Portfolio: Midwestern Catholic Church

This new church, which will seat up to 1600 people, is planned for a fast growing town. The design of the church is inspired by sacred buildings in the area around Venice. The church is placed adjacent to gardens and a piazza to serve as both exterior gathering spaces and areas for devotion. As is traditional, the church is oriented on an east-west axis while its monumental façade and curving apse face two major roads. The tall bell tower, inspired by Venetian examples, will be visible from the intersection as well as from far away making the location of God’s house clear to all those who pass by. Regional materials such as brick, limestone and a metal roof will be employed.

On the interior, a generous atrium surmounted by a glass roof provides a large gathering area along with a baptistery and ancillary functions. The church proper is cruciform with the altar and sanctuary at the crossing. The nave is articulated by paired ionic columns and arches which are surmounted by large thermal windows. The ceiling is wood with wood trusses recalling the architecture of the existing church on the site. Side aisles facilitate movement and provide areas for devotional shrines and stations of the cross. Above the crossing or heart of the church is a grand dome and lantern supported figuratively by images of the four evangelists. The cupola’s height and spiritual light provides a vertical axis and offers a sense of transcendence to the building. A corona or crown hovers over the sacred altar and behind it hangs an image of the crucified Lord. A screen wall of ionic columns separates the sanctuary from an adoration chapel with a large opening framing the view of the tabernacle of the blessed sacrament. The organ of the existing church will be reused in the new church with music rooms and additional meeting rooms located in a partially finished undercroft.