ed a Ree still ce shale "BhArchitecture after Modernism Building for humans by Matthew J. Milter THE FIRST DAYS of Princeton Theologica! Seminary’ anal book sale are an academic feoting rey Used copies of bbl commentaries ptt ets and works ty Aquinas Luther and Calin are qu sooped up by ease seminarians, After two day of thi what's not let ae the “cutinsedge"rlgion books ofthe 195s ad 'k—the dogs of reed postr rats tthe es generation can do thot. Most of these books, having pusiontely defended ‘bygone mindset, won't even ind taker onthe sl’ fil dy, ‘whoa os fl of books canbe hal for five dlls Tiles ike Episcopal bishop James Pike's A Tine for Chrision Condor Inve ene fat modem cause to sere: they alto the pile Inbeled “reeling.” As the saying goes, he who marries the Spinto the age wll soon become a wiower. ‘The book ournumbering al others onthe reas ables cach year it John AT, Rebason's onctie bestseller Honesto ‘Gada nartl ry that tetonal Gos talk an make se ‘o*modera man"In ight of he resuegnee ofthe det of the Tiny, Rovan Wiliams some years ago suggested that “Hons God seemed museum piece” Matin Marty's propeey that Robinson's bestseller would "serve no more than a feonote” in any survey of 2h-ceatuy theology no seems bit enerous Robinsoa, who called his book ia reo ‘spect "te Worst thing Lever si” would perhaps have agreed ‘One years waiting tough the copies of Honesto Gad ‘on fve-dallar bax da, Ieame upon hen gem tas bard ‘over copy of The Modern Church: Masterworks of Moder Church Archie, by Eatward Mil published in 19561 ‘pened the rmereased pages “I the church to remain a ial ‘lemon in th sacologel ajument ofthe twentith entry.” ‘tumpeted the inodbetioa, is new balding shoal therefore ‘beam expesion ofits purpose ino if tay. The nineteenth fury Gothic Reval has lot is meaning for the ssenic pit oft age Thad dicovered the architectural equivalent of Honest fo God, What lowed was page ater page celebrating ehurchos ‘hat communicated this "scat spit” that churches that looked ike they were ul to howe sient laboratores. Many archtecualsiyes have been embraced by the Christian tradition. But when « sje socks by detntion to annie tadton, as does that ile known tx Modernism, (Crstins shoud be suspsous, “ison fom the preset that or architectral work should be doived” insted he hugely nue Cong aeration Cvstian Century Macha 209 \@Arctitecture Modems (CLAN), whose leader hypostasied ‘he modes pint hy erasing is amily name and inventing for himelfa new one, Le Corso. This was not hiss amass, but active rasan “We mus set ourselves agnnt the pst rote Le Corbusier in his Modernist treatise Vers Une Archer ‘Accordingly, Gothic cated wore dismised a fale gh gins the frees of rai" Vesties the pst suchas Chartres were “senimentl” and “hot very beatifel” Le CCobusirs di for Se. Peter's Bsc didnt even mei ‘complete seatence:*Weelched flue!” heeled Sending Modernism’s mistake was to underestimate the needs of buildings’ inhabitants. rchltetural students to Rome a al “wast expple them for lie"Me pring ambition of architect! Mdernim was sort of Calvin without Chris. “The hoslity of Modernist arcitestre toward religous {ah por came fom the fact ha the syle wae Kind of falth, Bauhaus diector Walter Gropiv promised not ar new buildings but a "ew structure ofthe future. wich Wl ‘ne day ise toward heaven from the hand ofa milion work ese the crystal symbol of new ath erism once sought help even ose the aver ‘gs person. But i teed oan the average per "The founding tenons of Moderns rites ‘re Landable. The new materials alfnded by iduiation required anew yeh could house apopeltionundersew eso omic condtins Modemam would es his lenge with 0 ‘iconey insted hy the modem machine home as ‘machin for ling in"The new se patrayed ills moral Fosking the architectural "end" Moderns wou! be ones shut bing’ tral needs ‘Modernism’ mistake, however, was to underestimate the Ye He bios a mined coenoes ofthe humans who inhabit ings To the human pen hunt for color and variety, Modem offered the inten. tional syle— at white planes that were the sme everywhere, ‘om Inia to Minos I the face ofthe human dit in su. Driv and nega, Le Corbusier offered pla o bulldoze the cobbled streets of Paris and tart anew (a plan that fore ately, as not eased out). Modernism condemied al ore ‘mentation as bourgeois voit forgetting the simple fe ht ccoaton brings lesa to the hums eye This divoee of Modernism from base human necessity ‘would eventually spur resistance, but marrage to pola ower ensured the syl's temporary soeess It is no cola ence that he igh point of Modernist ashitecture dvetated With the activity of heary-banded political movements In the ‘words of CIAM, the ew syle would have to “teach people how to live” When inhabitants of Le Corbusiers Cité de Refuge dormitory fr Paris down and, complained in ‘he weltering summer heat thatthe windows could not open, ‘Le Corbusier chastised the resident for conan their pay. Shoogil reactions wth thei physolgieal ones The ia tants had yet to imbibe what Le Corbuserealled "the spit of living in mas production houses ‘This