Catholic World News News Feature
ARCHITECTURE CRITIC RAPS WINNING DESIGN FOR ROME CHURCH July 26, 1996
The design for "the church of the 21st century"-- the winning entry in an architectural competition held by the diocese of Rome, is an unfortunate example of a failed modernist trend, according to an article which appears in the August/September issue of Catholic World Report.
Professor Duncan Stroik, in an article entitled "Modernism Triumphs in the Eternal City," charges that the architectural competition yielded a result that suggests "the future of Church architecture lies in the recent past." Stroik, who teaches at the School of Architecture at Notre Dame, argues that the modernist design which was chosen by the competition judges is at odds with the best traditions of Rome and of the Catholic Church.
In preparation for the Jubilee Year 2000, the Church of Rome has planned to build 50 new churches, most of them serving congregations in the city's rapidly growing suburbs. For one such new parish church, a church dedicated to St. Silvester, the diocese held an international architectural competition, hoping to produce a design which would serve as the model for other new church buildings throughout the Catholic world.
The winning design was prepared by an American architect: Richard Meier of New York City. Meier-- who is not Catholic-- had previously established an international reputation for his works, which featured angular concrete-and-glass buildings; his best-known works are museum buildings. "In an age when it is often remarked that the art museum is the modern equivalent of a cathedral, is it not ironic that the See of Peter would hire a secular museum architect to try to breathe new life into the design of its parishes?" Stroik asks.
"The Catholic Church of Rome--the patron of the architects of the Early Christian and Romanesque basilicas, and most of the Renaissance and Baroque architects--has promoted some of the greatest works of art and architecture known to man," writes Stroik in Catholic World Report. "In fact there is no other city in the world which has such a wealth and diversity of sacred architecture." However, he points out, the churches built during this century have, in general, been disappointing from an architectural point of view. To make matters worse, he says, the Meier design is squarely in the same modernist tradition that has produced so many recent disappointments.
Stroik's more serious complaint against the Meier design, however, is that the building is not recognizeable as a Catholic church-- or indeed a church of any kind. "While Meier has spent a lot of time in Rome," Stroik observes, "there is nothing on the exterior of the building--not even a cross--to indicate that it is a house of God or give any hint that the architect studied the varied tradition of basilica, temple, centralized, or baroque nave churches in Rome." There is no room in his design for statues, icons, or other devotional objects within the church. The design, Stroik concludes, is based on a thorougly abstract view of transcendance-- a view that is consistent with the Enlightenment tradition, but not with the Incarnational themes of Christian belief and worship.
Ironically, Stroik also argues that despite its severe limitations, the Meier design actually may have been the best-- or the least offensive-- among the six designs submitted for the Rome competition. The Rome diocese had invited six noted architects to submit entries. But none of those six were known to be practicing Catholics, and only one had shown a sense of religious belief in his previous work. At least one of the entries-- a building divided into two unconnected parts-- would have made it nearly impossible to celebrate Mass for a congregation! Stroik concludes that the major weakness in the competition lay in the organizers' decision to select competitors according to the standards of secular architectural critics, rather than to seek designs produced by Catholic professionals.
If "the church of the 21st century" was intended to inspire pilgrims who visit Rome to celebrate the Jubilee Year, Stroik feels sure it will be a failure in that regard. Nevertheless, he points out, those who travel to Rome for the Jubilee may very well receive some architectural inspiration: "The millions of other laity, religious, and tourists will surely be inspired by the finest of Roman Catholic culture, including St. Sabina and St. Mary Major, St. John Lateran and the Gesu, St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel. One hopes that these pilgrims will take back to their dioceses both a deeper faith and an understanding of these architectural masterpieces as the appropriate models for their own churches in the year 2000."
