Cathedral of Saint Thomas More Benjamin Bromberg Gaber GSD 4368: Making Sacred Spaces Final Project: Spring 2016 Instructor: Christine Smith
“It is he [Tzemah] who will build the temple of the Lord, and He will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on His throne. And there will be a priest on a throne. And there shall be harmony between the two.� Zechariah 6:13
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The Cathedral of Saint Thomas More, located in the Columbia Point neighborhood of Boston will serve as a paradigm for future cathedrals because of its liturgical arrangement and architectural details. The arrangement of the cathedral’s programs and liturgical furniture enhances the experience of the congregation joining the clergy in worship. Located in a politically important location within Boston, and oriented to honor the patron saint of statesmen, the cathedral will serve an important role within Boston’s Catholic and political community. Built with simple materials, the church reflects the values of the congregation while enhancing the congregation’s spiritual experience. Congregants and visitors from around Boston and the world will look forward to their time spent celebrating the liturgy together as they celebrate the glory of God, praise Christ, and yearn for a future redemption.
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14: From the altar of the cross, Christ accomplished our redemption, forming a holy people, a “temple of God built of living stones” ... The hymn of praise that Christ places within the heart and on the lips of the Church will be sung at the end of time in all its fullness, when all members gather at the wedding feast of the Lamb in the heavenly Jerusalem 15: Together the members worship with the whole company of heaven, “venerating the memory of the saints” and hoping “for some part and fellowship with them” 37: By its design and its furnishings, the church reflects [the] diversity of roles [of the priest, ministries, and congregants and] ...the design of the church should reflect the unity of the entire assembly and at the same time insure that each person is able to exercise his or her ministry in a space that fully accommodates the ritual action called for by that ministry
Liturgical Arrangement
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Adapted from Built of Living Stones
Clergy and leadership have higher status and greater responsibility but should face in the same direction as the congregation, so that they can worship together towards God. The Cathedral of Saint Thomas More proposes a design ad orientem, so that clergy and congregants can celebrate in unity, while still prioritizing liturgical needs in terms of arrangement, organization, and orientation.
Liturgical Arrangement
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A hierarchy of congregants and clergy will be maintained while orienting the entire congregation in the same direction towards God. Plan
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1� = 25’
Cambridge, MA Downtown Boston
Columbia Point
Located in southern Boston, the cathedral will be a crucial component of the redevelopment of the Columbia Point neighborhood Proposed Site City
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1� = 1500’
Within close proximity of an existing Catholic prep school, the site is suitable given its accessibility via public transportation and I-95, and large existing and future residential communities. Already home to a university and presidential library, the cathedral will extend the neighborhood’s political importance.
To Downtown Boston + Seat of Archdiocese
Red Line T + Commuter Rail
Existing housing Ongoing developments Boston College High School Dorchester
JFK Library + Museum
I-95 Corridor
UMass Boston
Proposed Site Neighborhood
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1” = 200’
Formerly retail and office space, the cathedral will be located adjacent to the harbor with access to the existing HarborWalk Park and with views of Downtown Boston.
Site Plan
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1� = 100’
Saint Thomas More (February 7, 1478 - July 6, 1535) was an English lawyer, intellectual, politician, and theologian. His most known work, Utopia, details the political system of an imaginary ideal island nation. Published in 1516 during his many years of public service as a politician and statesman, after his canonization, he has become venerated as the patron saint of statesmen. Saint Thomas More is also known as a strong counter-Reformation theologian, evident in his other theological writings.
Proposed Dedication
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Saint Thomas More
In 1530, More refused to sign a letter asking Pope Clement VII to annul King Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon. More continued to not support the actions by Henry and in April 1534, was arrested for treason. After a short trial on July 1, 1535, he was charged with high treason after denying the validity of the Act of Supremacy of the King. On July 6, 1535, he was hanged, drawn, and quartered. The Anglican and Catholic Churches venerate him as a martyr for his resistance to the Reformation and King, as well as his theological and political works. Beatified in 1886 by Pop Leo XIII and canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1935, his feast day is combined with that of Saint John Fisher. Celebrated on June 22, Fisher’s death, both are considered martyrs in Catholicism for their refusal to accept the King as Supreme Head of the Church of England.
Proposed Dedication
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Saint Thomas More
June 22 (feast day) July 6 (death)
The cathedral will be oriented to align with the sun during Sunday Mass at the cathedral on Saint Thomas More’s feast day and the anniversary of his death. Site Orientation
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1” = 100’
This orientation will also permit congregants and clergy to worship east towards Jerusalem year-round.
