'Das Ursakirche' is a migrational and rewilding facility designed for bears. After being transported from the Tiergarten Schönbrunn, Vienna, it allows the bears to learn to forage, fight and court through an artificial landscape created in Sigmund Freud Park. The bears are migrated periodically from the Ursakirche to the Alps where further rewilding can be conducted. They traverse the surface of the building as its human researchers and pagan bear worshippers are kept inside, reversing the spatial relationships of zoos. With these features in place, the Ursakirche aims to create an atmosphere in which the sentimental ritual of the church facing the scheme is replaced by the raw and the feral, allowing humanity to fear nature once more.
Looking into the top of the open spire at night, Ursa Major will be seen revolving around the Polaris.
The territorial behaviours of the bears result in the building being mauled and licked into shape.
Looking down into the organ, the altar and the nave, a bear looks down onto his pilgrims.