The Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in Hajnówka and the Holy Cross Exaltation Orthodox Church in Jałówka

Krzysztof Woźniak

doi:10.5277/arc130309

Abstract

The article presents the forms of architecturally outstanding churches The Holy Trinity Church in Hajnówka and the Holy Cross Exaltation Church in Jałówka. Both churches were designed by Professor Aleksander Grygorowicz. They are a rare example of a successful integration of tradition and contemporaneity which is often postulated in the literature on the subject. This integration is based on an entirely different design philosophy in each case. Built in a traditional and historicizing convention, the church in Jałówka contains contemporary elements made of reinforced concrete, clearly indicating the time of its construction. The modern church in Hajnówka constitutes a recognizable reinterpretation of the traditional crosswise and domed arrangement. Both objects are dissimilar in many more ways, and have been compared within this article. The churches stand on both sides of the line dividing the contemporary Orthodox church architecture into a traditional and a contemporary trend. Both churches answer constructively to the problem of designing a contemporary church (a very conservative sector of architecture), and prove that the use of traditional solutions does not have to mean culling from historical forms literally.

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