Is City Harvest Church Singapore’s version of
Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao?


MSN-ing with my friend…

Mr. K: r u a Christian?
Me: yes, I am. y?
Me: no le…I tried looking for one..but…
Mr. K: so u wanna come to my church.


This is how I got to know about this church, City Harvest Church, Jurong West. It was on a Saturday evening when I first visited this church. The church is the first titanium-clad building in Asia. Some claimed that it modeled after the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. Myriad of facilities provided such as lounge areas, large plasma televisions, waterfalls, gardens, coffee kiosks, a children’s playground, cafe and fountains. On the rooftop, it consists of a garden, a baptisim pool, a children’s wading pool and a coffee kiosk. During the daytime, the heat is warded off by the blast out moist air by cool mist fans. This church possibly owns the largest column-free church in the Southeast Asia.
The places I like the most is the fountain at the entrance. It is a place for fellowship after the services. The sound of the water is mesmerizing and soothing. Although the fountain is next to the main road, but one will not really noticed the vehicular sound maybe because the attention is directed towards the fountain and activities which are going on.

The next question would be…

Is this church an iconic building?

If yes, why is it have to be iconic?

This reminds me of what I learned in the history and theory of SEAsian Architecture module. Back in the past, iconic buildings were used to signify the identity and to show progress of a country. Is this church making a statement through the architecture? I personally think it is. This is largely related to the focus and method of organization of the church. City Harvest Church shows progress and modernity through their approach and building. There will soon be another City Harvest Church in near future. I can’t wait to see the church…
What will be the statement make by the church in future?

Lee Chin Wei