A Building That Teaches
-- An Interview with
Chapel Architect Duncan Stroik
(April 17, 2003)
 A
version of this interview appears in the February, 2003 issue
of Catholic World Report.
Duncan Stroik, Professor of Architecture at the University
of Notre Dame and principal of Duncan
G. Stroik Architect, LLC [stroikarchitect.com], a firm
specializing in ecclesiastical design, was selected as the
Design Architect for the Chapel
project. Following is an interview with him by former
College tutor, Dr. Ben Wiker.
Obviously, you've deviated from the normal trend in church
architecture. Could you explain what you were trying to accomplish
in designing Thomas Aquinas College's new Chapel?
The new Chapel will be an alternative to the novelty and
shock value of contemporary architecture in the news today.
Rather than designing it to have maximum shock value, which
seems to be endemic in commercially-driven architecture, we
have sought to design something for posterity. This is a chapel
which will be built to last hundreds of years and designed
not to go out of style.
Ultimately, we are designing something which should be "timeless"
rather than merely of its time. Of course, a truly antique
building is very new today, and if it is based on timeless
principles and human proportions, it will be seen as "ever
ancient, ever new."
A good building is like a ballet by Tchaikovsky, a sculpture
by Rodin, or a painting by Raphael. It is never dated by time,
always remaining current and allowing us to discover new things
in it continuously. This is the principle of reading the Great
Books over and over again. Some ideas, motifs, and sounds
do not go out of style; they speak to all generations.
How does the design of the Chapel fit into the architectural
theme of the College?
The Chapel is designed to fit in with the existing buildings
and Master Plan of the campus, which is quite strong. The
campus is made up of an arcaded quadrangle at one end, with
dormitories, parking, and playing fields on the periphery.
The architecture is Mediterranean in character with stucco
walls, red tile roofs, and deep-set window and door openings,
thanks to Rasmussen and Associates, the architectural firm
in Ventura that designed the buildings.
The Chapel is appropriately sited at the head of the quadrangle,
much like the library is the head of the lawn at the University
of Virginia. The topography of the campus slopes down toward
the Chapel so we have raised it up on a podium with a front
terrace and steps appropriate for graduation ceremonies. The
views of the Chapel and the location of the bell tower, or
campanile, were studied from different points on the campus,
including from the hills up above.
The façade, tower, and dome were always conceived
in relation to the hills beyond. They are vertical, soaring,
and seem to grow out of the landscape like most traditional
architecture. The new Chapel has a very deep porch, what would
be an exo-narthex in Rome, which allows for a covered entrance
and the possibility of walking to the Chapel under cover from
the other buildings.
The positioning of the Chapel and the arcade have allowed
us to create a series of terraced gardens next to the Chapel
which will provide more intimate places for students to study
or relax. With a new gateway and entrance road, the Chapel
will be the first thing visitors see when they come up to
this academic "acropolis."
The Chapel of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity is conceived
of as the completion of the campus, the focal point, similar
in a way to the golden dome with the statue of the Virgin
at Notre Dame.
How would you classify the design of the Chapel?
The design partakes of the broad tradition of Catholic architecture
including Early Christian, Romanesque, Italian Renaissance,
Spanish Baroque, and the churches of Southern California.
To what extent does the design manifest that tradition?
The Chapel design is based on the same philosophy as the
College's Great Books curriculum. By studying the finest examples
of church architecture from the last two millennia, we sought
to understand both universal principles as well as specific
architectonic and iconographic details. The Chapel is a twenty-first
century classical building and will employ all the benefits
of modern technology as they apply to structure, earthquake
codes, sound systems, lighting and cooling. And much like
our forbears five hundred years ago in the Italian Renaissance,
we have sought to look both to the architecture of the city
of Peter and Paul, as well as the architecture of our own
backyard.
Specifically, the interior of the Chapel is part of the two-thousand-year
tradition of the basilica type. We have modified the ancient
basilica by adding transepts, dome, and campanile, and this
causes us to look at a variety of later examples. Brunelleschi's
churches built in Florence during the fifteenth century are
very helpful in understanding how to modify the basilica form
as well as in making the architectural syntax more sophisticated.
It is said that Brunelleschi did for classical architecture
what Dante did for the Italian language.
Later architects such as the theorist Leon Battista Alberti
invented the church façade as a transformation of the
triumphal arch, while Palladio and Michelangelo are the first
to master the relation between large and small columnar orders.
The dome and campanile have a wide and varied bloodline mainly
in Tuscany and the Veneto, along with clear references to
major buildings in Pasadena and downtown Los Angeles.