gaping disconacet hetmeen architectural ideals aod !verage sien’ need continues nou on yin the date over a landnark of Moderist (more precisely "Bratalt) architecture, the "Third Church of Christ, Scientist in ‘Washington D.C. a windowless concrete fortes The morsip ing congregation hopes to tear down the rrture tnd build !ncw Ts onmers concluded" We know of no way to adap the bung to mect our weeds Is nos mecomng bul “Aehitectural preservationist have respond this tack in the spr of Le Corbusier" You ca etm enough to have a8 'ppeciaton frit” Perhaps the worshipers have yet to ibibo ‘he spit of worshiping in mass-production churches Te divree of cantrmporary thitectrfoa human nes ‘plored tng by Harvard slog Nathan Guerin er fet ied book, Prom a Cause to Si In 1 esays ued by dear message, Giz recounts how Modernism Men fom orkd-savng mision to one among several frit options oa an IKEA showroom floor The Book power comer fom (Glazer potion ashi profe ben coma for he pt 30 year He bas been @ wines tothe literal demotion of ‘Modernism’ scomplshments commonly tend point for Modems is 172. when World Trade Center areteet Minors, Yamasak's Prt lgoe apartment in St Loi despite being the ‘ubjet ofa presigious architectural evar, were ileal destroyed. lazer was onthe commits tat made the dese, “Thad shared that optim and oder faith” he delares ‘Bu Gaza isa Modernist who has heen mgued by resi Glazer provides some frightening examples of bow Moers’ faith inthe tare burned al ridges tothe par {ews Mumford the mest prominent American ub thors Sf the mid200h century, even considered the. Lincoln “Menvoril a part ofthe old order that needed tb ncrurned, Monuments in general for Mumford, “ae all te allow ‘UNSIGHTLY LANDMARK: The Bales Thied Charc of {hrs Seen tn Washington D.C, considered by some the ‘sles chach In Washington. The church congregation wa demolish, but preservationist for keying fe echoes of an expiring breath... which either curb and confine the work ofthe ving the New York Puli ery ote completly relevant io ou belts and demands” Such,mdicalisn was jsifed as necesary to defend the condnary cizen. Modermism,expaine Glave, “epresented ‘ebelion agains histori, omament, overblown form, pt dering to the great and ih and newly rch as aginst serving the needs of society's cammon people" Hence brownsancs ere bulldozed to make way for he modern housing develo. ‘ment that would nth Word of CLAM teach people how fo live" Such projects gave us what urban dweller today cll ‘Te Proeci""We know better now” sheepishly admit one ofthe many Modetniss quoted by lazer White Modernism today maybe lost cause it has et tobe replaced by anything ese. Contemporary architecture ot the net ina suzesion of yey, but "the metet skirmishes ‘round common norm that he effaced al strc os ‘Anda norm that eaves most of us discontented Glazer dees the fssure unde abtat ait ‘ary rciectural scson are hf prsed bythe os tnd bled to hear architects fr exami that they ae om “ejond bukling” Glazer, homer, provides ngs expan, ‘ion for the bewlderng intellect stncphere:“Arcicce ‘cen yess ted amy rm the pragmatic and che ioral sees to the wilder teaches of sie theory beatae a any fer to design beter housing ured to ne tcl theory is the study, imped mostly by thinkers a ‘he Marxist tration, of how socal meaning generated and hist ConaryNEIGHBORHOOD CENTER: Te comempoary manchach 4 doesnot shape suburban spa, bats shaped by comet, | aot Philip Has ha designed aten-acrenelgbrhood enter, 5 ouivatent tn sce 10 many suburban church property with {lurch schoo, vari of housing options al pape, 1 square ad paring for nearly 400 eas ‘maintained by social elites Cra thors examine texts— and buildings foe how they uphold tational meanings and, ‘Presumably repressive socal nde From @ Cause 4 Sil is nots wholesle condemnation, descending into harrumph Modernism may bean ea syle for certain kinds of bigs o# monuments Glaer concedes, for example that the very modern Vietnam Memorial a sue cs But the limits of the tye are evident. Moder simpy rakes for wonderfol factories. isis another of Glaze’. repentant Modemist: However, let a raigiows bit ora soil ideal replace cubie fot costs ot radiation loses, and noting happened. Thee isnot asinge modern ehreh in he ‘ate county tht comparable to fists eafeteria™ ‘According to Glazer, erie thery now the ralig min sel of arhietue, As a esl, Glazer has ite ope that an archteture of beauty ion the horizon. Ty’ starts” Such as Frank Gehry and Daniel Libeskin, ssn moe inter ‘sted in generating buze than in eening humane modes for turban Wife, Furthermoce, because postmodern arcilesture Tacks the narrative fore to fully overt the anathema on ‘mamest, Modernism has reaseted el. "Not ony would it embarran arhitects to design decorative eta or el fort they woulda know howto doi and there ‘would be no calspeople to provide it The workers who once ave and sculpted the decorated suraces of buns inthe late 19th and early 20h century simply don exis. Glaze’ slution ia sober one We should ela appre: ation forthe aecompiihments ofthe now anrepeatable