Prayers, whether performed as a litany while carrying out daily chores, or effected in dingy corners of homes, workplaces or cities, are promised to reach the divine countenance. Why does it then become necessary for monumental structures to host space for spiritual invocation? Do majestically designed spaces elevate the status of liturgies over those conducted in modestly structured abodes?

While the value and stature of worship can only be weighed by the one to whom it is addressed, the location of resilient sacral architecture and the presence it commands not only pinpoints the many stages in the evolution of human civilisation but also imparts moral sense into a larger population. Religious architecture, much like public commons, often proffers the role of accumulating persons from disparate realms and strata of the society, serving, hence, as a medium for communal harmony at the most, and tolerance at the very least. These spaces, demarcated on the map as holy constructs, also play the role of shelters against carnage writ by the most immoral attackers. The inherited and acquired semiotics of religious buildings, much like most other types of structures laid out across a city, offer an easy leeway into the inclusion of activities appertaining to these edifices, in one’s daily life. When characterised by inventive designs, these sites also become historical landmarks, hence ushering in visitors of all faiths, and serving as the ground for resolving misconceptions amongst divergent groups.

A recent project in this realm that bears the merit of enchanting its viewers, even from afar, with its formidable presence, is the Fengxian Qixian Jesus Church in the Fengxian District in Shanghai, China. Built by Shanghai-based architecture practice Wutopia Lab, the church has a rectangular plan. It alludes to contemporary aesthetics and is minimalist. Standing tall—despite its comparatively low height—amid recurrently placed skyscrapers, the church shines like a divine station in the mortal sphere.

Stationed in the midst of a green patch of land, the church appears like an oasis within the commercialised city. An outer steel membrane further cradles the inner concrete shell of the structure, which, again, is resplendent in verdant scapes. The layered building, which hosts umpteen references to religious iconography, was completed in eight years—from its design to the final construction. Yu Ting, the founder and chief architect of Wutopia Lab, who pays special attention to using 'architecture as a tool to promote sociological progress within the building practice,' designed the Fengxian Qixian Jesus Church intending to serve as a space that can deliver a memorable experience. Recalling the idea that led to the creation of the visceral aura of the church architecture, Yu Ting shares, “I was fascinated by the use of translucency as a contemporary expression of what I understood to be the restrained beauty of Jiangnan and the struggling forces behind it.”

Wutopia Lab treated the entire site granted for the construction as the building. Instead of leaving out offsets that would further reduce the size of the structure, Yu Ting enveloped the site within a translucent enclosure, which he refers to as the ‘veil’ of the structure. This enclosure serves as a visual boundary for the church. The aluminium ‘veil’ is held in place with the help of columns and diagonal struts affixed at regular intervals. These structural supports, however, are obscurely placed to ensure a clean design.

"The translucent veil is one of the means by which I try to express the obscure light of Jiangnan through architecture. It can express shadows on the visual interface which change with daylight and the shadows can either be projections or transmissions of natural or man-made elements. It can also create filtered sunlight in this field enclosed by the visual interface, not so hot, but somewhat uncertain just like the weather in Jiangnan, in which you are. More importantly, it signifies the field within the interface as a complete place, going inside is entering a new territory,” the architect shares. The translucent veil not only manages to intrigue those passing by the structure but also hosts an open-to-sky space within this boundary. This open space serves both as a leisure spot and as a vestibular offset that leads up to the chapel.

Keeping up with the client’s demand for the segregation of main and ancillary spaces, Yu Ting placed these areas at a distance from each other within the enclosure. While the larger building holds the main chapel and small chapel, as well as the offices and Sunday school classrooms, the smaller structure houses the kitchen and the water pump house. The larger building encloses a 16.7 metres high hall, which forms the core of the main building. Offices and additional rooms, meant for the purpose of hosting an array of educational activities, sit on the western and northern sides of the four-floor structure. “Together, with the visual boundary of the veil, they form a complete architectural expression, a complete place,” the studio shares. The ‘veil,’ made out of expanded mesh, permits a decent influx of the ensuing breeze.

Although the church is minimally ostentated, it does not evade the usage of religious iconography. Whatever is lost due to the absence of iconographic murals, and traditional naves, aisles and transepts, is made up with the implementation of symmetry and the usage of the Christian cross symbol across the expanse of the structure. The symmetrical axes within churches typically metaphorise the divine path. In extracting this symbolism to apply it across the entire structure, Yu Ting manages to indicate the divine reference, while also granting a serene, undisturbed space that encourages introspection.

The implementation of symmetry on the site was deliberate. Yu Ting adjusted the centre lines of the auditorium such that they stood parallel to each other, without sitting in line with the central line of the site or the main building. In doing so, the Chinese architect managed to integrate rooms on the western and northern fronts without making the chapel appear asymmetric. Doing so also offers the possibility of opening up the southward side so as to utilise the outdoor space as an extension of the church. “This new layout not only avoids the rigidity of conventional symmetrism but also opens up possibilities for some lively vitality while maintaining the sanctity of symmetry in areas in need,” the architect shares.

There are various punctures in the structure that let the light into the interior space. Skylights permit the incursion of light through the vaulted ceiling and cut-outs left out on the brick wall, in the image of the Christian cross, allow the sunlight to permeate through the walls of the structure. The inclusion of dense aluminium grill in the interiors of the auditorium reflects the light infiltrating through various punctures of the structure. “The aluminum grille and the skylight together form a curtain of light that feels like a rain screen; the crowd is within this not so intense but encompassing curtain of light where their heart belongs,” the Chinese architecture studio shares. The usage of five different shades of grey across the expanse of the building further paints its interiors with hues that represent light and shadow.

The church is supported by columns placed on either side of the main auditorium, in order to avoid a large single-span space and the inclusion of two large beams that would have otherwise stretched across the curved ceiling and interrupted the influx of natural light into the structure. Describing the experience of moving through the structure, Yu Ting shares, “You stand in the middle of the main auditorium, the interior floor extends to the further earth outside, the light of the sky is as soft as a drizzle hitting your head, and you feel that the world, ebbs and flows like the sea.”

Project Details

Name: Fengxian Qixian Jesus Church
Location: North of Fengpu Avenue, south of Huili Road within the river landscape of the triangle, Fengxian District, Shanghai, Jiangnan, China
Area: 2598 square metres
Year of completion: 2023
Architectural Firm: Wutopia Lab
Chief Architect: Yu Ting
Project Manager & Project Architect: Dai Xinyang
Design Team:
Third Stage (2022-2023) - Mu Zhilin, Song Qining (Intern), Zhang Yucheng (Intern)
Second Stage (2015-2017) - Yu Jing, Song Mengjiao (Intern), Cai Chengze (Intern)
First Stage (2015) - Xia Murong, Wang Yubin (Intern)
Structural Consultant: Miao Binhai
Lighting Consultant: Zhang Chenlu
Construction drawing: Shanghai Zhijing Municipal Construction Planning and Design Co.
Project Manager: Cao Kewu 
Architectural Design: Wang Ye, Le Junwei 
Structural design: Gu Jianping, Wang Gaoting, Yang Chao
Mechanical and electrical equipments: Gong Yedan, Lu Jidong, Liu Yuhong
Interior Design: Chen Zhengyuan
Client: Shanghai Fengxian new city construction and Development Co., Ltd
Client Architect: Li Na, Gu Hao
Construction: Shanghai Construction No.2 (Group) Co. Ltd