Futuna Chapel

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Futuna Chapel

Marist Brothers Retreat House

Basic data
Denomination Catholic Marists
place Wellington , New Zealand
Building history
Client Society of Mary
architect John Colin Scott
construction time 1958-1961
Building description
inauguration 1961
Architectural style modern with references to traditional Māori culture
Function and title

Chapel for the adjoining retreat center

Coordinates 41 ° 16 ′ 54.4 "  S , 174 ° 44 ′ 19.6"  E
Template: Info box church building / maintenance / dedication or patronage missing

The Futuna Chapel is a church building in Wellington , the capital of New Zealand , which has an extraordinary architecture and was awarded the gold medal of the New Zealand Institute of Architects in 1968 .

Origin of name

The name of the chapel was given in memory of the Catholic missionary Pierre Chanel , who was murdered on April 28, 1841 on the French-Polynesian island of Futuna .

geography

The building is located in Wellington in the Karori district to the west and is accessible from Futuna Close , which branches off to the north from Friend Street . The architecture of the church building is oriented to the south-south-east and west-south-west, where the main entrance is located on the latter side. From Heritage New Zealand , the address is 62 Friend Street indicated.

history

In 1936 the St Joseph's Retreat Guild was founded in Wellington , which in 1947 acquired the property on which the Futuna Chapel was built in 1961 by the Society of Mary . The construction of the church and the retreat house took three years from planning to completion. The architect John Colin Scott , who had already been responsible for several church buildings in New Zealand, was commissioned with the planning .

On March 19, 1961, the church was given its intended purpose. When it opened, the church became a symbol of modern, independent New Zealand architecture with references to Māori culture. For its architecture, the building, and with it the architect, was awarded the gold medal of the New Zealand Institute of Architects in 1968 , followed by another award from the institute in 1986.

In 2000, the Society of Mary had no use for the entire structure and sold it to a contractor. He built houses on the adjacent land and used the chapel as a material store. The Friends of Futuna Charitable Trust was founded on April 16, 2003 to save the church from deterioration and to preserve it as a historical monument . He collected donations and after long negotiations was finally able to acquire the property and the building. In 2009, restoration work was carried out to preserve the building.

Monument protection

On 28 May 1999, the building was on the list of Historic Places Category 1 of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust added, becoming recognized as a building of special and outstanding historical and cultural importance.

Web links

Commons : Futuna Chapel  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b The Chapel . The Friends of Futuna Charitable Trust , accessed July 15, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Wellington . 13th ed. . Kiwi Maps , Christchurch , ISBN 1-877358-75-4 , pp.  Map 7 (English).
  3. ↑ Coordinates and longitudes were determined using Goggle Earth Pro Version 7.3.2.5776 on February 17th, 2020
  4. ↑ a b c d Futuna Chapel . Heritage New Zealand , May 28, 1999, accessed July 15, 2020 .
  5. ↑ Homepage . The Friends of Futuna Charitable Trust , accessed July 15, 2020 .