The Catholic Church in Uruguay held a contest to design a church building near the city of Colonia. This is the result:
More photos at the link above, which also discusses the rich symbolism behind the design. They appear to have taken both form and function into equal account in constructing it. In the “Who Has the Most Inspiring Church Buildings” competition (a competition taking place mostly in my own mind), Europe and South America are thus far leagues ahead of the U.S.
(Via Andrew Sullivan.)
Bonus link on this topic: Why are there so many ugly churches? An interview with Moyra Doorly, author of No Place For God: The Denial of the Transcendent in Modern Church Architecture. And an excerpt from the book. Don’t be shy, Ms. Doorly—tell us what you really think of modern church architecture!
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August 21, 2007 at 20:59
MMMMM…I’m afraid it looks a little akin to a balsa airplane to me from one angle, a gargantuan stucco sphinx from another. Or was that a llama with its head tilted curiously? And…that doorway! It fairly screams “Hey, guys, we put recycled plastic to innovative use!” and it looks like one of those cheap tables used at VFW to-do’s and baby showers. I can almost see the legs…er, columns, folding up underneath it now!
August 21, 2007 at 21:20
Beauty’s in the eye of the beholder, I guess
August 21, 2007 at 22:11
Wow. As I posted… I think the church at large should run more contests.
August 22, 2007 at 06:34
Wow! That is definitely a beautiful building!
August 22, 2007 at 12:38
I wonder what criteria they used to judge the contest.
August 22, 2007 at 20:15
While I have enjoyed exploring some beautiful churches and yes Europe has some stunners, I’m concerned with the need for a fancy building.
You may indeed say that it brings glory to God but it also brings cynicism from those who don’t follow Jesus. You’ll all know the comments about the church and it’s money etc.
I’d say forget about the fancy buildings because the church is NOT a building at all. It is in fact God’s people, and we should spend more effort on making ourselves more ‘attractive’ to the world by living as Jesus wanted. We are a “watched” group we christians, and the reality is that our God is judged by our words and actions and so far we haven’t done to good a job here in the western world. Our neighbours, workmates, friends AND families ALL see and hear us.
Do we criticise others in front of them? Do we swear? Are we forgiving and compassionate? Do we live as if God is right there beside us at every moment? This is what we should be doing, not wasting money on church buildings but putting it back into the community. The community won’t miss a church building if it’s no longer there but it will miss a group of people who actively do things in the community when they stop. We need to put our money where our mouths are.
August 23, 2007 at 13:53
I don’t care for the color but I find the structure quite engaging. I think the suggestion to have more contests is a good one. While it is true that “WE” are the Church, context does matter. Elaborate and expensive buildings built during the middle ages and Renaissance were a sort of “welfare plan” that kept many people employed and fed during an otherwise very economically unstable period. In this century we walk the fine line between ostentatiousness and neglect. Our church structures, as art, need to give glory to the Creator. For the most part,I think a church should be built to last and to provide a place of safety and serenity for worship. While Jesus will not turn away worship from a cow pasture or a hovel in the desert, I still think that, whenever possible, we should create beauty in our worship environment. What is “beautiful” may change over time and from culture to culture but it can hardly be a sin to strive for it.
August 23, 2007 at 18:16
A few comments:
If beauty is in the eye of the beholder than everything is beautiful and nothing is beautiful. Surely this is not the case. While it is obvious that beauty is hard to define that should not cause us to abandon its pursuit.
Taking the position that we should not invest in buildings is unrealistic when you think of it. Is the ideal to have no dwelling at all? Israel sought a homeland. Memories are created in contextual settings that include physical space. God has placed us in a physical world! Those that hold that position – do you enhance your home to make it expressive of your experiences and personality. Why not design churches that are expressive of the attributes of God? Every building is going to say something anyway. It may say “don’t look at me, I don’t want to stand out, there is nothing in here”, or it may say “creative, redemptive activity happens in this place”.
Is God just Love? Is he not also truth and beauty? Should we not also reflect that in our temporal, physical efforts as a foreshadow of heaven. Colosians 1:15-20 states that Christ is preeminent over all. That includes our work, relationships, worship, leisure, design.