pst. ever there was a charge to jealously defend premodern ‘huretes Glazer provides “We ean preserve the Duidigs of the pas We en bul them agin (hist Contry Hach. 209, CConseration of premodern architecture, however, maybe aninsuicient state expeily considering that ent ey conducted by LifeWay found that most people prefer churches that are but nthe tration premoder sy, One indication of what a renewal of taitonal architecture and turban planning might involve ithe hook Til We Have Bult erase, by Philip Bes head of the raat choo of shi tecture atthe Univerniyof Note Dame, which is peabead ing countercural foes on taitonal dese, ike Glazer, Bes offers an aray of exlorations—from medion on the Ghent aarpieee to a disetion of ‘Ntsc uses But he ao offers eprint or academ- ‘ecngagement of fercely secular fl Despite Christan thet ‘ays impressive wack roca orp eau architect, ‘hres los an ionld indiference toward rato belie among architectural hers os. Bes ont thine nce lun "Tam obviously nt uniaerstd in compose araives ost espocly ru ones” Rather han citing de ih he arciectra establishment, Bess epeately cl 10 the hase "Meer social anaes” he exp “dretited the pervasiveness of what theologians ll in, wile ovrestina ing the edegeive power of tec gloss and lect Tie Have Bull Serusler is therefore not he pace ogo fora Cristisnized version of ric theory. Bess ows sv hen he Sees one. "Cutie theory... bys o¥m og ows ofthe primacy of the wilo-power, and of the “on structeness of nature ~isnotorously poor foratheony of ‘sumably or for tat mate, of just soe plural ech ‘eligious vows ofthe cent character of anand mare and {hei elatinship to eachother and to God” ‘Bess ashi Cato carson the abe as he mars ib «al religion, total piesophy sd natal tory in his llr to enigratetrodonal architecture an urbanism He ie Suspicious bth of contemporary architects who use religous an phat sdsonnected religious consi a of eh ‘ous leader who build ynagoges and chutes that owe xe ‘o arctectrl fasion han professed bls Bat he posit for a revial of traditional architecture is «real one for Bes becane human beings perl ean only tnd so moet ies, Inthe bul environments” Bes does nt alo i patil stylet e does provide sl, history informed proposals forvhat sucessful church and synagogue ing tay vanes. ‘Unsurprisingly his proposals are not moxer. Bess com ‘zdes that some modem buildings and even some modern hurces are sucessful, but he ako points ont the iony that ihe best a them typilly were erated by architects edoct- ‘od a radtionallsts” Bos ugget that premodern buliings ‘Mirably serv people who worship Becaun often their arch tects were themselves worshipers Art proded by vag wor ship eadition should herelore be resumed. ‘While critical of the theorists he calls the “Deits of [Nielshe;* ess pull some ariteetural eres ch a Colin Rowe, int the obit of his moe religsly informed yon, “He does the same forthe New Urban, » movement that, seeks humane aleratives to suburban sprawl, Bee undeSands that if Nw Urbanist are to succeed they wil ned to raw on more thn nostal foraowasone pas or arb ist projects o keep trom becoming Projects they require more than a retro aesthetic—they require «belt in sated onder Ti We tare Bu Jersate contains a nfrmed dsussion the nature of beaty“Complanes precisely wha the at ‘ral order aes and this exe why sete experienc has ‘eligi implicstions because seems to revel to ts pes ‘of some other order ule of ature” And wil the hook may lake theologeal and pilsophizal detours it docs ot Practica edge:"Te way to make iiona urbanism es expen Sve fs to make it ess rare” One of Bes moe radial propor is that churcies should partner with developers fo form ity round themselves the Wey reangement that save tone of ‘ourmest secesful urban evitooment Savanah, Gers "Tough we cannot soi Being mer” sys Bes, "we can eran avo being Mademiss" Or, to gute Glare one of his more hopefl moments “Looking baka, seems as ‘come the most popular way of ig forward A renewed ‘ppreciation of Chistian ration cn inform ot only scons boutao the phys stings in which they ae preached. a ‘A NEW IDEAL: This avardwinning student design by Matthew Aldean (a graduate ofthe School ef Architecture at Nowe ame) delet th mes fom ofa eminary chapel and an interior ston ofthe chapel th chancel ond alta, Pas ice ng im casca or Gothic architecture have begun to anderahe an inerasng umber | ‘thers more humble but each well ered and rote in aon Bibl, ‘At Calvin ‘Theologial Seminary we ae deeply invested inthe personal and spinal formation of every student. Rooed in Reformed thology, ‘ur program is designe fo the practicing pastor and nurere he {ndviual rowth and developmen exentil to this importa cling We like to think of che Master of Divinity program as the thread that bring al che pieces of biblical, authentic, contextual and life-changing mink together, Our new M.Div, cutreaum integrates these ‘dimensions though innovative learning and teaching methods and cn be customized to rate a focnative and meaning experience, Dane aac » church praject-tome ambitions and heist Conary Marc 209