T D O T A C AARON LANIOSZ
THE DESIGN OF THE
AMERICAN CHURCH AN OBSERVATION OF ARCHITECTURE DESIGN THEORY THROUGH ITS RELATIONSHIP TO THE CHRISTIAN FAITH
TEXT AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY AARON LANIOSZ
FUNDED BY THE ROBERT ALLERTON AMERICAN TRAVELING SCHOLARSHIP
CATHEDRAL BASILICA OF THE
PREFACE
IMMACULATE CONCEPTION JOHN ALFRED THOMAS ON THEORY, MEANING AND EXPERIENCE IN CHURCH ARCHITECTURE
COLORADO
LEON
DENVER
COQUARD
19 // 11
// THE NOTION THAT BUILDINGS, PLACES, SPACES, AND OBJECTS, PLAY SOME PART IN SPIRITUALITY AND/OR RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE, OR PERCEPTION OF THE INFINITE, OR CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE DIVINE - HOWEVER WE MAY PUT IT - IS ONE THAT IS INCREASINGLY EXPRESSED; AND YET SUCH IDEAS GENERALLY REMAIN VAGUE NOTIONS, NEVER FORMALLY STUDIED, STRUCTURED, NOR SET WITHIN ANY ORDERED SYSTEM OF RELIGIOUS IDEAS. //
THE FOLLOWING MATERIAL EXISTS AS AN OBSERVATION OF THE CURRENT STATE OF AMERICAN CHURCH ARCHITECTURE.
BY MEANS OF FIRSTHAND EXPERIENCE, A COLLECTION OF ABSTRACT NOTIONS TAKES THE PLACE OF ACADEMIC RHETORIC AND LOFTY PROSE IN AN EFFORT TO STIMULATE DIALOGUE AND INCREASE ACCESSIBILITY TO THIS UNIQUE GENRE OF DESIGN THEORY.
TO W E R OF
HOPE
CHURCH ARCHITECTURE IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA HAS LONG EXISTED AS AN OUTLIER. WITH THE COLONIZATION OF THE COUNTRY OCCURRING LONG AFTER THE PEAK OF EUROPE’S ROMANESQUE AND GOTHIC PERIODS, AMERICAN CHURCH DESIGN WOULD NEVER EPITOMIZE THE GRANDEUR OF THESE ICONIC ARCHITECTURE STYLES.
CALIFORNIA
GARDEN GROVE
RICHARD
NEUTRA
YET, AS THE NATION WITH THE WORLD’S LARGEST POPULATION OF BIBLE BELIEVING CHRISTIANS, AMERICAN DESIGNERS HAVE COMPOSED A DIVERSE, CRITICAL, AND INIMITABLE COLLECTION OF CHURCH BUILDINGS WHICH ARGUABLY RIVALS THAT OF EUROPE’S LONG STANDING AUTHORITY ON THE MATTER OF CHRISTIAN DESIGN. BEGINNING LONG AFTER MANY OF CHRISTENDOM’S RECOGNIZABLE EPOCHS SUCH AS THE MIDDLE AGES, THE RENAISSANCE, AND REFORMATION, AMERICAN CHURCH ARCHITECTURE HAS STILL MANAGED TO DRASTICALLY RANGE IN DESIGN THEORY AND MANIFESTATION FROM OSTENTATIOUS OPULENCE TO MONASTIC SIMPLICITY.
THROUGHOUT ITS OVER TWO-HUNDRED YEARS OF DESIGN EVOLUTION AND INNOVATION, AMERICAN CHURCH ARCHITECTURE HAS DEVELOPED A CHALLENGING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN AND THE CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY THAT THE BUILDING FORMS REPRESENT. WITH RELIGION AS THE PROPOSED PHILOSOPHICAL MOTIVATION FOR THIS ENTIRE GENRE OF DESIGN THEORY, ITS LINEAGE OF PHYSICAL MANIFESTATION PRESENTS AN INTERESTING CASE FOR ARCHITECTURAL DIVINITY.
19 // 68
UNITED STATES AIR FORCE
CADET CHAPEL
COLORADO SPRINGS
COLORADO
WALTER
ISAIAH-66//1-2 THUS SAYS THE LORD: HEAVEN IS MY THRONE, AND THE EARTH IS MY FOOTSTOOL; WHAT IS THE HOUSE THAT YOU WOULD BUILD FOR ME, AND WHAT IS THE PLACE OF MY REST?
