Art becoming architecture

Jim Allen’s work in the chapel

Scott first approached Auckland sculptor Jim Allen to design the coloured windows and the panels for the Stations of the Cross. Their collaboration grew to include the entrance light modulators and the carved Christ figure. The four bodies of work share the building’s materials, light and geometry.

Allen made the fourteen Stations as perforated plaster-of-Paris reliefs with coloured acrylic behind them and light from the rear. They form a frieze above the side altars. Their appearance changes between daylight and darkness, so the art is never quite detached from the conditions in the room.

The four mosaics at the side altars are a later layer. They depict Our Lady, Jesus, St Pierre Chanel, and St Joseph with the Baby Jesus, and were made by W. R. Hampton and Sons of Christchurch. They were installed well after 1961 and are not part of the original Scott and Allen collaboration.

Together, Allen’s works show how art here became part of the building’s fabric and experience.