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Spectacular Modern Interiors of Churches Around the World

By Pinar Noorata on December 17, 2012

French photographer Fabrice Fouillet has traveled the world, capturing beautifully majestic churches whose architecture strays from traditional examples of cathedrals. The religious grounds that Fouillet has specifically chosen to document, many of which were built in the decades following World War II, boast modern designs with a minimalist aesthetic. Fouillet composes each photograph in the same manner, placing the altar at the bottom and accentuating the height of each space. Though at first these establishments were criticized for their separation from customary structural appearances, they are wholly embraced today as breathtaking places of worship that celebrate religion in a modern era.

The photo series, titled Corpus Christi, features a number of churches that incorporate their own style of architectural design. However, despite having their own unique aesthetic, they share similarities in their deviations from typical, dated designs while retaining their respective establishments' pride in faith. There is an unmistakable presence of sharp, geometric forms in these houses of worship that is not prominent in typically Gothic churches. Yet, like most cathedrals, there is a wide expanse of vertical space, signifying a reach to the heavens and man's tiny stature in comparison to sacred greatness.

The photographer says, “Corpus Christi highlights the architectural aesthetic of the new places of worship and their hymn to minimalism, which has represented a genuine creative inspiration in modern religious architecture… [T]hey reveal a new conception of the sacred, a representation of the divine imbued with modernity… .”

First photo: Eglise St Martin-Donges (Colmar, Haut-Rhin, France)
Architect: Jean Dorian

Kirche am Hohenzollernplatz (Berlin, Germany)
Architect: Fritz Hoger