Architects: Meck Architekten
Year: 2018
Photography: Michael Heinrich, Florian Holzherr
Lead Architects: Andreas Meck, Axel Frühauf
Team Project: Wolfgang Amann, Martina Frieling, Tobias Jahn, Vivian Krieg, Benjamin Nejedly, Carlos Wilkening, Stefan Zöls
Art Collaborators: Carola Heine (Madonna), Ulrich Rückriem with Alfred Karner (liturgical places), Juliane Schölß (liturgical equipment), Jerry Zeniuk (patronage)
Landscape Architects: Lohrer Hochrein GmbH
Construction: Rudolf+Sohn Architects
City: Poing
Country: Germany
The Church of Seliger Pater Rupert Mayer, designed by Meck Architekten, is a notable ceramic-clad landmark in Poing, near Munich. It features a molasse stone base and a ceramic-tiled roof that symbolize earth and heaven, respectively. The roof, divided into four geometric sections, includes skylights, with the tallest section casting light on the altar to highlight its importance. In place of a steeple, the architects elevated one corner with a cross, ensuring the church harmonizes with nearby buildings while establishing a distinct sacred presence.
Built with 15,000 three-dimensional white ceramic tiles, the church’s roof creates a unique profile, positioning it as a central feature in the growing town of Poing. Designed to honor Rupert Mayer, a German priest known for his resistance against the Nazi regime, the church accommodates up to 220 worshipers. The design uses light and space to create a reflective atmosphere, embodying modern approaches in church architecture while paying tribute to the legacy of its namesake.
The church’s design features two contrasting structural elements. The base is crafted from grey molasse stone blocks, a locally sourced gravel material, while the roof is fully clad in reflective white ceramic tiles.
Meck Architekten aimed to make the white-tiled roof a notable, sculptural presence above the grounded stone foundation, intending it as a symbol of “heaven and earth, of transcendence and immanence,” which conceptually anchors the church space.
Composed of four geometric components, the sculptural roof imparts an asymmetrical, visually dynamic shape to the building. The church was designed without a traditional steeple to avoid competing visually with a nearby evangelical church; instead, one corner of the structure rises higher and is crowned with a cross and a weathercock.
Supported by a steel cross that spans the building, the roof’s sculptural form takes on a “baroque-like” quality in the main worship area, where three geometric sections of the roof feature skylights. The tallest skylight channels natural light directly onto the altar, enhancing the sacred atmosphere.
Upon entering the church, worshipers encounter a subtly sloped floor leading to the altar. The ceiling’s geometric folds and spatial arrangement are intended to draw attention upward, creating a powerful visual effect that symbolizes spiritual ascent. The distinct ceiling structure manifests as a spatial cross, which the architects envisioned as both a constructional and symbolic centerpiece.
Each ceramic tile cladding the roof mirrors the geometric design of the building’s form, subdivided into four segments. This ceramic cladding, developed during the design phase, adds a reflective, multifaceted quality that interacts dynamically with light. The roof’s surface, envisioned by the architects as a “crystal city crown,” reflects light to create a dynamic play of shadows and illumination across the town.
Project Gallery
Project Location
Address: 2a Gebrüder-Asam-Straße, Poing 85586, Germany
Location is for general reference and may represent a city or country, not necessarily a precise address.
