Other denominations
Kirche Zur Heiligsten Dreifaltigkeit [Holy Trinity Church]
Original use
Religious/centre of worship
Current use
Religious/centre of worship
Architects
Fritz Gerhard Mayr
Artists
Fritz Wotruba (Scultptor)
Concrete by reinforcement
Concrete is a relatively brittle material that is strong in compression but less so in tension.
To increase its overall strength, steel rods, wires, mesh or cables may be embedded in concrete before it sets. This reinforcement, often known as rebar, resists tensile forces. By forming a strong bond, the two materials are able to resist a variety of applied forces, effectively acting as a single structural element .
Construction method
In this case, the concrete can be made by mixing the components directly on site, or it may be transported from a production plant in concrete-mixer trucks.
This method has the disadvantage of leaving the concrete exposed to the elements while it is setting. Whereas, with other methods, the environmental conditions can be controlled during setting, providing greater control over the outcome, with cast-in-place concrete a series of tests and protocols are necessary to verify its final strength.
Architectural concrete
- textured walls
- wooden formwork finish
- stamped concrete
- exposed aggregate concrete, colored concrete, etc.
Structural types
This element is characteristic of many industrial buildings from 1900 to 1950 in which large, flared support structures extend into disc-like capitals.
State of Conservation
Description
More like an abstract sculpture than a building for worship, this church, which sits at the top of a small hill surrounded by forest on the outskirts of Vienna, is made up of 152 solid concrete blocks of different sizes and proportions, the largest of which is 13 meters long. The building was conceived as a work of art you can go inside: the sections overlap each other in a deliberately disordered way, like pieces from a set of children’s buliding blocks. However, the apparent external chaos contrasts with an ample and open interior space, with capacity for up to 250 parishioners.
The church is popularly referred to using the name of its author, the abstract sculptor Fritz Wotruba, one of Austria’s most influential 20th-century artists. The author of several monuments in the city of Vienna, his first works were figurative. It was not until 1950 that he began embracing abstract art. His sculptural technique, centered on manual stone carving, also evolved toward a rougher appearance. In the church, his latest and most well-known work, the large volumes of concrete look like uncarved stone blocks, and there is no sign of figurative resources. The work was completed a year after the artist's death.
Austria
Ottillingerplatz 1
Wien (State) 1230 Wien
Commission
1974
Completion
1976