Beauty Ascending; Iconoclasm Ending
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| 8th Century smashing of images |
Long have we suffered the despair of utilitarian and/or soulless constructions.
Church builders - pastors, parish councils, architects - should pay attention and learn from the authors of the New York Times article cited below.
The proposed order, called “Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again,” favors classical design for buildings in Washington. It has drawn opposition from architects.
By Katie Rogers and Robin Pogrebin
Feb. 5, 2020
WASHINGTON — Should every new government building in the nation’s capital be created in the same style as the White House?
A draft of an executive order called “Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again” would establish a classical style, inspired by Greek and Roman architecture, as the default for federal buildings in Washington and many throughout the country, discouraging modern design.
The order, spearheaded by the National Civic Art Society, a nonprofit group that believes contemporary architecture has “created a built environment that is degraded and dehumanizing,” would rewrite the current rules that govern the design of office buildings, headquarters, and courthouses, or any federal building project contracted through the General Services Administration that costs over $50 million.
“For too long architectural elites and bureaucrats have derided the idea of beauty, blatantly ignored public opinions on style, and have quietly spent taxpayer money constructing ugly, expensive, and inefficient buildings,” Marion Smith, the group’s chairman, wrote in a text message. “This executive order gives voice to the 99 percent — the ordinary American people who do not like what our government has been building.”Let's adapt that last paragraph:
For too long architectural elites have derided the idea of beauty, blatantly ignored parishioners' opinions on style, and have quietly spent parishioners' money constructing ugly, expensive, and inefficient churches. A voice must be given to the 99 percent — the ordinary Catholic people who do not like what our pastors and parish councils have been building (for the past 60 years).
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| Santa Monica Church |
or this...
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| McCrery Architects |
Thugliness
Iconoclasm is a sickness of the heart and mind. The West has allowed a virulent strain of anti-art to infect and convince people that ugly is 'in'. Much modern "art" is a symptom of spiritual destitution. That so much effort and considerable resources have been (mis)spent on concrete bunkers or buildings that appear to have been built by devotees of the Square Peg In A Round Hole school of architecture should be condemned as a near triumph of corrupt values that have for too long threatened civilization.
Too often, when a parish decides to build a beautiful classically inspired work of art, the hypocrites jump on the "Why not give the cash to the poor?" bandwagon while ignoring the obvious: beautiful spaces inspire hope by uplifting the imagination. Human beings need beauty to remind them of goodness in the world. Why don't the naysayers give their own cash to the poor and leave the rest of us to do both, i.e., to build soul-feeding buildings and to offer health and food services and subsidized housing to those most in need of mercy?
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