Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Ralph Adams Cram: The Sequel



This is a model of the schematic design proposed by the firm of HDB/Cram & Ferguson, the successor to Gothic revivalist extraordinaire Ralph Adams Cram, for a new church for St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Hampshire, Illinois. When completed in 2008, it will be one of the first truly monumental church projects (1000 seats) of the incipient revival (along with Clear Creek Monastery and the TAC chapel), and the first one to be Gothic. This is the same firm, incidentally, behind the lovely new 200-seat parish church of Our Lady of Walsingham down in Texas. While I have not had the chance to work in-depth in the Gothic manner, I certainly love the verticality of Gothic churches and find HDB/Cram & Ferguson's contributions to the renewal of Christian architecture very heartening. More please!

(Cross-posted to the Shrine of the Holy Whapping).

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