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tovlo4801
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Our parish is building a new church and there is about an even split between people who want it to be traditional and those who want it to be modern. I've encouraged my dh to volunteer for the design committee and thought our family could research some of the design considerations that might come up in deciding what form our new church will take.
I know that I've seen books in the past that discuss the symbolism in church architecture and why things are (and should) be done in certain ways. Anyone have any they could recommend?
I'd really like to involve our son in this family project and let him learn about his faith through studying church architecture and also how to defend a point of view well during all of this. I think it might get testy. We'll see...
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JennGM
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I probably have some books that I'll find, but your post reminded me of a Notre Dame professor who is also a Catholic architect and puts forth the argument for classical/traditional Church architecture. He has written quite a few articles and has one book. He also does Sacred Architecture Journal.
Duncan Stroik. You'll find many of his writings on this site.
Review of his journal from Adoremus
The Classical Moment.
I also recommend Googling his name...all sorts of interesting articles and news and editorials with his name.
If you don't find books at your son's level, maybe you and he could contact the professor for some help/advice?
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JennGM
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This siteDellaChiesa.com is the online support of the architectural journal above. Traditional Church Architecture, Restoration and Preservation Web.
Note on the bottom of the pages are three books from Amazon. Costly, but they might give some ideas for you, also.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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Cay Gibson
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Just wanted to mention Renovation Manipulation by Michael Rose. I have it and it's good. Here's an Amazon review:
Duncan Stroik, editor, Sacred Architecture Journal
At the beginning of the third millennium, there is much to reflect on concerning the rich architectural heritage of the Catholic Church. Unfortunately, attacks against these sermons in stone continue by some who lack vision and appreciation of the past. Michael Rose's new book lays bare the intentions of these modern iconoclasts and brings to light the Church's consistent teaching on the importance of preservation of Catholic art and architecture. His recommendations for defending the churches built by our grandparents are practical and steeped in experience. I highly recommend it to every church preservation committee.
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teachingmom
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And although I haven't read it, I love the title of:
Ugly As Sin: Why They Changed Our Churches from Sacred Places to Meeting Spaces and How We Can Change Them Back Again (Forthright Edition) by Michael S. Rose
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tovlo4801
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| Posted: Dec 15 2005 at 11:29pm | IP Logged
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Wonderful! This is perfect. We're leaning toward Ugly as Sin also by Michael Rose. We thought Reconquering Sacred Space from the dellachiesa site looked good, too. There is so much good stuff, and we haven't even started looking at the on-line articles.
I knew you guys would point us in the right direction.
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tovlo4801
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teachingmom wrote:
And although I haven't read it, I love the title of:
Ugly As Sin: Why They Changed Our Churches from Sacred Places to Meeting Spaces and How We Can Change Them Back Again (Forthright Edition) by Michael S. Rose |
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We just crossed posting paths! I agree.
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guitarnan
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Usually the diocese has a detailed set of guidelines you have to use when building a new worship space. It would be good to get (and accept) the guidelines before the design committee thinks it will have the final say on the church design. It probably won't, especially if the committee selects a more traditional design.
I hate to be a wet blanket, but I've been down this road. Our parish didn't even have a say in the design of the worship space, as I recall. Instead we got a series of "discussions" about what a worship space should be. They were good talks, but that's all they were.
My "home" parish (Maryland, where we have a house we often can't live in) is going through this process right now. I'm interested in how your parish handles this. You're right, it's a very emotional issue.
The books sound great. My son is doing the Architecture merit badge for Boy Scouts right now...we'll have to check some of these titles out!
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MacBeth
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If you want to go scientific, there's The Sun in the Church, a book about churches and solar observation (with much church politics added for interest).
