Donau City Church

The Donaucity Church "Christ, Hope of the World" is a compact black cube of a church between the high-rises of Vienna's Donau City. Heinz Tesar designed it in 2000 as an answer to how a Catholic church can hold its own between the UN complex and office towers - the building measures just 17 by 17 meters, sheathed in black sheet steel, perforated with round glass eyes. The holes look decorative at first, but during the day they cast precise spots of light into the interior, covering the floor with travelling solar circles. Inside, everything is white wood, the contrast with the dark shell deliberately extreme. The church was placed under heritage protection recently - remarkable for a building under 25 years old.