In what way is it both in continuity with the best church
architecture, but also carrying church architecture forward?
Is the design based on the design of any existing chapels
in Europe or America?
One of the wonderful things about working in the classical
tradition is that one finds commonalities between twentieth
century American architecture, seventeenth century Spanish
and Mexican architecture, and fifteenth and fifth century
Italian architecture. We have looked at all of these time
periods and innumerable masterpieces, always trying to find
better and more expressive solutions, and details which are
appropriate for a chapel at the College.
The classical impulse is interested in both tradition as well
as innovation in architecture, and so this Chapel in its own
way seeks to be part of an evolutionary, as distinct from
a revolutionary, tradition. Today we are in a modern day Renaissance
and are coming out of a modernist "dark ages." Thus,
this Chapel should be seen as a bold answer to the modernist
project. Following T.S. Eliot, I believe that a work of art
which embodies the Western tradition will not only be changed
by the past but itself will help us see the past in a new
way.
Where did you look for inspiration in the School's "own
backyard?"
Just as we were interested in looking at the best from the
classical tradition, we also spent a lot of time researching
the architecture of Southern California where appropriate
models for the Chapel seemed to be and to which the faculty
were personally drawn. We visited and measured many of the
churches of the Los Angeles region, such as St. Vincent de
Paul, St. Andrew's in Pasadena, St. Mary Magdalen in Camarillo,
the Immaculata in San Diego, as well as a number of the missions.
We also looked at modern churches, such as the new church
of San Juan Capistrano done by Neuerberg, the same person
responsible for the original Getty museum. Through all of
this study, the faculty committee, and in particular President
Tom Dillon, has been intimately involved, and this has allowed
the project to develop very successfully.
What about the influences from Rome?
I was fortunate to have traveled in Italy with Tom Dillon
a few years ago and he has pushed me to study particular buildings
that we both loved, such as Santa Sabina and St. Paul Outside
the Walls. President Dillon realized that to build a chapel
at the College was a major project and necessitated the highest
level of preparation. He has taught himself the history of
Catholic architecture as well as the importance of proportion,
human scale, and iconography. He and Peter DeLuca are continually
challenging us to maintain the highest standards while keeping
the design to a reasonable budget.
Could you explain some of the ways in which you have
integrated theology into the architecture of the Chapel?
The front façade is seen as a Porta Coeli - or "Gate
of Heaven" - with a triumphal archway that the faithful
enter through. It is flanked by niches with two saintly mentors,
St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas. The pediment above,
referring to the church as a Temple of God, or Templum Dei,
frames the coat of arms of the College and is surmounted by
a statue of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity. Inscriptions
in Latin announce the dedication of the Chapel and its consecration
for divine worship.
The campanile (or bell tower) has three levels with three
bells, symbolic of the triune God. The front doors have a
bas-relief of the ancient name Maria Sedes Sapientiae (Mary
Seat of Wisdom), which is a name associated with academic
endeavors.
The seven arcades of the nave symbolize the seven sacraments,
the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, the seven dolors of the
Blessed Mother, her seven joys, and the three theological
and four natural virtues. They will also provide locations
for the fourteen Stations of the Cross in the side aisles.
The Corinthian columns which line the nave are associated
with the Virginal and will employ theological symbols in their
capitals.
The ceiling is vaulted with ribs and symbolizes the vault
of Heaven. The windows in the clerestory are translucent,
allowing the Chapel to be filled with the timeless light of
Heaven, which we pray will illuminate our hearts and minds.
The umbrella dome has twelve segments with round oculi symbolic
of the twelve apostles, while the four piers which support
the dome will have images of the four evangelists. Shrines
to saints (the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Thomas Aquinas,
among others) are placed at the crossing in their own niches.
The focus of the interior is the sanctuary, with its altar
and tabernacle. The marble altar is framed by a four-columned
baldacchino in the tradition of the Early Christian basilicas.
The composite marble columns are Solomonic and reference the
temple in Jerusalem, with a canopy and exalted cross above.
The tabernacle is designed as an elegant marble tower located
behind the altar and, in its composition, refers to the altar.
Do you think the Chapel might help bring about a rebirth
of classically-inspired architecture?
I do. The Chapel is part of a burgeoning renaissance of
both secular and sacred architecture taking place today. Just
as the College has spearheaded a return to a classical education
in contemporary America, so its Chapel will offer one blueprint
or one vision for the future of Catholic architecture.
When do you expect the Chapel to be built?
We hope to begin grading this coming summer and, God willing,
to begin the construction of the actual building in the fall.
It will take approximately two years to complete.
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