Photo of the week: Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik’s stunning church

This picture does very little justice to one of the most stunning churches I’ve ever seen – the Lutheran church of Hallgrímskirkja in downtown Reykjavik, Iceland’s capital.

The church dominates the skyline of Reykjavik, resembling a NASA space shuttle ready for lift off. And when you see the details of the exterior and interior of this rather unusual church up close, you realise this is (yet another) monument to the brilliance of Nordic design which takes simplicity and turns it into high art with a logic that doesn’t occur to anyone else in the world.

It was designed by Icelandic state architect Guðjón Samúelsson and was completed in 1986. The jagged lines of the exterior are said to resemble the basalt lava flows that characterise the Icelandic landscape and indeed, a quick walk by the seaside in Reykjavik, confirms the source of the inspiration. The interior is marked by three main pieces – a massive pipe organ, a plain white statue of Lord Jesus, arms folded across the chest, and a round sunlit area just behind the pulpit. Besides that, its all soaring simple grey lines meeting overhead at over 200 feet.

The best views over Reykjavik, not surprisingly, are to be had from the bell tower.