Church architecture - Architettura della chiesa

The Three Natural Laws of Church Architecture
When we turn to the Church’s great architectural heritage we discover that from the early Christian basilicas in Rome to the Gothic Revival churches of early 20th-century America, three 'natural laws' of church architecture are observed faithfully in the design of successful Catholic churches. more...

Taking a Tour of the House of God
From portal sculptures to altarpieces, every detail of a traditional Catholic church building has a precise and rich significance, pointing to important aspects of Catholic faith and practice. Michael S. Rose takes you on a tour of a traditional church, explaining every aspect of the church building along the way. more...

Fearful of Our Architectural Patrimony
In a forthright critique of a document on church architecture drafted by U.S. bishops, renowned Classical architect Thomas Gordon Smith analyzes two roadblocks that would be confusing to architects, priests, and building committees. These are the discordant concepts of obligatory multi-culturalism and anti-intellectual fear of history. more...

Church in the City of the Third Millennium
Italian architect Christiano Rosponsi makes the case that we must recreate spaces required by a church to become a “place” for communities within the larger community, the traditional spaces that physically anchor it in the neighborhood and keep it from becoming an alien object: the courtyard, the piazza, and the campanile. more...

A City Set on A Hill
One historic term for the church building is "city on a hill." This refers not only to the preferred location of our churches on high places, but also less literally as occupying a place of prominence in the community. Michael S. Rose points out the importance of the church establishing itself as a focal point of the community, whether urban or rural. more...

Face to Face With the Grand Summa
The facade is the "face" that the church presents to the world. It is often times the only part of the building that people will see, and thus it is the façade that has the greatest opportunity to evangelize, teach and catechize. It is at once a foreword to the Catholic liturgy and a prelude to the great truths of the faith. more...

Bring Back the Bells, and the Bell Tower, Too
During the course of the 20th century bell towers and then bells themselves disappeared. Some argued that bells were not affordable; others that they were inappropriately a sign of prideful triumphalism. Most, however, can recognize that the peal of bells and the visual profile of a bell tower add to the unique appeal of Catholic churches. more...

Ten Myths of Contemporary Church Architecture
Why can't we build beautiful churches today? Some believe the Second Vatican Council called for ugly church architecture; others think we just don't have as much money to build churches as in past decades and centuries. Architect Duncan G. Stroik dispells the top ten myths about contemporary church architecture. more...

Catholic Identity, the Buildings, the Reactions
A priest anthropologist suggests that proposals for architectural "renewal" need to be tested in the light of Catholic experience as well as by the teaching of the Church. If so, renewal will become acceptable to such individuals, rather than becoming a challenge to their identity. Their history and their culture would thus be respected and upheld as valuable. more...

A Vast, Immeasurable Sanctuary
In any discussion of creating iconographic images for Catholic church buildings, it is first important to understand what it is that architecture can not do that painting and sculpture can. A helpful analogy, says architect and sculpor David Mayernik, might be that architecture is to music as painting and sculpture are to words. more...