Contemporary Catholic Architecture: A Space for the Eucharist in the Cultural Environment

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21906/rbl.3605

Keywords:

sacred architecture, cultural environment, Eucharist

Abstract

The phenomenon of Catholic religious architecture results from its integral integration with an evolving cultural context. The proposals of the Second Vatican Council concerning religious buildings emphasize their “openness” to the social dimension of the environment in which they are found. Such a conception of rules referring to religious architecture explains the lack of a rationale for creating an arbitrary ideal or a model for a canonical Catholic church. The architectural diversity of contemporary sacred ensembles in Western Europe, Scandinavia, and the United States reflects the distinct ideological and functional assumptions that respond to the needs, aspirations, and resources of local communities that build them. Analogous conditions determine the architectural uniqueness of Catholic churches in Poland. The dominance of liturgical and social criteria over formal and stylistic criteria in shaping sacred architecture is a source of inspiration in the search for new concepts of “churches for our age.”

Author Biography

Jan Rabiej, Politechnika Śląska

Prof. Dr. Hab. Jan Rabiej teaches and conducts research at the Faculty of Architecture of the Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice. He heads the Chair in Theory, Design, and the History of Architecture. He works on his creative design projects in his workshop Atelier 8. The author’s research interests are related to architecture as a cultural phenomenon, one that binds together the properties of works of technology with the values of artworks. The subject of his theoretical writings is directly related to his creative work as a designer. Prof. Rabiej is the author of approximately fifty independent academic publications. He has designed twelve buildings (places of worship, apartment complexes, office buildings, and manufacturing plants), more than thirty interiors, and several dozen stained-glass windows, paintings, as well as numerous paintings and sculptures.

References

Dahinden, J. (1978). Kirchenbau – Zeichen für was? Kunst Und Kirche, 41.

Hales, E. E. Y., & Życieńska, E. (1968). Papież Jan XXIII i jego rewolucja. Warszawa–Kraków: Biblioteka „Więzi”, Znak.

Meier, R. (1996). Estetyka logiki. Architektura i Biznes, (7–8), 11–13.

Rabiej, J. (2004). Tradycja i nowoczesność w architekturze kościołów katolickich. Świątynia fenomenem kulturowym. Gliwice: Wydawnictwo Politechniki Śląskiej.

Rabiej, J. (2013). Architektura. Sztuka transfiguracji. Gliwice: Wydawnictwo Politechniki Śląskiej.

Rosier-Siedlecka, M. E. (1989). Odpowiedź przestrzenna na nowe założenia liturgii i duszpasterstwa. Przegląd nowych kościołów Europy Zachodniej. In N. Cieślińska (Ed.), Sacrum i sztuka (pp. 72–84). Kraków: Wydawnictwo Znak.

Published

2018-09-30

How to Cite

Rabiej, J. (2018). Contemporary Catholic Architecture: A Space for the Eucharist in the Cultural Environment. The Biblical and Liturgical Movement, 71(3), 221–236. https://doi.org/10.21906/rbl.3605

Issue

Vol. 71 No. 3 (2018)

Section

Articles

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