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Church design systems should harmonize like music, pastor says
This story marks the second in a three-part series on church architecture. Click here to read Part 1.
By Julie Filby
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| Artist illustrations provided courtesy of Eidos Architects Pictured above: Our Lady of Mount Carmel Latin Rite Parish in Littleton is planning to transform their existing church, a former Episcopal church, into a traditional Gothic style structure beginning in August. |
This is the opening sentence from “Built of Living Stones: Art, Architecture and Worship,” a resource drafted by the U.S. bishops in 2000 to guide parishes, architects and liturgical consultants during the construction process.
“As part of that process, parish members are called upon to study the Church’s teaching and liturgical theology and to reflect upon their personal pieties, their individual tastes, and the parish history,” the book continues. “By bringing together these personal and ecclesial elements in faith and in charity, parishioners help to build a new structure and to renew their parish community.”
Architect Bob Saas, an owner of Eidos Architects in Greenwood Village, has worked on some 30 Catholic schools and churches in the Denver Archdiocese since his first project with the archdiocese in 1998. In this time he’s been involved with different styles of church architecture.
“If I had to describe the style of our firm,” he said, “I think what we try and do, hopefully successfully, is blend the instruction (of the Church) with each parish community’s personality.”
While personalities vary from parish to parish, he sees trends emerge.
“We’ve seen a movement towards more traditional-looking churches,” he said. “Even to the point of the Gothic style we’re working on with Our Lady of Mount Carmel.”
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Latin Rite Parish at 5612 S. Hickory St. in Littleton—originally St. Timothy Episcopal Church—has been planning a major renovation for two years. Its current capacity of nearly 200 will be expanded to 400, to accommodate the parish’s 600 registered households.
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| Artist illustrations provided courtesy of Eidos Architects The design at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Latin Rite started with a 24-foot high altar of Carrara marble. The new interior will include vaults and Gothic-proportioned windows and arches. |
“The style is definitely Gothic,” said pastor Father James Jackson, F.S.S.P. “Gothic architecture retains all the qualities of the Romanesque, but adds a soaring verticality.”
The design started with the main altar. The church will also have two matching side altars as Our Lady of Mount Carmel celebrates Mass using the extraordinary form of the Roman rite (Vetus Ordo). This form is celebrated in Latin with the priest and parishioners facing the altar.
“The story of how we got that altar is really remarkable,” Father Jackson said. “It was the result of prayers to Our Lady of Mount Carmel.”
He discovered the altar through a brokerage house, a company that buys items when a church closes and resells them. The 24-foot-tall Carrara marble altar, with inlaid mosaic detail, weighs 26,000 pounds.
“It’s a $2-2.5 million altar,” said Father Jackson, “and we got it for $40,000.”
It was purchased for the parish by a donor overwhelmed by its beauty. It’s currently in storage in some 60 boxes.
“The church was designed around the altar, with the tabernacle right in the center,” he said.
When considering the design, Father Jackson asked Saas to study St. Charles Borromeo’s 1577 work “Instructiones Fabricae et Supellectilis Ecclesiasticae” (“Instructions on the Construction and Adornment of Churches”).
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| Photo by James Baca/DCR A goal of the 2009 renovation at St. Thomas More Church in Centennial was to complement the modern elements and design of the church with classic elements that stand the test of time. |
New components will include a cruciform shape, choir loft, clearstory light, a bell tower, flying buttresses, outside atriums, a stone exterior and a very dominant front door.
“Borromeo was an expert in dogmatic theology, canon law, Patristics, acoustics, music and art,” said Father Jackson. “’Brilliant’ does not begin to describe him. He wrote this (book) for people like me who aren’t experts, and don’t have the leisure or ability to harmonize those elements.”
Father Andrew Kemberling, V.F., pastor at St. Thomas More Parish in Centennial, has a particular proficiency for overseeing design projects as he is an art teacher by training. In his priestly tenure of 23 years he has been involved in six major construction projects, including the 2009 renovation of St. Thomas More Church.
In redesigning the 1983 circular-shaped church at 8035 S. Quebec St., Father Kemberling—with Denver firm Larson Incitti Architects—combined architectural systems with precious materials and the dignity of the human form to create a space to stand the test of time.
“The church is modern; it has a lot of modern shapes and approaches,” said Father Kemberling. “The goal was to go to a timeless, classic look.”
The design employs architectural drama, such as lighting, fixtures, vaults and arches, to draw eyes to the altar.
“We wanted to create drama so you have a focal point,” he said. “The focal point was confused in the previous church … there’s no doubt now; you go in and the first thing you see is the crucifix.”
The keystone, crucifix, altar and baptistery are made of polished white marble.
“One way to add beauty to a church is the inherent beauty of precious materials—materials reserved for special circumstances,” he said. “You can communicate the value of truth…by building with materials that are precious to you … then not only have you conveyed the importance of your values, you know it will be timeless.”
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| Photo provided courtesy of St. Thomas More Church St. Thomas More Church in Centennial received the 2010 Illumination Award: Lighting Award of Merit from the Illuminating Engineering Society of America for dramatic lighting. |
“It’s an interesting pro-life twist,” he said. “When we put the human form in a church—saints, angels, Jesus—is it morally right to abstract it? My contention is it only devalues humanity when we abstract the human form. It should be presented in a naturalistic, realistic way.
“This creates timelessness because the human form, in the image and likeness of God, is beautiful.”
He compared the design systems of the church as working together like musicians in an orchestra.
“It’s like a beautifully orchestrated song with lots of instruments playing, but with just the right blend,” he said. “When you balance those things together, you innately, almost intuitively, know something’s happening spiritually in the church that makes it special.”
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