Tranquil chapel opens in Finnish capital
City-dwellers have a new place to stop and take a rest in Helsinki. The strikingly-designed Kamppi Chapel of Silence opened on Thursday, offering a place for those who’d like a quiet moment amid the hustle and bustle.
It is an incongruous siight in Helsinki’s Kamppi district. The chapel’s 11.5 metre high main hall provides a tranquil haven for those who require some spiritual sustenance in Helsinki’s central business district.
Indirect light filters down through the space, and the smooth wooden surfaces offer a haven from the stresses of city life. Architect Mikko Summanen’s timber design has already received the Chicago Athenaeum International Architecture Award.
The project is an ecumenical collaboration between Finland’s Lutheran and orthodox churches, as part of Helsinki’s year as World Design capital. It will host social workers as well as priests, to offer help with all manner of modern urban problems.
The structure has space for one-to-one discussion and an information lounge, but if you are planning to get married there you will be disappointed: although the building was consecrated on Thursday, there will be no services or sermons at the chapel.
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