www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Modern church design versus traditional church design

Chicago is my favorite city - there is nothing to compare with walking North Michigan and admiring the architechure.

Many years,

Neil

Chicago is waaay too crowded for me.

To have been in some of the churches that have closed and been sold is enough to bring one to tears.

Dr. Eric,
From the photo St. Clare's doesn't look so bad to me. It's kind of hard to see but it brings to mind a chapel that may be used by a cloistered order. In my mind anyway there ARE some churches there is no excuse for. They leave you wondering "What were they thinking?". I understand there are costs involved and many churches were built in a hurry to serve a burgeoning suburban population but there is no excuse for some of the churches being built today.

God Bless,
Bill

This is about the worst I've seen ever. In the first paragraph click on "slide show" to view the YELLOW HOUSE architecture, yes that's right, YELLOW HOUSE (with green shutters) they call a Roman Catholic Church...

http://www.popejohnxxiiiparish.com/

Don't care for the outside, but the inside, while plain, isn't too bad. I like the Seraphim.

Pope John XXIII Parish is located in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio. This parish did not exist ten years ago.

I suspect that their situation is like that of many new parishes. They are worshipping in what will later become the Parish Hall.

It is likely that they will build a better Church in a couple of decades.

A parish about 5 miles from where I live was founded in the 1950s and worshipped in what is now the parish hall for nearly forty years until they could build a proper church.

I think that parish is done very tastefully (minus some of the color choices), it has a classic element. I am reminded of some of the renderings I saw of house churches from the first Christian century. I get the feeling that is what they may have been aiming for. I think the inside is very elegant.

If I were pastor of the Church I would begin raising money to build a separate church proper and use that for the parish center...I do not believe this is their plan from what I gather from the website.

Alexis and Neil

Thank you for your kind words regarding the city of my birth. Unfortunately, Chicago is a far cry from the beautiful city it once was 80 or more years ago. We've lost countless churches, and other magnificent buildings, boulevards, lagoons and ponds from parks, public greenhouses and flowerbeds, and a general sense of beautification. Men like Frederick Law Olmsted, Daniel Burnham, Jens Jensen, Henry Schlacks, William LeBaron Jenney, Montgomery Ward and Louis Sullivan gave us one of the most beautiful cities in North America, but we've done a very poor job of maintaining.

Now to modern churches. The Eastern churches of today may not be as impressive as the ones built 70 or more yrs ago, but at least they are not without beauty. Fortunately, Eastern Christians have for the most part, rejected modern art. Roman Catholics on the other hand have embraced it, nd consequently we seldom see a new RC church that isn't ugly as sin.

The building does have a classic simplicity. It does have a basic cruciform floorplan, but from the outside looks like a hall for receptions or other events.

I like the color choices.
Sort of Ukrainian.
Yellow outside and blue inside.

The Lord made all the colors and put them together in His rainbow.

I love the architecture -- as a house. I would not have painted it yellow, however. Our small OCA parish is nothing remarkable from the outside. It's a small Protestant church the parish bought (Methodist, I believe). The pews were torn out, icons painted on the walls, and a small iconostasis was installed (it's a narrow church). It isn't ugly, however. Just small and unassuming.

We have a variety of church architecture out here on the West Coast, from the infamous Our Lady Queen of the Angels Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, to the San Juan Capistrano Mission Basilica, a real gem.

http://www.terragalleria.com/images/us-ca/usca35329.jpeg

vs.

http://www.lectrosonics.com/PressReleases/mission/MBSJCretablo.jpg

Anyone else notice that Beloved is having Scott Hahn speak at the parish?

I'm not sure what this modern Ukrainian Greek Catholic Sobor will look like when it is completed sometime in 2010, but people who have seen it all seem to make the same comment - "its massive !". It lies at the edge of the Dnipro (Dniper) river which flows through the ancient and modern parts of Ukraine's Capital city Kyiv. It was on that shore that IN 988 Grand Prince Volodymyr the Great baptised the people of Rus. It is hoped that that the Sobor will be visited by Greek Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants, and all Christians from around the world.

These are web camera pictures from various time periods yesterday:

Ukrainian Greek Catholic Sobor - Kyiv, Ukraine [sobor.ugcc.org.ua]

I.F

Looks like the waiting room scene from the movie "Stations of the Train"


http://www.terragalleria.com/images/us-ca/usca35329.jpeg

This is a movie that does not exist, but if Alfred Hitchcock were still around, he would work wonders off this photo alone.

I can imagine sitting there, beset by swarms of bats from the architect's belfry.

The exterior color choice is hideous and, as a church, I can't say that the interior appeals to me much - looking perhaps more Protestant than Catholic, although I think it's very tastefully decorated and appointed.

I will offer, though, that the description of the parish and its website both suggest a very vibrant parish community. As much as I love the physical beauty of our temples and the classic western churches, Latin and Protestant, it is important to remember that, ultimately. a church is the people, the temple is only the place in which the people conduct their worship. I've seen ugly storefront churches, bereft of any fine appointments, and with absolutely impoverished congregations, that were so rich in faith as to have shamed those of us who worship in beautiful religious surroundings.

Many years,

Neil