Holy Light: New cathedrals rethink modern worship
Architecture has always been designed to symbolize and venerate shared values and beliefs. This is especially true in cathedrals and houses of worship, structures that exist across ecological, economic and cultural boundaries. These buildings include rituals and assemblies as they explore the relationship between human and divine experience. Today, cathedrals are being reimagined for contemporary life and new building traditions.
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As relics of congregation and light, cathedrals are churches that contain the basilica (Latin meaning “seat”) of a bishop and serve as the central church for a diocese, conference, or episcopate. It also usually extends to different Christian denominations, from Anglicanism and Eastern Orthodoxy to Catholicism. It is important to note that cathedrals did not become universal within entities such as the Western Catholic Church until the 12th century. At this point, they developed institutional structures and architectural forms distinct from parish churches, monastic churches, and episcopal residences. As the following designs show, modern cathedrals build on tradition by rethinking the past and reinterpreting gathering and worship spaces.
A new entrance has been created for the renovated phratry hall and lower ark, accessed through a newly built entrance pavilion of red sandstone and a connecting structure linking the old and the new. The project, completed after a long period of pregnancy (the cathedral has been in operation for 15 years, the architects since six), gives the phratry a renewed purpose and welcomes the public for the first time, enriching the benefits of the cathedral to the wider community.
The Norwegian Crown Prince Mette-Marit inaugurated the Northern Lights Cathedral in the Norwegian city of Alta, about 500 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle. Even before its opening, the 47-meter-high cathedral, designed by Schmidt hammer lassen Architects in collaboration with Link Arkitektur, was seen as an architectural symbol and landmark for the entire area.
The Cathedral of Christ of Light echoes as a place of worship and instills a sense of solace, spiritual renewal and comfort from the secular world – a haven in the broadest sense of the word. Located in downtown Auckland, and consisting of a 1,350-seat sanctuary with side churches, baptistery and disciples, the cathedral honors its religious and civic obligations to both the Catholic diocese and the city.
In 2009, at the initiative of Bishop Santier, the Assembly of the Diocese of Créteil, with the support of Chantiers du Cardinal, chose an ambitious project to expand Notre-Dame de Créteil. This architecture is designed by Charles Gustav Stoskopf, a laureate of Rome, and is typical of the 1970s when “blending theology” prevailed at the time. It is part of the contemporary heritage of Créteil.
The construction of Kericho Cathedral was completed at the end of 2015, and it is located in Kenya, about 250 km southwest of Nairobi. It is located within the Highlands, west of the Great Rift Valley, and has great views across the tea plantations and surrounding hills. The diocese was founded in 1995 with a growing number of congregants and is led by the venerable Archbishop Emmanuel Ocumbo. The cathedral’s design creates a unique and sacred place for a gathering of 1,500 seated people participating in the Roman Catholic Mass under one giant united roof.
Purcell completed repairs to the SS Roman Catholic cathedral. Peter and Paul in Clifton, Bristol, making Britain’s last major church building watertight for the first time. Purcell worked closely with the client, Clifton Deuces, to improve the interior environment while respecting the brutalist structure’s architecture, with detailed design proposals in keeping with the iconic building’s richness.
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