Steinkirche Cazis, Protestant church building in Cazis, Grisons, Switzerland

The Steinkirche Cazis consists of three circular stone structures connected by a glass and wooden passage to the neighboring parish house. The building opened in 2002 and uses an unconventional architectural form that differs from traditional church layouts.

The evangelical church community of Cazis bought land from a neighboring Dominican convent to build this structure. The project was a bold decision to use an entirely new architectural language for a religious building.

Inside, the bright hall deliberately has no front or back: any point can serve as either, so each visitor chooses a personal standpoint and view of God and neighbours. The three windows reinforce this: the eastern one faces the sky, the middle the horizon, the western the street and people, tracing a line from heaven to humanity.

The church stands in Cazis on the Heinzenberg in Graubünden, and the community founded in 1968 first built a parish house with a small hall before the church followed. The free-standing tower planned beside the church was dropped for financial reasons, so visitors see the three stone forms without it. The wooden and mirrored-glass connecting wing links the church to the parish house and holds the sacristy and toilets.

The windows were deliberately placed to direct light in different ways: the eastern windows open to the sky, the central ones to the horizon, and the western ones to the street. This arrangement creates different light moods in each chamber and strengthens the connection between indoor and outdoor space.