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Churches
Churches is a work that reflects the grandeur of its subject matter. In this book, Judith Dupre presents an architectural tour of fifty-nine of the world's most enduring Christian churches, from such celebrated landmarks as St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, Frank Lloyd Wright's Unity Temple in Oak Park, Illinois, and Le Corbusier's Chapel at Notre-Dame-du-Haut in Ronchamp, France, to lesser-known masterpieces, including Huialoha Congregational Church on Maui and the Church on the Water in Hokkaido, Japan. Special theme essays cover the earliest Christian churches, the construction of Gothic cathedrals, the evolution of the baptismal font, churches designed by contemporary artists, and the revival of meditative labyrinth walking. With photographs and essays, this book offers a nuanced portrait of each structure, blending its architectural history with a deep appreciation for art and a reverence for religious traditions. Encompassing houses of worship from six major Christian denominations and all corners of the earth, Churches is a chronology of faith and achievement that will inspire anyone interested in architecture, art, travel, religion, or photography.
160 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2001
2 people are currently reading
34 people want to read
About the author
Judith Dupre
18 books15 followersJudith Dupré writes books that bridge the worlds of art, photography, and architecture in ways that delight and educate. She has written several works of illustrated nonfiction that have been translated into ten languages, including Skyscrapers (Black Dog & Leventhal/ Workman, 1996); Bridges (Black Dog & Leventhal/Workman, 1997); Churches (HarperCollins, 2001), a New York Times bestseller; and Monuments (Random House, 2007).
Her newest book, Full of Grace: Encountering Mary in Faith, Art & LIfe, will be published on November 2, 2010. Full of Grace offers a new twist on this popular subject, taking the reader inside the Virgin Mary’s world in ancient Palestine and showing, equally, how thoroughly she inhabits our own, twenty-first century experiences. The book touches on Mary’s Jewish roots, her veneration by Muslims, and Our Lady of Guadalupe’s powerful presence in Hispanic communities. More intimately, it explores the joys of motherhood and friendship, the nature of surrender, and the pain of loss through a Marian lens in 59 essays—one for each bead of the rosary.
Born in Providence, Rhode Island, Judith received degrees in English and Studio Art from Brown University, and subsequently studied at the Open Atelier of Design and Architecture in Manhattan. Currently, she is at Yale University doing advanced studies on the role of time, memory, and ritual in architecture and community building. She is an Intent Voice on Intent.com, and an Advisory Board member of Faith & Form, the journal of the Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art and Architecture, a professional interest area of the American Institute of Architects. She lives with her family outside of New York City.
Her newest book, Full of Grace: Encountering Mary in Faith, Art & LIfe, will be published on November 2, 2010. Full of Grace offers a new twist on this popular subject, taking the reader inside the Virgin Mary’s world in ancient Palestine and showing, equally, how thoroughly she inhabits our own, twenty-first century experiences. The book touches on Mary’s Jewish roots, her veneration by Muslims, and Our Lady of Guadalupe’s powerful presence in Hispanic communities. More intimately, it explores the joys of motherhood and friendship, the nature of surrender, and the pain of loss through a Marian lens in 59 essays—one for each bead of the rosary.
Born in Providence, Rhode Island, Judith received degrees in English and Studio Art from Brown University, and subsequently studied at the Open Atelier of Design and Architecture in Manhattan. Currently, she is at Yale University doing advanced studies on the role of time, memory, and ritual in architecture and community building. She is an Intent Voice on Intent.com, and an Advisory Board member of Faith & Form, the journal of the Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art and Architecture, a professional interest area of the American Institute of Architects. She lives with her family outside of New York City.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 11, 2015
This was an interesting over sized coffee table book I picked up from Amazon. As the title suggests, it is on churches. The author chooses over 50 churches and gives each church about 2 pages of photographs and text about that church. The book has an interesting design, the front cover does not open like a regular book, but like a set of doors.
The selection of churches is diverse and ecclectic. Baptist Churches, Catholic Churches, Protestant Churches, Mormon churches and Quaker meeting houses can all be found inside. Each church has beautiful photos about it, and a bit of the history that went into that particular church. I found many of the churches to be quite beautiful, others I could not see the attraction.
Rather than describe each church, I have listed a few of my favorites.
The Borgund Stave church of Norway is in the book. The Norwegian churches have a definite look of their own, and only a few dozen such churches remain. It was nice to see an example of one.
Many churches and Cathedrals that I saw in Florence, Italy are herein. The Baptistry of San Giovanni, Santa Croce, and Santa Maria del Fiore (Il Duomo)all look beautiful. St. Peters and the Sistine Chapel from the Vatican are here, with a wonderful two page layout of the famous ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
From London, England is Westminster Abbey, as is St. Paul's. I was glad to see those as well, because I had tours of both when I visited London.
Imagine my surprise when several local churches appeared in the book. I grew up on the south shore of Boston, and the famous Boston Trinity Episcopal church was within. This historic Gothic church is a landmark next to the mirrored Hancock Tower. Another vision of a church was the Scientology church in Boston. I have never been inside that, but the architecture is modern and interesting. Even a small church from Hingham, Mass was within the pages, the Old Ship Meeting House.
Other recognizable churches were included as well, such as St. Basil's in Moscow, Russia and St. Mary's in Providence, Rhode Island (where John Kennedy married Jackie). The Crystal Cathedral, the mega church of Televangelist, Robert Schuller is shown. This seemed in sharp contrast to a Quaker Meeting house from New Gloucester, Maine.