NETSCH
19 // 62
JUDITH DUPRE ON THE INTENT OF THE ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN OF CHURCHES
//…TO CONVEY VERY SUBTLY TO THE HUMAN BEING THAT WE ARE ENTERING A DIFFERENT PLACE, A SACRED SPACE, THAT IS DIFFERENT FROM ANY PLACE ELSE IN THEIR LIVES //
GREG WARNER ON THE CURRENT STATE OF AMERICAN CHURCH DESIGN
// AMERICAN CHRISTIANS ARE POISED FOR A REVIVAL IN THEIR CHURCH ARCHITECTURE. THE ARCHITECTS SAY THERE IS A HUNGER FOR SPIRITUALLY EXPRESSIVE BUILDINGS THAT RECAPTURE A SENSE OF SACRED SPACE //
HAGGI - 2 // 9 THE LATTER GLORY OF THIS HOUSE SHALL BE GREATER THAN THE FORMER SAYS THE LORD OF HOSTS
RIVERSIDE CHURCH NEW YORK CITY NEW
YORK
ALLEN _ PELTON _ COLLENS
CRYSTAL C AT H E D R A L
M AT T H E W - 6 / / 1 9 - 2 1 DO NOT LAY UP FOR YOURSELF TREASURES ON EARTH... BUT LAY UP FOR YOURSELF TREASURES IN HEAVEN... FOR WHERE YOUR TREASURE IS YOUR HEART WILL BE ALSO
GARDEN GROVE
PHILIP
CHURCH DESIGN IS NOT TO BE SHAPED BY ARCHITECTURAL TRENDS OR THEORETICAL MANIFESTOS. WHILE NO TWO CHURCH DESIGNS ARE THE SAME, CHRISTIAN ARCHITECTURE MUST ALL ADHERE TO THE PRINCIPLES EXPRESSED IN GOD’S WORDS. THE BUILDING IS A REPRESENTATION OF THE BELIEFS OF THE CHURCH AND THE GOD THAT IT SERVES. // THIS HOLY WORK IS COMPARABLE TO NO OTHER. IT CANNOT BE DERIVED FROM CONTEMPORARY ART AND ITS FASHIONABLE MOTIFS. RATHER CHURCH BUILDING IS A WORK IN ITS OWN RIGHT. A CHURCH MUST BE DEVELOPED WHOLLY AND IN ALL ITS PARTS OUT OF ITS OWN INNER MEANING. // EDWIN HEATHCOTE
CALIFORNIA
JOHNSON
19 // 81
CHA P E L OF T H E
HOLY CROSS
SEDONA
ARIZONA
IN THE PRE-MODERN AGE, UNRESTRAINED USE OF RELIGIOUS FIGURES, SYMBOLS, AND ICONS DROVE THE POPULAR UNDERSTANDING OF RELIGIOUS SPACES. THE PAST CENTURY OF AMERICAN ARCHITECTURE HAS DEEMED SUPERFLUOUS SUCH
RICHARD
HEIN
ORNAMENT, RESORTING TO DESIGN ELEMENTS SUCH AS MATERIALS, PROPORTIONS, AND LIGHT AS THE PROPER MEDIUMS THROUGH WHICH THE DIVINITY OF A SPACE SHOULD BE EXPRESSED. THE MANIFESTATION OF ARCHITECTURAL THEOLOGY WILL NEVER BE QUANTIFIABLE MATTER. AS A CONVERGENCE OF ART, RELIGIONS, AND
19 // 56
TECHNOLOGY, CHURCH DESIGN WILL ALWAYS EXIST AS A HIGHLY SUBJECTIVE, AND ARGUABLY UNATTAINABLE PURSUIT; THE EFFORT OF CREATING HEAVEN ON EARTH.
1 CHRONICLES-29//1 THE TASK IS GREAT, BECAUSE THIS PALATIAL STRUCTURE IS NOT FOR MAN BUT FOR THE LORD GOD
CATHEDRAL ST JOHN THE DIVINE // 1892
ST PATRICK’S CATHEDRAL // 1878
TRINITY CHURCH // 1846
ST PAUL’S CHAPEL // 1764
NEW YORK, NY // LAFARGE, HEINS, CRAM
NEW YORK, NY // JAMES RENWICK, JR.
NEW YORK, NY // RICHARD UPJOHN
NEW YORK, NY // THOMAS MCBEAN
C. B. IMMACULATE CONCEPTION // 1911
CATHEDRAL OF THE MADELEINE // 1909
CHURCH OF NOTRE DAME // 1909
SALT LAKE TEMPLE // 1893
DENVER,CO // LEON COQUARD
SALT LAKE CITY, UT // CARL NEUHAUSEN
NEW YORK, NY // DAUS & OTTO
SALT LAKE CITY, UT // TRUMAN ANGELL
CHAPEL ON THE ROCK // 1935
RIVERSIDE CHURCH // 1930
CHURCH OF THE HEAVENLY REST // 1929
ST VINCENT DE PAUL CHURCH // 1925
ALLENSPARK, CO // UNKNOWN
NEW YORK, NY // ALLEN PELTON & COLLENS
NEW YORK, NY // BERTRAM GOODHUE
LOS ANGELES, CA // ALBERT MARTIN, SR.
CRYSTAL CATHEDRAL // 1981
USAF CADET CHAPEL // 1962
CHAPEL OF THE HOLY CROSS // 1956
WAYFARERS CHAPEL // 1951
GARDEN GROVE, CA // PHILIP JOHNSON
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO // WALTER NETSCH
SEDONA, AZ // RICHARD HEIN
LOS ANGELES, CA // LLOYD WRIGHT
C. OF OUR LADY OF ANGELES // 2002
SAN DIEGO CALIFORNIA TEMPLE // 1984
LOS ANGLELES, CA // RAPHAEL MONEO
LA JOLLA, CA // WILLIAM S. LEWIS, JR.
CHURCHES VISITED WITH FUNDING FROM THE ROBERT ALLERTON AMERICAN TRAVELING SCHOLARSHIP
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