Czech archdiocese welcomes pioneering ‘3D church’

The Czech Republic’s Archdiocese of Prague has welcomed pre-Christmas plans to build a major new parish church using 3D printing technology, after architects insisted the method would slash costs and offer exceptional decorative and acoustic possibilities.

“Any proposal for constructing a new church must go through our liturgical commission and be approved by our priests’ council, and this parish has been trying to build a place of worship since 1990,” explained Jirí Prinz, the archdiocese’s press secretary and head of communications.

“It’s been common knowledge among laity and clergy that a church is needed here — so this project has had universal support from the beginning and the whole parish is happy about it.”

The lay Catholic spoke following a pre-Christmas presentation of technical plans for the new Holy Trinity Church, under preparation since autumn 2024 in the central industrial town of Neratovice.

In an OSV News interview, he said church leaders had been consulted about the building project’s “architectural and practical implementation,” but viewed the use of 3D printing as a “professional, technical issue” to be “decided by experts.”

Meanwhile, the church’s 3D designer told OSV News most of the church’s structure would be assembled like a jigsaw from 520 computer-generated concrete blocks, which produced decorative waves also “functioning as acoustic features”.

He added that construction of the main church nave had begun ahead of Christmas at a cost 204 million Czech koruna ($9.89 million), a third of which had already been raised from donations.

“While we really admire the baroque churches which are everywhere in our country, such architecture isn’t possible in today’s modern conditions,” said Michal Macuda, from the Prague-based Coral Construction Technologies.

“Yet people still want to create special shapes and lighting solutions for sacral spaces, and this is what we’re aiming for. This church will belong to Neratovice’s priest and parish, and they’ve been excited to see something so novel taking shape – as have other local clergy.”

3D architectural designs are an innovative feature in the Czech Republic, where the Holy Trinity church’s award-winning main architect, Zdenek Fránek, has also designed Protestant prayer halls at Litomyšl and Cernošice.

Speaking at the Dec. 4 presentation in Prague’s Technical University, founded in the 18th Century, Macuda said the church’s lower floor would include decorative grooves and embossed wall details which could only be achieved through 3D technology.

He added that the 3D method, using image generation from artificial intelligence, reduced concrete consumption by up to 70% and offered “unlimited design possibilities.”

Meanwhile, the Holy Trinity parish said the new ark-shaped church, recalling gothic sculptures of the Madonna and Child, would meet pressing community needs in the River Elbe town of 20,000, more than 36 years after the collapse of communist rule.

Every part of the church would be open to sunlight, symbolising “openness and unboundedness,” the parish added, while the church’s basement would include rooms for concerts and seminars, giving the new site a “significant social dimension.”

“The communists founded Neratovice in 1957 as a town without a church – they wished to prove this was possible, and a church has been very much missing,” the parish explained in a website statement.

“If you say Neratovice today, everyone thinks of a chemical industry town full of chimneys, with a main square formed by tall prefabricated buildings. A dominant, dignified element is missing, and the new church will fill this gap.”

Around 9% of the Czech Republic’s 10.6 million citizens identify with the Catholic Church, according to a 2021 ten-year census, which confirmed a sharp decline in affiliations since the 1989 Velvet Revolution and the fall of communism, with 57.4 percent disclaiming or declining to state any religious beliefs.

Under a 2013 law, 56 percent of church assets seized after the 1948 communist coup are to be returned, with compensation provided for the rest over a 30-year period.

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