Posted on 03/26/2004 6:36:22 AM PST by Pyro7480
This week Ave Maria University announced detailed plans for a proposed chapel on its newly-founded campus near Naples, Florida. Requiring three thousand tons of structural steel and aluminum, the 60,000-square-foot glass-skinned church is set to be the nation’s largest. Unfortunately, the design unveiled by school officials is an impractical eyesore.
Although its floor plan is vaguely reminiscent of a basilica-style church, the unsightly structure otherwise breaks with the history and tradition of Catholic church architecture while tipping its hat to some of the more avant-garde Protestant productions of recent decades. Moreover, it consciously avoids any connection to the rich Spanish mission style so common to Florida for several centuries.
Not only is it ugly, it is certain to be an embarassment to an otherwise promising Catholic institution of higher learning. Quite obviously the chapel is inconsistent with Ave Maria’s reputation for embracing authentic Catholic culture and tradition.
The proposed church is perhaps most reminiscent of Sir Joseph Paxton’s Crystal Palace, the enormous hall designed to house London’s Great Exhibition of 1851. Constructed entirely of cast iron and glass, the Palace was the largest structure to be built of prefabricated units up to that time. It is generally recognized by architectural historians as the forerunner of industrial construction that has produced many of the unseemly behemoths of the twentieth century. Paxton was a horticulturist, landscape gardener and greenhouse architect. Not coincidentally, his masterpiece resembled a giant hothouse.
Alack, the same can be said of Ave Maria’s proposed church. The 60-foot red-tinted glass cross embedded within the transparent front façade does little to reassure one that this filigree structure isn’t a conservatory full of insectivorous plants and steaming compost piles. In fact, the proposed structure should nicely suit the purpose of cultivating exotic plants out of season. After all, hothouses are designed to be, well, hot. Considering the blistering heat and humidity that characterizes the climate in southern Florida much of the year, a glass building is about as impractical as it gets—not for plants but for people. (Has no one considered the incredible impact of solar heat gain?) Add to that the fact that Ave Maria’s new campus is sprouting in Hurricane Alley, and you’ve got to wonder if this isn’t an early April Fool’s joke.
One call to the university assured me that this is no joke. It’s the real thing—and they’re moving ahead with the project come heat or hurricanes. The chapel is expected to be completed in 2006 along with much of the rest of the new campus.
Ave Maria seems to be making a fuss over the shear enormity of the proposed church. According to a March 24 press release, university officials boasted that the new chapel "will have [the] largest seating capacity of any Catholic church in the country" as well as "the largest crucifix in the world."
The largest crucifix in the world? Come now. If that doesn’t smack of megalomania, I don’t know what does. And why on earth would a small Catholic school with 122 students knocking around 1,000 acres in the remote swamplands of Florida need—or want—to accommodate a whopping 3,300 people? Why would petite Ave Maria aim for more seating than New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral or Cardinal Mahony’s celebrated Yellow Armadillo in L.A., both of which serve as the spiritual centerpiece of archdioceses that serve millions of Catholics?
Well, it just so happens that seed money for the mega-project was provided by Thomas S. Monaghan, former owner of the Detroit Tigers and founder of Dominos Pizza. Mr. Monaghan, a generous philanthropist, tends to think big. But one must understand that bigger is not necessarily better nor even desirable.
Wouldn’t it make much more sense for a fledgling school like Ave Maria to build a well-designed, modest-sized chapel for its community? (See Thomas Aquinas College for an excellent example.) After all, who in his right mind would donate even a dollar to a newly established university that appears to be blowing money like a drunken sailor? Three thousand tons of structural steel don’t come cheap.
Given the fact that Ave Maria touts its mission and its curriculum as being steeped in Catholic culture and tradition, its architecture (especially that of a sacred building) deserves to match that right-headed philosophy. Wouldn’t it make sense to patronize one of the architects who has been responsible for the recent renewal of sacred architecture in this country? Despite their major accomplishments in the design of beautiful Catholic churches, architects such as Duncan Stroik, Thomas Gordon Smith, Dino Marcantonio, and Henry Menzies weren’t even as much as invited to compete for this project. Two of these men also have campus chapels on their list of credits. Stroik is responsible for the Thomas Aquinas College’s beautiful new chapel and Thomas Gordon Smith designed the seminary for the Fraternity of St. Peter in Denton, Nebraska. Due in no small part to these talented Catholic architects, many are waking up to the fact that the churches designed and built in the latter half of the twentieth century have miserably failed the Catholic people. Why then settle for an ugly Goliath of a structure that will look dated even before it’s 3,000 tons of structural steel are sheathed in hothouse glass?
