• Journal of architectural history
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.65-80
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• 2010

The purpose of this paper is to investigate into the meaning of the New Brutalism sensed in the late church buildings of the Swedish architect Sigurd Lewerentz (1885-1975). St Mark's (1956-64) and St Peter's (1962-66) churches, his grand finale designs, have a unique architectural vocabulary of rough brickwork. The brick treatment is the basis on which Reyner Banham (1966) discussed him concerning the New Brutalism, and the point that this research focuses on. This paper explores the brutalist character of the buildings from two aspects - interpretational level of individual buildings and historical level of a broader view. First, the character of two churches could be interpreted with the phrase of 'play between brutality and sacredness'. The rough surface of brick and mortar in the buildings symbolises brutality and the vault of their chapels' ceiling sacredness. And the two characteristics meet and play on the rough vault surface. Second, in the historical point of view, this paper argues that the buildings made a giant leap for Swedish modern architecture, which had been at a deadlock owing to the compromising attitude of the New Empiricism since 1940s. And the Swedish New Empiricism (or the New Humanism), spread to Britain as "Welfare State architecture" after World War II, brought about reaction of the young British architects such as the Smithsons and became the background that made the new brutalist mood. However, considering that the term of the New Brutalism was first used in Sweden by Hans Asplund, Lewerentz's brutalist late churches - which seemingly had nothing to do with the British nor the Corbusian lineage - are also meaningful in that they confirmed the tendency in its homeland. In conclusion, this paper argues that St Mark's and St Peter's churches with the brutalist characteristics should be regarded as crucial buildings not only in Lewerentz's personal career but also in Swedish and international architectural history.

• Journal of Christian Education in Korea
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• v.67
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• pp.11-44
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• 2021

In the early 21st century, the global COVID-19 pandemic, which has arisen during the development of the technological science of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, has been a great challenge in all fields including politics, economy, industry, education and religion in Korean society. To prevent the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic, the Korean government announced 'social distancing guidelines,' focused on the 'prohibition of three conditions'(crowd, closeness, airtight) for safety reasons. These quarantine guidelines made it more difficult for Korean churches and Sunday schools to operate. In general, looking at the statistical data of the major denominations of the Korean Church in the second half of the 20th century, shows that the Church has entered a period of stagnant or declining growth. Data also show that the number of students attending Sunday School is decreasing. The researcher identified four causes of the crisis faced by the Korean church and Korean Sunday school entering the 21st century. These trends are influenced by the tendencies of postmodernism, the deconstruction of modern universalism, the certainty and objectivity of knowledge, and the grand narrative and worldview of diffusion. Moreover, it is a phenomenon in which the young population decreases in contrast to the increasing elderly population in the age of population cliff in Korean society. Sunday Schools are also facing a crisis, as the youth population, who will become the future heroes of the Korean church, is declining. Finally, constraints of Church and Sunday school education activities are due to COVID-19 Pandemic. As analysis shows the loss of the Church's educational vision and a decrease in the passion for education. Accordingly, the researcher suggests four new strategies for the next generation of Korean Sunday schools, whose ranges from 200 members or less; this range covers the majority of Sunday School program run by churches in Korea. First, in the age of postmodernism, a time of uncertainty and relativism, Christian Societies requires teachers who are certain of absolute Christian truth and faith. Second, in an era of declining population cliffs for younger generations, a shift to a home-friendly Sunday school paradigm is needed. Third, during the COVID-19 pandemic, educational activities must appropriately utilize face-to-face and non-face-to-face communication. Finally, even in difficult times, Korean Sunday school should nevertheless remember the Lord's great commandment(Matthew 28:18-20) and restore the vision and passion of education to announce and teach the gospel. The researcher hopes that this study will provide small, positive steps in rebuilding Korean Sunday school educational activities for future generations in difficult times.