Would that we all practice expanding our perceptions to see the hand of God in a much bigger way.
I like the church!
August 23, 2007 at 22:54
These days ‘church’ is a dirty word. If you ask many to come to church they will balk at the idea. My commission is to go out and make followers of men. While it is not necessarily my personal task to bring someone to God it is my job to be a witness for Christ and to be perfectly honest in my 30 years as a born again christian I have never been able to get someone to give their life to Jesus by introducing them to a place of worship nor have they been impressed with a building other than from an architectual point of view.
We have become so mentally and habitually locked into the concept that we need a building to worship God in every Sunday and to feel safe and serene. I have reached a place in my walk with God that I feel safe anywhere and indeed have felt his peace and serenity in the most trying of places. Jesus went into the wilderness to pray, not to a church.
We do not need to build a beautiful church and no, there is no sin in striving for beauty. I did not say we should not invest in buildings. What I did suggest is that would it not be better to put our money (and of course our resources)into investing (building) into the community.
And as I did say people of today will be cynical when they see so much money put into a building that not all people get to use. They see it as elitist and wasteful and only a handful would appreciate it as visually appealling. We need to meet people where they are at and not where WE want to be. We don’t get people into church by singing louder or building pretty structures. We get them there by being real.
Since my family and I have moved into a small home group and started providing things for the community such as biblically based self development courses we have seen more fruit with previously non churched people committing their lives to God than all the years of going to a building Pavlovs Dog like, every Sunday morning.
I do believe that God wants us to try to be and do the best we can and to create beauty as well but what is one of our most important tasks? Others. We have to be significant in peoples lives and to my mind on a scale of 1 to 10 people are a 10 and buildings are, well, you do the maths.
August 24, 2007 at 12:26
Interesting post, Chris; but I am convinced Jesus prays in church every Sunday, since He’s promised that where 2 or more of us are gathered in His name, He will be with us. That happens in beautiful church buidings as well as in jail cells, no doubt about it.
Perhaps if “church” is a dirty word to people it has more to do with their heart attitude than with the church itself. When I introduce people to Christ, I let them know that church is a place I gather with other people to worship Jesus and tell Him I love Him; I let the people I’m witnessing to know I’d love for them to visit with me. I offer to bring them with me sometimes, and when they say “Yes” to a visit, I am grateful to bring them to a place that is not merely functional, but lovely.
Let this old world judge, because they do love to judge Christians as hypocrites. But the fragrance of an expensive ointment that could have been sold to help the poor lingers, not just in Bethany; the aroma has not faded from Mary’s lavish gift of her life savings poured on Jesus’ – feet?! – instead.
August 24, 2007 at 21:58
Nicely put Christine. It’s the worlds opinion of we christians that as far as I can see needs to be addressed. Without going into the churches historical behaviour too much as I’m sure you are aware, we have left an indelible impression on societies mind that we are a bunch of liars and hypocrites and that the churches are just after their money. Sadly we don’t promote what we often actually do with that money.
Jesus followers, the early christians, gathered wherever they could, it was only the catholic church that built buildings and monuments, not to mention statues (in direct contravention of the commandment not to – but that’s another issue all together). We were told that to worship God it had to be where they said God abided ie the church building. It was all and still is in many cases a power play, a control device of sorts. Get the people to put their money into the church so it was a reminder not so much of the glory of God but of the power of the church that has to be obeyed. Hence their not so gentle treatment of any who disagreed.
If you NEED a pretty edifice to feel comfortable and safe and serene then I guess that’s your scene but for me just being with a group of believers at someones home having a BBQ is church for me and the people I invite are considerably more comfortable and bar none have all said so.
They ask us why we are so different, they don’t feel that we are desperately trying to get them to become christians. We never hide the fact that we are christians and neither do we force it down their throat as they feel we would be doing if we asked and tried to get them to church. Maybe we Aussies are different. As a result they actually initiate the conversations about God. This for me is the coal face. Up until this point in my walk I’ve felt about as useful as a foam rubber wind chime but now…woo hoo fruit everywhere. Anyway better go. I’ve got some chores to do. Bye