Shigenori Uoya Architects' Seito Church in Kyoto explores the architectural duality of finitude and infinitude, offering a profound spatial experience that bridges the sacred and the everyday.
Constructed in 2011, the project was designed to serve as both a place of worship and a residential space for the presiding priest and his family. At the heart of its architectural philosophy lies a desire to capture what theologian Paul Tillich described as "sacred emptiness"—an ethereal space that transcends physical boundaries, simultaneously embodying both finitude and infinitude.
The church’s design echoes this metaphysical aspiration, with its raised roof and high sidelights drawing in natural light to illuminate the ceiling. This bath of light creates a sense of expansiveness, inviting contemplation of the infinite, while the precise shifts in the ceiling’s structure ground the experience in human scale. The spatial flow between the street and chapel, facilitated by the opening of the doors, further reinforces the theme of connection, blending the sacred interior with the everyday world outside. Here, architecture becomes a medium for spiritual reflection, an expression of the human search for meaning within the vastness of existence.
