Jørn Utzon Logbook Vol. II:
Bagsværd Church

Editorial board: Jørn Utzon (editor in chief) assistant editors
Richard Weston, professor at School of Architecture, Cardiff, University of Wales and the editor.
Released: 2005
Features: 168 pages, full color, hardcover
Format: 30 x 26 cm
Language: English or Danish edition
ISBN: 87-91567-07-6 (English)
ISBN:87-91567-06-8 (Dansih)

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THANK YOU FOR LIGHT
THANK YOU FOR LIFE
THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU HAVE GIVEN

This was the principle governing the Bagsværd Church project.The inspiration for the form and the architecture came from a wonderful visit, not once, but several times, to a vast sandy beach in on one of the Hawaiian islands Oahu, on the windward side, where the trade wind ceaselessly comes from California many thousands of metres above the sea, like a completely steady breeze, and from early morning it increases in strength until 11 o’clock so that you can lean against it – otherwise you simply don’t know the peace that wind gives – and sometimes it brings some clouds with it, and then the light and the sun fall through the clouds down on to the sand.

It’s wonderful. It’s a natural space that gives a profound spiritual peace, and spiritual peace is just what this is. It’s the happiness in living, it’s the joy and the gratitude.

So the natural space that gripped me has been turned into the body of the church, and the body of the church is naturally the biggest space in the church, though there are also a number of other rooms, and together they form a complex that can be compared to a monastery.

Jørn Utzon