Duncan G. Stroik
Duncan G. Stroik is the editor of Sacred Architecture Journal.
Articles by Duncan G. Stroik
Editorial: Architectura Sacra
Welcome to the inaugural issue of Sacred Architecture, a journal committed to the promotion of the cultural heritage of the Church. In publishing a variety of articles and news items, Sacred Architecture sees its mission as keeping you up to date on how bricks and mortar are being used to build up the City of God.
Ten Myths of Contempory Church Architecture
There are many so-called principles of church architecture which are in reality myths.
Editorial: Vocatio Architecti
One of the reasons that we are amazed by the beauty of architectural masterpieces is that they appear to go beyond the ability of mortals to conceive them. Their harmony and proportions seem to have been constructed by angels. In order to bring to fruition these sacred works, ranging from the nave of Amiens Cathedral to the exterior of San Vincent de Paul in Los Angeles, many hills have to be climbed.
Environment and Art in Catholic Worship - A Critique
By all accounts, the past forty years have produced few church buildings that the American laity are proud of and fewer of which the cultural establishment approves. No doubt some credit for the present state of architecture should be given to a small booklet entitled Environment and Art in Catholic Worship (EACW) presently being revised.
Editorial: Domus Dei et Porta Coeli
Editorial: Domus Eucharistica
Over the years, church buildings have received numerous titles: domus Ecclesiae, domus Dei, temple of the most high, image of the eternal, holy place, and body of Christ. John Cardinal Newman called churches gospel palaces. In this Jubilee year dedicated to the Eucharist it is appropriate to reflect on the domus Eucharistica, the church as a Eucharistic house. Our churches are the places we gather to eucharist, to thank God for His marvelous gifts.
Editorial: Operosam Decoramque Reconstructionem
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Editorial: Rerum Supernarum Signa et Symbola
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One Step Forward: An Analysis of Built of Living Stones
People often ask me what texts one should read in preparation for designing or renovating a Catholic church.
Editorial: Mater et Caput
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Editorial: Caveat Emptor
And Jesus entered the temple of God and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you make it a den of robbers.” And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. Matthew 21:12-14
Editorial: Hoc Ipsum Dei Genetricem Sanctam Virginem
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Editorial: Venite et Videbitis
What is it that makes a Catholic church different from other churches?
Editorial: Imago Dei, Imago Video
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Quinlan Terry: The Survival of Classicism
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Editorial: Forma Extraodinaria
One of the myths that continue to haunt us is the notion that Vatican II required a totally new architecture to provide for the radically new liturgy.
Pew Americana
This series of essays, edited by Louis Nelson, examines how people have interpreted the idea of the sacred in American history.
Editorial: Ecclesiam Aedificat Eucharistia
Just as the Cathedral liturgy is meant to be an example for the diocese so too should be the art and architecture of the Cathedral.
Editorial: Catechismus in Lapidem
People often ask me why we have not been building beautiful churches in recent decades. It is not a simple answer of course: there are the changes from Vatican II; the embrace of modernism by the architectural profession; the expense of craftsmanship; the parsimony of the faithful; and the belief that the church is merely a functional building. Today, when laity and clergy alike desire to build beautiful churches again they are confronted with a limitation that their great grandparents did not have to contend with: the strict monetary policies of the diocese.
Transubstantiated Architecture: Painterly Perspective and Piety
The discovery, or rediscovery, of linear perspective in the Italian Renaissance is usually credited to Filippo Brunelleschi, the architect of the dome of the Florence Cathedral. Another nearby monument that may be the first existing example of one-point perspective is the funerary chapel in Santa Maria Novella painted by Masaccio in 1428. In a complex and theologically rich explication of Masaccio’s Holy Trinity, with the Virgin, Saint John and Donors, John Moffitt argues that the point to which all of the lines converge is placed at the bottom of the picture in order to correspond with the elevation of the host during Mass. Thus God the Father stands on an altar and presents his crucified Son to the viewer within a perspectival architecture that converges on the Eucharist. The consecrated host becomes the liturgical focal point of the chapel and of the painting.
Editorial: Pulchritudo Tam Antiqua et Tam Nova
Part of the history of art and architecture is the revivification of elements found in the past…
Editorial: Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam et Beatae Mariae Virginis
Unemployment is at a high level, and the economy is in recession. In order to give thousands of people jobs, the state embarks on some major infrastructure projects designed by an award winning architect. A parable for how the U.S. government can get the economy back on track? No, the story of how Pope Alexander VII and Gianlorenzo Bernini built Piazza San Pietro, the greatest public piazza in the world.
Editorial: Pulchrum Est Id Quod Visum Placet
Back in the late Twentieth century I received an invitation to teach architecture at small midwestern Catholic college…
Editorial: Deus Fundavit Civitatem in Aeternum
It is well known that the conventional wisdom on building churches is in disrepute. Even the unwashed masses are revolting against the dictates and iconoclasm of the past fifty years…
Editorial: Estote Ergo Vos Perfecti
A well-known architect, who was really an artist, was asked to design a cathedral. The project did not go smoothly. He was difficult to work with, had his own ideas, lost his temper when things did not go his way, and kept asking for more money.
Editorial: Quo Vadis
Three miles from Disneyland there is another famous theme park, which proclaims itself as “America’s Television Church.” The Crystal Cathedral, perhaps the first mega-church in the United States, is about to undergo conversion classes so that it can finally get the cathedra and bishop it has always wanted.
Editorial: De Artis Sacrae Historia Eiusque Evolutione
One of the recommendations of Vatican II was that priests be formed in the arts: “During their philosophical and theological studies, clerics are to be taught about the history and development of sacred art, and about the sound principles governing the production of its works.
