Skuli Mogensen Completes Concrete Temple in Iceland Built for a Wedding Vow

Skuli Mogensen completed a 252-square-meter open-air temple in Iceland on August 16, 2025 — the day of his wedding to Gríma, fulfilling a promise that he would build her a church for the occasion.

Construction began in 2024. The finished structure, known simply as the Temple, measures roughly 18 meters long and 14 meters wide and functions as an outdoor sculpture built from exposed architectural concrete, cast entirely on site. It stands open to the elements.

The project's core formal gesture stacks two crosses. The roof "floats" above the structure in the shape of a Maltese Cross, while the floor echoes the Celtic Cross. At the center of the floor plan sits a circle that can serve as a fire pit in line with pagan tradition. The ground-level cross is made of solid oak planks that mirror the floating cross in the roof above.

Openings aligned to the cardinal directions govern how sunlight enters the space, casting dramatic shadows across the concrete surfaces. According to the architects, the design blends seamlessly with the surrounding landscape.

Mogensen drew on two distinct references: ancient sacred spaces such as the Pantheon in Rome, and the architecture of Tadao Ando. From Ando, he wanted to bring the use of concrete, open space, and natural light into the design.

The project, led by Skuli Mogensen as lead architect, is located at Hvammsvík in Iceland and was documented in photographs by Jon Ragnar.

The Temple now stands as both a personal monument and a study in how site-cast concrete, geometric symbolism, and solar alignment can define a sacred space without walls or enclosure — a promise kept in poured concrete.