leap of faith. In this five-week-long project I worked with the addition of a rooftop pavilion on top of the catholic church building in Kungsträdgården, Stockholm.
   The design of the project is inspired by the orthodox monasteries of Meteora, Greece. The idea of a leap of faith before reaching the goal is prevalent in these mountainpeak monasteries, to get to the top you either have to scale dangerous cliffs or use the pulley lever system and be towed up several hundred meters in a basket.
   I am looking for a similar feeling of leap of faith when designing the rooftop pavilion... To get to the rooftop you enter the church building from the street and follow upwards the main staircase. When you get to the forth floor you exit through a double window to get to the staircase that leads to the rooftop.
   Walking out of a window on the forth floor is quite a tense and thrilling sensation I would imagine; I would hesitate myself. But once you get over the irrational sense of doubt and hesitantly take the first step out of the window onto the staircase, you are meet with a fresh and nimble breeze as you walk up the steps to the pavilion. The pavilion is encircled by a outdoor terrace path that offers unfiltered, unobstructed views of Stockholm on all sides.
   I imagine the terrace pathway as a social space where the people of the church can take a stroll, connect with one another and hopefully bring the community closer. Imagine the rooftop terrace on a Swedish summer day. While designing the steel roof that covers the terrace pathway I drew inspiration from the Meteora monasteries and their intricate and playful roofs. Specifically how they are ordered in such a irregular and “unneat” way, unexpectedly opening up at some points for a terrace or balcony. In my project, the steel roof can shield from rain and snow, but it halts at times and opens up, giving no cover whatsoever, and completely uncovers the view to the sky.
   So, after having been outside, feeling the elements, be that snow, rain or sunshine, while looking out over Stockholm, seeing all the rooftops and the life and movement on the street, its time to enter the pavilion and start looking inwards.
   The pavilion is a space for the members of the church where they can devote themselves to contemplation, self-reflection and thoughts about life, conversations about shortcomings, virtues, sins and death, Bible studies, lectures and more. I envision this protected inside space as a calm sanctuary where the focal point should be shifted from other people and worldly things towards yourself. Thats why, when seated in the pavilion the high threshold, the railing on the outside, cuts the view to the buzzling streets and the surrounding rooftops, thus allowing only for a view of the sky. My intention is that all everyday activities that goes on beyond the pavilion should be concealed to encurage tranquility and patience. Another measure taken to create a calm and private enviroment is dividing cassette-walls that can, dependent on the members needs, slide down from the ceiling and divide the space. These walls can create privacy for smaller groups, one to one dialogue or for one individual to get one’s own space in the pavilion.