Articles

Almost Religious: Couturier, LeCorbusier and the Monastery of La Tourette

by Denis McNamara, appearing in Volume 2

Swiss-born architect Charles-Edouard Jeanneret (1887-1965), better known as “Le Corbusier,” maintained an almost cult-like hold upon the architectural profession of the twentieth century. It was nonetheless a priest, Fr. Marie-Alain Couturier, O.P. (1897-1954), who cleared the way for Le Corbusier to design the Monastery of Sainte-Marie-de-La-Tourette (1957-60) for the Dominican community at Eveux-sur-L’Abresle outside Lyon, in France.

Los Angeles and the Mission Revival

by Thomas Owen, appearing in Volume 2

For many people, the tradition of church architecture in Los Angeles is seen as being predominantly of the Spanish style before the advent of Modernism. However, this is partly due to the great revival of interest in Mediterranean and Mission architecture which began in the late Nineteenth century. Interest in California’s missions—a time period beginning in 1769 with the founding of the first mission through their demise in the 1840’s—was not only to inspire buildings, but also books, poetry, “romance,” tours to the extant buildings, and eventually scholarship.

A Philosopher Looks at Beauty

by William A Marra, appearing in Volume 2

Beauty is an ultimate datum, distinguishable from other things which are sometimes related. There are all sorts of spectacular things, such as huge explosions, fearful things, such as earthquakes and interesting things—all of them have their place—but they are not the same as beaut

Architecture of a Cloister- The New Benedictine Monastery

by John Burns, appearing in Volume 2

Dom Gerard has established a form of primitive Benedictine life at Le Barroux. There is no abbey school nor parish ministry. Life at the abbey revolves around the liturgy, fully sung every day in Gregorian chant. Manual labor, study, and the reception of guests and retreatants round out the life of the monks.

Change and Eternity

by Piotr Choynowski, appearing in Volume 1

The British architect, Quinlan Terry’s beautiful invocation of the old myth of the divine origin of the Classical orders, certainly expresses the most profound truth. The truth about dependence and grounding of the classical tradition in the Absolute, in God. This grounding must of necessity be even more important in the case of Sacred architecture.

On the Church’s Historic and Artistic Heritage

by Archbishop Francesco Marchisano, appearing in Volume 1

The Pontifical Commission was instituted by John Paul II back in 1988, so that an entire Decastery of the Curia could look after the area of the cultural heritage of the Church, which includes, by our definition, Church monuments and sites; artistic collections and Church or diocesan museums; historical collections and Church archives; and Church libraries.

Charles Borromeo and Catholic Tradition

by Matthew Gallegos, appearing in Volume 9

While the Tridentine documents contained few specific directives regarding the design of Catholic churches in the context of the Protestant Reformation, the Council affirmed the authority of tradition in all matters related to Christianity.

Beyond Basilicas: Centralized Churches of Early Christianity

by Sandra Miesel, appearing in Volume 12

In patristic times, when basilicas ruled the earth, a few alternative church plans dotted the landscape. We may regard these designs as Stephen Jay Gould did the Burgess Shale fossils: novel forms that left no progeny. Nevertheless, both the churches and the fossils are beautiful and worthy of contemplation.

The Pious Guide and Early American Catholicism

by Matthew Gallegos, appearing in Volume 10

While the Mass was an important liturgical activity that transpired within Catholic churches, The Pious Guide makes clear that churches also served as the setting for a wide range of public and private devotions. A church’s design was required to accommodate both liturgical and devotional prayer.