Client: Evangelische Kirchengemeinde Meßstetten

Overview

As the evangelical church of Meßstetten is listed as a landmarked building, so the German office of historical buildings allowed only subtle changes: the new designed windows would have to be placed in front of the existing clear antique glass within the historic frames. In the total there are 16 windows of different sizes and a new glass screen, which is a partition wall between the nave and the church hall.

Goals

The parish wanted a bright and friendly atmosphere. The partition wall between the nave and the church hall should allow an open view into the nave, so for example members of the parish could visit services with small children. Also the church hall has no other decoration and is very bare. Therefore I propose a colorful window to give the hall a ceremonial atmosphere.
The challenge was to create a contemporary design which is suited be integrate into the historical frames with a character of lightness and an upbeat attitude. Even the budget was very limited as I determined to use high quality materials and techniquesmouth blown Lamberts glass and sandblasting

Process

In the beginning, I designed several sketches for each of the 16 windows. As the project developed, I then designed a sketch for every single frame, resulting in 712 sketches in total, because all frames have different sizes.
First, I developed a kind of modular ornament for the sandblasting, which varies in every single frame, but seen from afar, has the appearance of clusters. In the higher windows, these clusters are mirror imaged to create new combinations. I limited the number of colors used to about 12. In a cluster of 4 frames, I used only three or four spots of color in various combinations. For the partition wall, I added in different degrees of sandblasting to the clusters. They additional cause different shades of reflections of light, so there are a lot of different views, shadows and atmospheres in every single frame and on the partition wall. At last, the window in the church hall is a culmination of all colors which are used in all windows.