to enter from its central hallway through a short corridor made of soft fabric. While the entrance enhances the experience of entering the place of worship gradually it cushions the liturgical functions from people to and fro. This approach provides additional space above as a loft extension.

A suspended canopy which gently illuminates the main hall with light dramatically cast through its sculptural fins that embody the fluidity of motion, resulting in a volume that appears to dematerialize, generating an unbounded quality to the source of illumination. The internal suspended roof features a central opening above the stage reinforcing the sense of verticality, an essential sentiment in the House of God.