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Jamberry77
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Dear Richelle,
Our parish hired Duncan Stroik to design our new sanctuary. What the building committe did was to have three different speakers over three weeks come to talk to us about church architechture (I think Duncan was one). If you need to know the other two, I can find out. One of our homeschooling dad's is on the building committee. Then the church gathered suggestions from the parish (notice the parish educated the people first!) then after months and months they delivered a plan to us: a cruciform church with a tall bell tower, an open plaza, a choir loft, and all sorts of other goodies.
The gist of the cost is this: It would be $9 to 10 million for a regular, "ugly" type of church, and $13-15 million for a tradional church that helps draw your mind to God. This price was without the luxurious items (think formica instead of granite counter tops, as an example). Right now we are in the gathering of pledges stage and have not formally received approval from the diocese yet but we expect to as we have over 3,000 families, and a gym/worship area that seats 800 people, and we are growing every month.
Ask if you need the names of those other speakers. We were so excited to see the plans for such a beautiful, traditional church instead of a modern one. I can send you the link to our parish's website if you like; it has all info and pictures.
By the way, it does not have a cry room which upset some people, but as our pastor said, "over half our parish is under the age of 18!"
Love,
Kelly in NC
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JennGM
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Two other suggestions:
An opinion piece (mind you, merely opinion...some don't agree with his bluntness) is Where Have You Gone, Michaelangelo? by Thomas Day. He has a lengthy chapter on the demise of Church architecture.
Another book that is great reference on symbols of the Church but has throughout architectural references is The Symbols of the Church by Maurice Dilasser. Great photos and illustrations.
Both of these are adult.
I was thinking alongside of the Church focus would be David Macaulay's works, such as The Cathedral and The Castle. There are a few living books on building cathedrals in the Middle Ages, also.
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tovlo4801
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guitarnan wrote:
| I hate to be a wet blanket, but I've been down this road. Our parish didn't even have a say in the design of the worship space, as I recall. |
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Jamberry77 wrote:
| What the building committe did was to have three different speakers over three weeks come to talk to us about church architechture ... Then the church gathered suggestions from the parish (notice the parish educated the people first!) |
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Thank you guys for the perspective of this experience. I don't know how much say we'll have in this process. We are not of the illusion that by being on the design committee we'll be able to dictate how it turns out. We don't have that kind of personality anyway. We're just hoping that it will give us the opportunity to voice perspectives that might not be heard otherwise.
This process is still in the very beginning stages. I don't know what the archdiocese requirements are. I know there was a beautiful new church built nearby that could be considered somewhat modern by some, but most of the traditional minded people at our parish strongly approve of it. I haven't been there, but my understanding is that they used icons and symbolism a great deal in it's design.
A lot of voice has been given to the fact that this church belongs to our parish and we need to make the decisons. A whole year has been spent soliciting a wish list for the church. There has been no education about architecture to the parish; I think that is a great idea. Years ago we had our parish priest over for supper and somehow conversation turned to a book about church architecture. Father was very interested at the time in people being educated about all the possibilites when we began building the new church.
Whatever happens will happen, but at least we'll know we did our best to educate people to the best of our ability, and probably learn a good bit about church architecture in the process.
Thanks for all the wonderful suggestions and offers.
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tovlo4801
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MacBeth wrote:
| If you want to go scientific, there's The Sun in the Church, a book about churches and solar observation (with much church politics added for interest). |
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Very cool!
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JennGM
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Saw this book, Heavenly City: The Architectural Tradition of Catholic Chicago and thought it might be something to add to your architectural study. People from Chicago (Marybeth!) might REALLY love this!
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Jennifer G. Miller
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Dawn
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tovlo4801 wrote:
| I'd really like to involve our son in this family project and let him learn about his faith through studying church architecture and also how to defend a point of view well during all of this. I think it might get testy. We'll see... |
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Hi Richelle,
I haven't seen this myself, but CHC's It's a Mystery! Household of God is for kids 5-12 and the theme is architecture.
This may not be at all what you are looking for, but the architecture theme made me remember your post, and I thought I would pass the link along  .
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4Real Forums : Domestic Church
Topic: books about church architecture
