Chapel of the Protestant Academy

The chapel is the religious center for seminar participants and guests of the Protestant Academy in Hofgeismar. The small, unadorned room has a rectangular plan and is part of the former “Friedrichsbad,” which dates back to the year 1770. The remodeling creates a place of contemplation and tranquility, whose reduction to just a few materials yields a space that allows individuals to reflect and pray. The floor and three interior walls have been clad with Betoplan panels.

In powerful contrast to these boards are the backlit surfaces of the ceiling and the window wall of translucent, jade-colored molded glass. The window openings are indistinctly visible inside the room during the day, whereas everything ‘worldly’ is barred from the room. At night, the colored light from within the chapel shines out through the windows. The only symbolic element in the chapel is a cross in the wall behind the altar. The cross has been milled into the Betoplan boards—that is, carved directly out of the surface—and thus strengthens the unified spatial effect.