Regarding President Trump’s Executive Order creating a preference that federal courthouses and other federal buildings be designed in a classical style, George Weigel commented:
“….The ever-more-ludicrous New York Times, in high editorial dudgeon, asked why the republic should be festooned with more ‘fake Roman temples’—as if the Capitol, the Lincoln Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, the West Building of the National Gallery of Art, and similar architectural masterpieces were a blight on the national aesthetic. Does the high priesthood of architectural modernism really want to defend such grotesqueries as the Robert H. Weaver Federal Building (headquarters of the Department of Housing and Urban Development), aptly described by a government worker as “ten floors of basement”? Or the J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building, another concrete-and-glass eyesore that (as my friend Andrew Ferguson wrote) “is even more obnoxious than its namesake”? Or the Hirshhorn Museum, a concrete Bundt cake squatting on the National Mall?
“Alas, these horrors are precisely what the modernist architectural establishment wants to defend, and continues to defend with some success: most recently, in ramming through the Frank Gehry design of the Eisenhower Memorial in the nation’s capital, a gargantuan nonsense better suited to the Berlin imagined by Albert Speer after the triumph of the Third Reich.
“The idea of Donald Trump as a promoter of architectural classicism is not without its ironies, of course, given the designs of his own buildings. But as the good folks south of the Mason-Dixon Line have been known to observe, ‘Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every now and then.’ And in the current madhouse of American national politics, one takes with gratitude any signs of sanity one can get.
“Modernist architectural fanaticism is not about aesthetics only. As critics like Tom Wolfe (From Bauhaus to Our House) and John Silber (Architecture of the Absurd) have demonstrated, the International Style, Brutalism, and the rest of the modernist canon embody a worldview and an anthropology—an idea of the human person. The worldview is resolutely secular and lacks any sense of transcendence….
“The modernist curse afflicted Catholic church architecture in the U.S. for a while, but that unhappy period is now passing. Marcel Breuer’s Brutalist-inspired abbey church at St. John’s in Minnesota was often considered the most important U.S. Catholic building of the mid-20th century. Compare it to Duncan Stroik’s chapel at Thomas Aquinas College in California, which I’d suggest is the most important U.S. Catholic building yet erected in the 21st century. Stroik, not Breuer, is the future, because the TAC chapel’s classicism and decorative beauty call us out of ourselves and into the Kingdom; the Breuer church depresses the spirit….”
The above comes from the March 4 edition of First Things.
And if you like the chapel at Thomas Aquinas chapel, check out the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse, WI. Same architect, larger building, warm vibrant colors, serene and beautiful. The setting does matter, whether it be a church or government building.
Except for its exquisite tapestries, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels is another example of the modernist curse. I was expecting a building like Stroik’s TAC chapel, and instead we got an alabaster warehouse. What a disappointment. Completely uninspiring.
I can do without the blind squirrel quote.
The Chapel of St. Ignatius on the grounds of Seattle University is an artistic and, I believe, spiritual treasure. I am speaking of the interior of the chapel only. The exterior is drab, reminds me of an unfinished warehouse. Steven Holl is the architect. There is information on the web you may find interesting.
Seattle University identifies as being “in the Jesuit tradition” . But still.
If you are ever in Seattle, it is well worth a visit.
Sandy, I wholeheartedly agree with you about the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels: The tapestries are EXQUISITE and quite moving. I loved being at the back of the church and working forward, as the people on the tapestries do, processing toward the altar. Those tapestries are very holy and create a very holy experience! From the gift shop, I bought the “John the Baptist” Belgian tapestry from the makers of those tapestries, and it is a treasured piece of art in my home.
I worked practically across the street, at the Criminal Courts Building, and sometimes had the opportunity to attend the organ concert and/or Mass. While the building itself is very “clean” in the modern sense, except for the tapestries, it is very cold – literally and figuratively. The gardens and surrounding structures are very unimpressive, especially considering how much the whole thing cost. Although I must say, AT LEAST they have a wonderful parking structure, so if someone wants to visit, especially during the week, it’s very easy to park, tour, attend Mass… and I believe the gift shop (or other location on the campus) will validate your ticket. Everyone should take the opportunity to tour the building if they happen to be in the area; that way they can form their own opinion, and have the ability to view those fabulous tapestries. What a gifted designer/artist.
That being said, the rest of the building and the grounds? Meh. Left me cold. I lived and worked in L.A. and watched the construction of the “Taj Mahoney.” I wasn’t Catholic at the time. I became Catholic when they had the first Easter service there, and our RCIA class had the opportunity, but declined, to have our baptism at the Cathedral. In retrospect, I wish we had chosen to be there.
The Jesuits have been trying to destroy the Catholic Church since 1962. For proof visit awful Corpus Christi Church in Pacific Palisades, California. Watch Roger Scruton’s film Beauty to see what we missed.