Re: Re: reordering and destruction of irish cathedrals – St Colmans Cathedral, Cobh

“Architecture has the capability to define through formal language that we come to identify the activities that occur within by the form of the architecture. The activities and the forms become interdependent. To the extent that the architecture incorporates these forms and linguistic elements we feel at home and comfortable. Conversely, to the extent that these elements are missing we may feel less at home, less comfortable. Our sense of well-being is affected by the architecture. The result of a sense of negative affect—or lack of well-being—may be a tendency not to return to the space, i.e. a loss of interest.”
Neo-gothic Architecture Today by Ethan Anthony in Sacred Architecture Journal Vol.5 2001.

It seems to me, as one of the ‘plebs’ mentioned by Praxiteles in a previous post, that the above pictured churches were built by an architect for an architect. They certainly were not built with the ordinary churchgoer in mind, and as for God, well forget it, He doesn’t even get a look in. While the fall off from the Church cannot be put finally at the feet of architects or their misguided liturgical advisors, they must take some responsibility in the alienation of the people. From what I have seen, they are building for Man, while the people enter their buildings looking for God, and finding only Man, leave in confusion.