Design Concept: Gateway to the Heavens – Steps and Symbols

1 The Initiation
Pulpit Rock is a place to be reached by walk. The Church project is a place to be reached with preparation. Like any life journey, it does imply initiation: knowledge, orientation and necessary adjustment. It does remind that the journey is as important as the final destination... an inner experience...

2 The Rock and "The Energetic Spirit of the Stone Concept"
Preikestolen is a steep cliff which rises 604 metres above the Lysefjorden. The old local name of the site is Hyvlatonnå (English: Planed Tooth). The cliff was formed during the ice age, approximately 10,000 years ago, when the edges of the glacier reached the cliff. The stone is compact, cracked, shaped by time, wind, sun and water cycles. The Pulpit rock is a natural wonders creating a vortex munument in the Norvegian landscape and its topography. The specific shape of the Pulpit plateau, the slenderness and elegance of the rock, the inner nature of the topography creates a natural vertical energetic axis joined together with the ascendant and descendent flow of the cliff. The cracked rock liberates naturally this flow and creates space for the deep inner connection to the site and the self.

3 The Cross “+”
The vertical part represents “i am connected to all other Beings”. It does connect the physical body to the lower world to the higher divine energy. The horizontal parts are the arms and symbolises the mortal self which surrenders. The cross “marks the spot” at the centre where the inner self is waiting to be revealed, and provides direction and orientation. On top of the Pulpit Rock it does anchor the universal connection.

4 The Autel “-“
Above the site of the Rock, a second plateau offers an overview of the Fjord and the project. A horizontal “Autel” marks a step back position, symbolising sacrifices and divinity. The table implies the place for the sacrifice.

5 The last Steps – The Grotto – Walk to the Center
The descendant and ascendant line of the mountain define the geometry of the Grotto through the Pulpit Rock. It is a place to reach step by step created through the original cracked of the cliff.

6 The Centre “.”
The project opens up an inner journey symbolised by the grotto. The entrance opens and leads downwards to the final steps. The visitor is welcomed to sit at the centre.

7 The Gateway to Heavens
The crack of light in the grotto operates as a door or symbolic gateway. It marks the passage and the entrance to the sacred space and dimension. It is a window of abundant light, contrasting with the grotto inner space.