Halo
In the renovated interior of the Saint-Odulfus Church in Borgloon, a massive circular tube is suspended from the ceiling. The ring with a golden appearance is made of aluminium and measures 15 meters in diameter. It encircles the crossing of the church which includes the altar, the central place of communal worship.
In its enclosing gesture, Halo binds together the different parts of the church that surround this symbolic crossing: aisles, nave, transept and apse. Because the ring runs underneath arches and around the columns that support the central roof structure, it can never be seen in its entirety. Instead, it visually connects the spaces of the church, culminating in a perfect circle within the viewer’s perception.
Halo references the various religious iconographical elements found in the interior frescos of the church. The pure form of the ring equally plays on the symbolic meaning of a circle as a sign of eternity, unity, cyclicity or even divinity. As an architectural gesture, however, it changes the appearance of the church interior and enhances the links between its various spaces.
COMMISSION
Consistory Sint-Odulphus Borgloon
DATE
2020 (permanent)
LOCATION
Sint-Odulfus church, Borgloon (BE)