Grundtvigs Kirke (Grundtvig Church) sits on Bispebjerg, somewhat ominously towering over Copenhagen. Upon first impression, the church is one of the most unusual-looking ecclesiastical buildings in the world. With further inspection, however, one may come to the conclusion that Grundtvigs Kirke is a timeless building, one which looks as radical today as it must have eighty years ago.
Grundtvigs Kirke’s façade is imposing. It reaches to the sky with an incredibly strong verticality, its ribbed tower pulling one’s eyes skyward. The tower is also striking in its simplicity. The entire bottom half of the tower is simple brick. In the vast façade of the tower, the courses fade away and it becomes one solid, rippling surface. The effect is much more startling than that of, for example, the façade of a Gothic cathedral.
The ornamentation and composition of a Gothic church’s façade, even one of the same size as Grundtvigs Kirke, give it a much smaller, more human scale. A Gothic façade is intricate and in some ways organic. This is the complete opposite of Grundtvigs Kirke, whose simplicity makes it feel like a wall towering in one’s path. The entire façade appears as a flat plane. It is much more disturbing and unnatural in its appearance.
The façade of Grundtvigs Kirke achieves timelessness in its abnormality. It appears as though it could have been the work of an independent-minded architect today, and it might even fit in well in a sci-fi movie as a strange architecture from the future. However, the interior of the church achieves its timelessness by combining two timeless styles.
The interior of Grundtvigs Kirke in plan looks like any other Gothic church. There is a nave, flanked by two aisles, with a small transept. The proportions of the interior are Gothic as well—the nave is very long and narrow, and the ceiling is extremely high. The columns rise up into pointed arches, and further into ribbed groin vaults above the nave and aisles. What exactly is it then, that makes this space so timeless?
The entire interior of the church is executed in white brick. There is no ornamentation anywhere, save for the ribbing on the columns, which help the building to reach the Gothic ideal of verticality while still adhering to the minimalist modern aesthetic. During the day, light floods the space through long, narrow windows, bouncing around the space and giving it an ethereal quality. While a Gothic cathedral strives to make one think heavenward, Grundtvigs Kirke makes one feel as if he is in heaven—the classic image of which is flooded with white light and filled with white columns. The effect of the interior is timeless.
There is yet another aspect of Grundtvigs Kirke which contributes to its timelessness: the unbelievable respect of the material by the architect and builders. The entire building was built by twelve masons, and the level of detail and precision of the brickwork is amazing. The architect designed the building so that the effect he wanted to impart could be expressed in one very simple material. The verticality of both the façade and the interior of the church are executed simply through articulations in the brick, utilizing what must be expert knowledge of the effects of light and shadow. This skill, along with the effects of the façade and the interior of the church, make Grundtvigs Kirke a timeless building.