A suggestion to Ave Maria: This proposed chapel design is an error so egregious that it requires immediate attention. Dump these hideous plans. Hire a new architect, and start afresh, this time with an eye toward creating a beautiful house of God rather than simply an enormous one. (See my book Ugly As Sin for a few pointers.) Otherwise your school risks losing its hard-earned credibility. Your university is a promising one. Don’t mar your reputation with such an impractical eyesore.
Michael S. Rose is the author a several books including on church architecture including Ugly As Sin. His forthcoming book In Tiers of Glory: A History of Catholic Church Architecture in 100 Pages is due out in November. He is editor of Cruxnews.com.
For some reason I keep picturing Rick Warren at the alter of this church in his Hawaiian shirts. Seems this would fit him. He could even wear sunglasses then.
That's an ill-informed assumption masquerading as a question, which is Sinkspur modus operandi.
Monoghan can do whatever he wants with his money, but building a glass structure in a hot, hurricane-prone area reflects very poorly on his judgment.Yet you'll still call him arrogant.
The article indicates that this is still a proposal, doesn't it? Unless you're privy to what is actually going to happen, which we all know you aren't, then I'll give the benefit of the doubt to Monaghan and Father Fessio and continue to reject your heterodoxy and insolence, pal.
Protege tuam pugam, deacon.
Not according to Michael Rose, the author of the article:
One call to the university assured me that this is no joke. It’s the real thing—and they’re moving ahead with the project come heat or hurricanes. The chapel is expected to be completed in 2006 along with much of the rest of the new campus.
You just want to fight.
Are you angling to become the Richard Clarke of the Catholic caucus? You seem to be auditioning for the part.
Our parish church is designed in the "Richardsonian" (Romanesque Revival) style.
Some FLW churches:
I don't think much of the "flying saucer" Greek Orthodox church, but the others aren't too bad.
Not traditional, though.
FWIW, I hate the proposed Ave Maria chapel. It would be possible to do something more traditional in brick or stone that would fit in with the "Prairie style" FLW architecture.
Administrators at Ave Maria University, the country's first new Roman Catholic university in four decades, outlined plans Wednesday to build a bold campus that would include one of the nation's largest Catholic churches and crucifixes.
snip- Officials said the oratory would be the largest fixed-seating Catholic church in the nation, holding capacity for 3,333 to 3,500 congregants. Embedded into its front facade would be a 65-foot red-tinted glass cross with a 40-foot corpus, or body of Christ.
Monaghan, the founder of Domino's Pizza and former owner of the Detroit Tigers, said the church would be the center of the university and "the very thing that reminds us of what we're about," symbolizing the campus "like the Golden Dome is the symbol of Notre Dame."
I find it interesting that Monaghan would want to build the world's largest crucifix in two locations. See: Monaghan proposes world's largest crucifix---Detroit News
More Richardson (he could get a little out of hand):
I find the Romanesque style a little bulky and lacking in height for my taste. Churches ought to look more or less like this:
St. Mary Magdalene, Clitheroe, Lancs. (mostly 15th c.)
I was at the dedication mass for this yesterday. It was truly surreal to be standing literally in the middle of nowhere in a rural tomato field with the Vatican Choir singing live in the background. The mass was facing the altar, yet I've heard that the tridentine won't be allowed.
I'm not quite sure what to make of this whole endeavor yet.... signals are mixed but seems promising.
Reading these sentences reminded me of an episode of the Simpsons where Homer and Marge are caught in the open naked, and end up escaping in a hot-air balloon. At one point in their escapade, Homer falls out of the balloon's basket, and grabs onto a rope attached to the balloon, and his naked body gets dragged across the glass roof of a church full of people. It's a very funny scene.
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