Let’s start assuming you have made the Architest. It is fun, it turns you automatically into a more interesting person and it helps you understand this blog, so why, why wouldn’t you have done it. Once this fact is established, we can take for granted that you know what a trefoil is, and how prominent they are in Christian buildings. This abundance of the trefoil in Christian architecture has to do with its symbolic value, as it pictures one single Nature in three Persons, or viceversa, or partially/simultaneously both/neither. Please consult with your family theologian if you start to feel dizzy. Point is, trefoils can be used as visual representations of the Trinity. Other “foils” (quatrefoils -four lobs-, cinquefoils -five lobs…) have their presence in churches, but they lack the clear symbolism of the trefoil and are chosen more for their beauty than for their significance.
This church in the Vondelpark area, however, features something we rarely if ever find: a two-lobed tracery motif. Although symmetrical, it lacks the pleasant balance of the classical trefoil. Actually, its axis of symmetry is tilted into an unbalanced shape. What is the reason behind this unconventional aesthetic choice, both in number of lobes and orientation? Is it an attempt to substitute the trinitarian cosmogony for a dualistic one, Ahura Mazda forbid? Is it trying to restore the long-forgotten Peanutarian Church? Partially/simultaneously both/neither?
Amsterdam Centraaal 