The construction of Järvenpää Church was completed in 1968. The church was designed by the Finnish architect Erkki Elomaa.
The outside is brutal, inside the church is furnished in wood and has 625 seats. It also has a 30-seat chapel. The crucifix on the altar is made of Douglas fir.
The four bells of the bell tower are from Austria and the six different tunes were composed by Joonas Kokkonen.
Architects love the church because it represents concrete brutalism. It was protected in 2004 National Board of Antiquities as an example of 1960s architecture.
Järvenpää Church was voted as the ugliest church in Finland in 2009.
Ten years later, the church was voted as the 6th ugliest.
I think the church looks much nicer inside than outside. On a sunny day in December, when I went to take pictures it looked very unique, and not so ugly.
There are many stories about the church and it’s history.
You will find pictures and stories (in Finnish) on Jaakko Harjuvaara’s homepages.
The Lake's End - Järvenpää Finland 