Site Orientation
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1� = 100’
The hierarchical, but community oriented organization is reminiscent of traditional plans while innovating based on the new allowances permitted after Vatican II.
Confessional Sacrament Chapel
Daily Chapel
Devotional Image
Deacons + Lay leaders Clergy Bishop Gospel Narthex
Baptismal Font
Congregation
Altar Epistle Choir master Organ Choir Communion
Sacristy Restrooms
Cathedral Organization
Offices
Devotional Image
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1� = 25’
The cathedral will have a capacity of 1,200 congregants, space for a choir of 50 members, and seating for six clergy members. By elevating the altar and clergy, all congregants will be able to see and worship together.
Bell Tower
Devotional
Narthex
Congregation Communion Altar Clergy/Choir
Section
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1� = 25’
The procession for each Mass will process down the wide center aisle, passing around the central baptismal font before passing the rest of the congregation and ascending up to the altar under the cross. The light from the horizon, refracted through sea-blue
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glass, emphasizes the power of water. The landscape windows join together with the yellow glass of the ceiling, representing the glory of God above, in a blood red cross, just above the altar on which Jesus is sacrificed during the Mass.
Rising like the crucifix on the mount, the altar takes its rightful place at the front of the sanctuary, where it is suitably visible by all. The architecture not only enables gathering, but suggests it, as the curving pews, low lighting, and wide windows envelope congregants
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and worshipers together in prayer and celebration of the Mass.
The three types of glass, joining together at the altar also represent the trinity, the three people which make up God. The three steps up to the altar, also permit the three celebrants to clearly distinguish themselves to the congregation, setting up their clear
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hierarchy. Central to liturgical practice is the slightly larger than life Jesus iron cutout above the altar which reminds worshipers of his sacrifice.
Saint Thomas More’s Utopia was originally published as “Libellus Vere Auereus, Nec Minus Salutaris Quam Festivus, De Optimo Rei Publicae Statu Deque Nova Insula Utopia” in Latin, which translates to “A Truly Golden Little Book, No Less Beneficial Than Entertaining, of A Republic’s Best State and of the New Island Utopia.” This cathedral will be colored by the golden light of utopian ideals and the New Jerusalem, the site of Christ’s Messianic reign and inhabitation. While Jerusalem reflects and refracts light off of its shimmering stone which only highlights the darkness between the stones, light will shine through this cathedral’s concrete masonry system, highlighting the glory of Christ.
Jerusalem and Light
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Jerusalem stone
Cathedral of Saint Thomas More
Light reflects off of stone (especially at sunset), darkness between stones
Darkness within concrete, light shines from between
Masonry detail
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Precast concrete Mortar Glass block
Masonry Detail
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Here, one of the devotional images in a corner of the sanctuary, depicts scenes of Saint Thomas More’s martyrdom. The landscape windows provide views onto the harbor and Boston, while also providing the dramatic backdrop for the iconography. These iron cut-out images
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will contrast with the bright daylight refracted through the blue glass. The dramatic light which appears between each concrete panel and from the bronze fixtures reinforces ideas of the New Jerusalem, a spiritual utopia.
The Bishop, clergy, choir, and Deacons join together in worship within the raised area, visible from all angles of the sanctuary, just as the light joins in the cross. During the time of Saint Thomas More’s feast day and day of martyrdom, the sun casts direct light onto the altar
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during Mass. The sun light passing through the narrow skylight throughout the year also reminds congregants of God above. The throne, highlighted with different wood accents, sets the bishop apart from the clergy, whose seats are also set apart from the congregation.
The wide aisles and large communion rail allow for an efficient distribution of the communion. The rounded edge at the front of the cathedral will allow the music of the choir, readings and preachings by the clergy, and the liturgy by the celebrants to bounce back to the
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congregation, despite facing the opposite direction. Congregants will thoroughly enjoy their experience at Mass, while the sanctuary itself can be sectioned off to create a more intimate church experience.
Worship at Saint Thomas More’s will be a traditional yet transcendent experience, with simple but meaningful architecture. As the cathedral of the patron saint of statesmen, in a politically important neighborhood of a politically important city, the cathedral will spur
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a new era of church designs and new development in the Columbia Point area. Though the building will be remarkable for its political position, architectural details, and beauty, its most important contribution is its dynamic treatment of the liturgical needs.
“I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.“ Rev. 21:22-23
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