Saturday, April 14
Chapel at Ave Maria University
Click Here for a pop-up virtual tour of Ave Maria University's proposed chapel.
I don't terribly like it. The facade still looks clumsy--like an antique radio--and the extensive use of bare steel, though probably very expensive, is not terribly attractive. Glass-roofed buildings are nice enough in sunny weather, but not so much otherwise. It looks as if most of the "atmosphere" in the chapel is intended to come from the play of light from the ceiling on the girders; but Catholic architecture is so much more iconic than that; a traditional Catholic atmosphere comes from stained glass windows which tell a story, from murals which proclaim the gospel, from elements that have clear and explicit iconographical meaning.
Well, I look forward to Matt's thoughts, as well as all of yours!
I don't terribly like it. The facade still looks clumsy--like an antique radio--and the extensive use of bare steel, though probably very expensive, is not terribly attractive. Glass-roofed buildings are nice enough in sunny weather, but not so much otherwise. It looks as if most of the "atmosphere" in the chapel is intended to come from the play of light from the ceiling on the girders; but Catholic architecture is so much more iconic than that; a traditional Catholic atmosphere comes from stained glass windows which tell a story, from murals which proclaim the gospel, from elements that have clear and explicit iconographical meaning.
Well, I look forward to Matt's thoughts, as well as all of yours!
![[SMMMHDH]](http://www.mgilleland.com/music/smmmhdh.png){kind=small}
