Gerben Strikwerda

Noorderparkkerk

The Noorderparkkerk: The public building of the Pentecostal movement. A socially engaged and visible church in Amsterdam-Noord.

I found it interesting to design a building for the Pentecostal movement for my graduation project. I am a member of such a church myself. What struck me, in general, is that no building type currently exists that is in line with the ideology of the movement.

The Pentecostal movement is a charismatic Christian community that has existed now for approximately 100 years. It is the fastest growing church worldwide. (In contrast with the traditional churches). The movement is a very socially engaged church, because they take the assignment from the bible to care for the less fortunate extremely seriously. In addition, there is increasing room, with the relatively new Social Support Act, for the Pentecostal movement to assume care duties, which previously fell under the responsibility of the government.

The Pentecostal movement is an exuberant association with a more modern form of worship and conveying their message. The movement likes to have personal contact with society. A clear ritual can be recognised in their customs from first encounter to baptism. Baptising is the symbolic ritual of accepting the Christian faith and represents rebirth.

Because the Pentecostal movement is on the rise, likes to be in contact with society, is very socially engaged, and applies its own customs and rituals. It is high time to design an architectural model for this movement. The traditional model of a church is not in line with the movement. There is a need for an open and accessible model, in contrast with a closed and holy model.

Graduation committee: Florian Schrage (mentor), Jeroen van Mechelen and Hans Hammink. Extra members for the examination: Wouter Kroeze and Klaas Kingma.