Grundtvigs church is generally classified as an example of Expressionist Architecture which itself is conceived as part of a trend within Modernist Art of the early 20th century. Think of “The Scream” by Edvard Munch, the early buildings of Erich Mendelsohn, the music of Arnold Schoenberg. Here’s and interesting extract from Wikipedia. Theodor Adorno describes expressionism as concerned with the unconscious, and states that “the depiction of fear lies a the centre” of expressionist music, with dissonance predominating, so that the “harmonious affirmative element of art is banished.”
Seems like a telling analysis of the trap of modernism into which our art (and perhaps our whole society) has fallen. The impulse to shock, to rebel, to feed on outrage … sound familiar? I’m not at all sure that this has anything to do with the work and thought of the father & son team which built three churches in Copenhagen.
Denmark has a national Lutheran church which seems…