Smooth, minimalist, organic, seductive, harmonious, futuristic… These are just some of the words which come to mind when looking at the images of St Hilaire Church designed by Paris based Mathieu Lehanneur. These words are not exactly the type I would usually associate with architecture of religious buildings, but you see – there’s always a first for everything.

Mathieu has created a space which sits comfortably somewhere between the past, the present and the future, where tradition and technology interact, and the original and the new exist in perfect harmony – alabaster amber and original sandstone look like a match made in heaven. The result is unexpected, almost bizarre, yet it feels really comfortable, natural, ceremonial and – above all – very beautiful.

Mathieu Lehanneur graduated from ENSCI-Les Ateliers (French National School for Industrial Design) in 2001 and opened his industrial design and interior architecture studio the same year. Through his practice, Mathieu has developed a “real passion for interactions between the body and its environment, living systems and the scientific world.”

Hats off Mathieu.

[Via this is paper.]