A few modern looking churches I had never heard of struck my eye for their unique architecture, such as the Church on the Water, a Catholic church in Hokkaido, Japan or the beautiful wooden and glass church called Thorncrown Chapel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.
This certainly wasn't a definitive collection, but it was an interesting one. Religion seems to inspire grand architecture, and this book did a good job with a representative sample of how diverse, beautiful and interesting divinely inspired churches could be.
The selection of churches is diverse and ecclectic. Baptist Churches, Catholic Churches, Protestant Churches, Mormon churches and Quaker meeting houses can all be found inside. Each church has beautiful photos about it, and a bit of the history that went into that particular church. I found many of the churches to be quite beautiful, others I could not see the attraction.
Rather than describe each church, I have listed a few of my favorites.
The Borgund Stave church of Norway is in the book. The Norwegian churches have a definite look of their own, and only a few dozen such churches remain. It was nice to see an example of one.
Many churches and Cathedrals that I saw in Florence, Italy are herein. The Baptistry of San Giovanni, Santa Croce, and Santa Maria del Fiore (Il Duomo)all look beautiful. St. Peters and the Sistine Chapel from the Vatican are here, with a wonderful two page layout of the famous ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
From London, England is Westminster Abbey, as is St. Paul's. I was glad to see those as well, because I had tours of both when I visited London.
Imagine my surprise when several local churches appeared in the book. I grew up on the south shore of Boston, and the famous Boston Trinity Episcopal church was within. This historic Gothic church is a landmark next to the mirrored Hancock Tower. Another vision of a church was the Scientology church in Boston. I have never been inside that, but the architecture is modern and interesting. Even a small church from Hingham, Mass was within the pages, the Old Ship Meeting House.
Other recognizable churches were included as well, such as St. Basil's in Moscow, Russia and St. Mary's in Providence, Rhode Island (where John Kennedy married Jackie). The Crystal Cathedral, the mega church of Televangelist, Robert Schuller is shown. This seemed in sharp contrast to a Quaker Meeting house from New Gloucester, Maine.
A few modern looking churches I had never heard of struck my eye for their unique architecture, such as the Church on the Water, a Catholic church in Hokkaido, Japan or the beautiful wooden and glass church called Thorncrown Chapel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.
This certainly wasn't a definitive collection, but it was an interesting one. Religion seems to inspire grand architecture, and this book did a good job with a representative sample of how diverse, beautiful and interesting divinely inspired churches could be.
April 21, 2014
I developed a love-hate relationship with this author when I worked at San Francisco's A Clean, Well-Lighted Place for Books. I loved her because she had the audacity to create unwieldy books that would not fit on any standard-sized bookshelf, and I hated her for the very same reason.
Turns out that not only are these books nearly impossible to shelve, but their design "innovations" also make them challenging to read, particularly in the case of the current book, which is around the same size as a dorm room poster. So the outrageous design is strike one against this book. (Admittedly, the big doors comprising the front cover provide an interesting, and somewhat literal, entrée into the world of religious architecture, but the user-unfriendliness of the design overwhelmed its cleverness.)
It also seems that more effort was spent on designing the book than obtaining photographs and writing text, because the book, while enormous, didn't contain nearly enough imagery, and the text was less than inspiring. (The main review describes the writing as "lively"? Compared to what, I wonder? The book of Leviticus?) Two more strikes against the book.
The selection of churches (all Christian, by the way, if your definition of "Christian" is broad enough to include Mormons, Unitarians, and Christian Scientists; religious architectural awesomeness like the Baha'i House of Worship in Wilmette, IL, was omitted) seemed pretty arbitrary, as did the order in which they were presented. You have masterpieces like Hagia Sophia, Chartres Cathedral, and even Unity Temple alongside forgettable monstrosities like Church on the Water. I would love to know how Dupré selected the churches she included.
Finally, the introductory interview with a contemporary church architect was so tedious and filled with art-babble (e.g., praising hideous architecture and elevating it to Chartres status) that I almost quit reading this book before I made it past the preamble. Maybe I should have taken the hint.
Turns out that not only are these books nearly impossible to shelve, but their design "innovations" also make them challenging to read, particularly in the case of the current book, which is around the same size as a dorm room poster. So the outrageous design is strike one against this book. (Admittedly, the big doors comprising the front cover provide an interesting, and somewhat literal, entrée into the world of religious architecture, but the user-unfriendliness of the design overwhelmed its cleverness.)
It also seems that more effort was spent on designing the book than obtaining photographs and writing text, because the book, while enormous, didn't contain nearly enough imagery, and the text was less than inspiring. (The main review describes the writing as "lively"? Compared to what, I wonder? The book of Leviticus?) Two more strikes against the book.
The selection of churches (all Christian, by the way, if your definition of "Christian" is broad enough to include Mormons, Unitarians, and Christian Scientists; religious architectural awesomeness like the Baha'i House of Worship in Wilmette, IL, was omitted) seemed pretty arbitrary, as did the order in which they were presented. You have masterpieces like Hagia Sophia, Chartres Cathedral, and even Unity Temple alongside forgettable monstrosities like Church on the Water. I would love to know how Dupré selected the churches she included.
Finally, the introductory interview with a contemporary church architect was so tedious and filled with art-babble (e.g., praising hideous architecture and elevating it to Chartres status) that I almost quit reading this book before I made it past the preamble. Maybe I should have taken the hint.
October 8, 2011
This is one that adorns the coffee table, it's that significant. For those of us who can't simply jump on a place and traverse the globe to see these spectacular creations, this book is heavy on the photos of all the great churches you want to see.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews