Church Saint Joseph

In the church building in Montigny-Lès-Cormeilles near Paris, the glass façade creates an impressive symbiosis of art and architecture. Designed by Enia Architects and created by artist and glass painter Thierry Boissel, the façade consists of 6 x 18.5 metres of Linit glass, which has been airbrushed in six colours – green, orange, yellow, blue, red and grey. The double-shell glass wall creates a space between the surfaces that produces a changing composition of light and colour, varying depending on the viewer's perspective.

The design can be understood as a metaphor for community life: the overlapping lines of colour symbolise the individual yet interconnected community. The diversity of the parishioners is portrayed as a source of human richness and interactive communication, with each line representing a member whose position is constantly changing in interaction with others.

The traditional Way of the Cross was reinterpreted for the windows of the side aisles and the narthex. Instead of paintings, the 14 stations have been integrated directly into the windows, forming a ‘Way of the Cross of Light’ that surrounds the church and fills the space with a coherent spiritual narrative.

This glass façade is an impressive example of the connection between art, light and architecture, conveying a deeper dimension of community and spirituality in both aesthetic and symbolic terms.