Looking Out Week 2: Madhura Kharche

K2S Architects designed the Kamppi Chapel in Helsinki, Finland. The design uses wood as its primary material.

This Chapel provides a good contrast to the urban context it is located in. A simple structure with a curved wood facade, the Kamppi Chapel is a small sacral building that has quiet and undisturbed spaces that distracts visitors form the busy urban life outside.

The ceiling of the main sacred hall

Wood cladding and focus on detail

Aileena Gray: Looking Out Week 2

The Curtain Door

The Matharoo Associates- an architectural firm in India- designed this swinging door. In form it looks like a curtain, but structurally it is anything but flimsy. Comprised of 40 planks of Burma teak wood the door is held together by wire- almost like beads on a string, which allows the individual parts to move fluidly in a curtain-like fashion. When it is fully closed the door simply looks like a flat wooden surface. The illusion is probably what I appreciate the most; the architects found a way to make the door appear floating as it just graces the neighboring walls. (Supposedly the door is balanced with a hidden counter weight.)