The differing goals of church design

The architecture of awe-inspiring churches stems from different goals, and represents distinctly different relationships to religion itself.

When visiting an old or ancient church such as the cathedral at Chartres, the Duomo in Florence, and even the much more recent chapel at Ronchamp, we are moved by the beauty of design and the impressive construction, but also by the achievement of the craftsmen, whose methods remain visible to us as visitors or members. The required years of construction are evident throughout the ornamentation, the complexity required to create such massive monuments, and the care that is poured into the building itself.

Notre Dame du Haut, Ronchamp: Mystery & power in community

What we find there is not only wonder at the achievement of the building, but an expression of the love and commitment of the builders and parishioners themselves. The evidence of the people required for construction reveals to us that community’s devotion to their faith.

Today, we more often find something different. While we still admire the creativity and are moved by our wonder at the physical achievement, this sense of community is often missing from the design. It is cleaned from the building as we turn our attention to the genius, the magic, of the architect or engineer. The necessary craftsmen are subsumed in the relentlessness of these structures that appear to have been built by God himself, not a devoted group of followers. In cases where the hand is visible in these structures, such as in the new Parish Church of Santa Monica’s Cor-ten panels, the stiffness of repetition suggests obedience, not devotion.

Church of the Light, Osaka: Mystery & power in omnipotence

These buildings are not an expression of the fellowship of the church, or a demonstration of life in its culture. They are instead an attempted expression of God the all-powerful. While there is no doubt there is beauty in these bold expressions, the difference in these design goals is palpable, important, and unsettling.