Church of the Light

Church of the Light
Interior. Benches are made of planks that were used for scaffolding
General information
Town or city	Ibaraki, Osaka
Country	Japan
Technical details
Structural system	reinforced concrete
Design and construction
Architect	Tadao Ando

The Church of the Light (sometimes called the "Church with Light") is the main chapel of the Ibaraki Kasugaoka Church, a member church of the United Church of Christ in Japan. It was built in 1989, in the city of Ibaraki, Osaka Prefecture. This building is one of the most famous designs of Japanese architect Tadao Ando.

In 1999, the main building was extended with the addition of a Sunday School.

The Church of the Light is a small structure on the corner of two streets at Ibaraki, a residential neighborhood. It is located 25 km north-northeast of Osaka in the western foothills of the Yodo valley railway corridor. The church has an area of roughly 113 m² (1216 ft²): about the same size as a small house.

The church was planned as an add-on to the wooden chapel and minister's house that already existed at the site. The Church of the Light consists of three 5.9m concrete cubes (5.9m wide x 17.7m long x 5.9m high) penetrated by a wall angled at 15°, dividing the cube into the chapel and the entrance area. One indirectly enters the church by slipping between the two volumes, one that contains the Sunday school and the other that contains the worship hall. The benches, along with the floor boards, are made of re-purposed scaffolding used in the construction. A cruciform is cut into the concrete behind the altar, and lit during the morning (as it is facing east).

The work was due to problems in raising the necessary funds. Initially it was feared that it would cost more than the budget and Ando even considered building it without a roof, but the construction firm donated the roof and this became unnecessary.

Tadao Ando often uses Zen philosophies when conceptualizing his structures. One theme he expresses in this work is the dual nature of existence. The space of the chapel is defined by light, the strong contrast between light and solid. In the chapel light enters from behind the altar from a cross cut in the concrete wall that extends vertically from floor to ceiling and horizontally from wall to wall, aligning perfectly with the joints in the concrete. At this intersection of light and solid the occupant is meant to become aware of the deep division between the spiritual and the secular within himself or herself.