Environment and Art
2005 Louisville, Kentucky
2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002
Convener 2005
Thomas Slon (project architect at Arthur John Sikula Associates; member of the American Institute of Architects)
Seminar Participants 2005
William Seth Adams, Peter Bower, Richard Butler, David Caron, Foy Christopherson, Andrew Ciferni, Peyton Craighill, J. Philip Horrigan, Conrad Kraus, Dennis W. Krouse, Mario Locsin, Jerome Overbeck, Martin Rambusch, Robert Rambusch, Jan Robitscher, James Ross, Arthur Sikula, Mark A. Torgerson
Visitors: Charlotte Zalot
Seminar Report 2005
Unlike most years, the seminar group did not travel to sites to see examples of liturgical art and architecture, but remained at the hotel to continue the discussion begun last year in New York which addressed the subject of shrines and memorials. While in New York we considered examples of shrines as independent of houses of worship, as ancillary parts of houses of worship, and as identified in themselves as houses of worship.
Our effort this year was to integrate the discussion of shrines with our former liturgical program of examining the primal nature and elements of Christian worship: water bath, word event, and table celebration. To initiate this discussion convener Thomas Slon reviewed the previous year’s work, then proposed to turn the discussion from shrines themselves to the human experience of encounter at a shrine. The shrine becomes an occasion to remember a person or event, to highlight it as significant, and celebrates its significance by way of ritual action. The shrine is also occasion for an encounter with the person or event remembered, often experienced as a “presence.” The ritual action usually has one leaving something of him- or herself (e.g., flowers, candles, money), as the person senses that the presence continues even after the encounter. Finally, the shrine points out the meaning of the person or event memorialized, a meaning which is usually personal and transcendent.
This introduction was followed by presentations of buildings which adopted a particular attitude toward shrines. Although unable to attend the conference, Richard Vosko sent a presentation by way of CD on a center to honor and promote the cause for canonization of Capuchin Solanus Casey. Ed Foley, himself a Capuchin and deeply involved in the project, presented the project on Vosko’s behalf. The community (which sponsored the project) was intent on building not a shrine to their fellow Capuchin but a place to learn, pray, as well as honor Solanus Casey. While his tomb was enshrined as part of the complex, it was only one “event” on the journey through the spaces that terminated in the worship space where Eucharist was to be celebrated
Conrad Kraus presented the newly established monastery in the Czech Republic, Novy Dvur, a project by architect John Pawson in which traditional Cistercian aesthetics were married with modern detailing and building technique. Noticeably devoid of traditional shrines, the project represents, nevertheless, much more than mere functionality. It is a composition in light, form, and space, arguably a shrine to its purpose and location.
Peyton Craighill showed a drawing and plans for a church in Anqing, a port city on the Yangtze River, all but destroyed by the Red Guard during the Cultural Revolution. The local Protestant community, with government authorities, plans to restore the building to its former Gothic glory and add a facility for community gathering in an attempt to memorialize China’s Christian past, while looking to a future of service to the community.
Mark Torgerson presented the growing phenomenon of the mega-churches, their attempt at non-denominational evangelizing, and their minimal investment in symbols and, therefore, shrines. While much of their worship is derived from entertainment models and the major place of worship is essentially a theater, there are reserved spaces for more “iconic” church with stained glass, steeples, and pews.
The following day the presentations of Arthur Sikula and Mario Locsin focused on the enshrinement of the liturgical elements. By way of its history, Sikula demonstrated how when baptism went indoors, from lakes and streams to homes and then churches, shrines for baptism were made.
Locsin gave a brief history of the altar, first located in rented rooms, homes, catacombs, and later in various locations within the church building. He demonstrated how the table became a shrine for martyrs, other saints and relics, and how the inclination to enshrine relics, or at least the names of the beloved deceased, continues in the design of altars, many of his own work. Thus altar becomes sacrificial block and communal table.