Inside Out: A Church That Glows From Within I’ve long…
Inside Out: A Church That Glows From Within
I’ve long toyed with the idea of turning a church inside out. What if the sacred mystery we usually hide behind stone walls could shine through for everyone to see? Orthodox churches have always carried this duality — austere and silent on the outside, radiant and full of life within. The walls protect, the windows guard the mystery. But once you cross the threshold, the world changes: light, icons, gold, frescoes — heaven revealed in color and form.
But what if we flipped that? What if the passerby could glimpse that hidden beauty without even stepping inside? Imagine a chapel whose walls themselves are windows — glass panels turned into stained icons, glowing like painted light.
Today, I took one step closer to that dream. A tiny cemetery chapel — barely a few hundred square feet — born from the client’s wish for intimacy, yet capable of transformation. With folding glass walls and double-sided stained glass, the building opens like a living icon. When night falls and the interior lights up, it becomes weightless — a lantern of Orthodox beauty, a beacon on sacred ground.
The style is neo-Byzantine, but the soul is timeless.
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