First Draft of Background Section of Prospectus
Because the modern age has increased
demand on the advancing technology being integrated into everyday life, the
culture is rapidly changing to meet those demands. Due to the changing culture, architectural
designs are also changing to accommodate those demands as well. This is evident in religious architecture, as
churches are continuing to evolve and redefine the symbolic meaning of the
church.
Many have already done research on
this changing culture and how it has affected the congregations and ways the
church operates today. The most
important societal shift has been the Covid pandemic in 2020, in which life
itself has changed throughout the world.
Using this lens to examine the impacts upon the architecture of rising
churches, we can start to see the difference in symbolic meaning of the
physical church from 2015 – 2025.
Overseas, many studies are being done in the UK across multiple Christian
denominations and the impact technology is having in these spiritually intimate
spaces. Most English churches have never
had a telecommunicated service ever before, after Covid that all changed (Bryson et al., 2020).
This literature recognizes the redefinition the newer generations are
identifying as “infrasecular spaces”. By
blending the secular and sacred into a domestic setting, this tampers with the symbolism
of the physical church. This literature
argues that the significance of the physical place of worship isn’t in the
architectural beauty or it’s history as a place of prayer, but because it is a
space where God is encountered (Bryson et al., 2020).
Based on this analysis, the idea and importance of the physical church
is still important to a culture, and technology is redefining the definition of
it’s symbolism within society.
Another
area of information that is important to have as background knowledge is how
churches are now operating with the newly developed technology that is able to
connect more people remotely. Studies
are being conducted to analyze how online services are being utilized to appeal
to the public. Before the pandemic, many
churches simply didn’t have the infrastructure they needed to have an online
platform. Today, however, one can search
any and all churches and listen to a sermon or recording of their service
whenever they want. The Church has
adapted as well, utilizing technology to move forward in new ways of
spreading/expressing their faith (Bankston, 2023).
Many people see the church as two different entities. The accessibility of technology allows
churches to exploit social media, connecting the church to everyone through the
internet and social media. In this
sense, the secular and spiritual world are blending into one through the usage
of advancing technology. Knowing these
statistics will help understand the trends towards the social necessity of a
physical church. Many elders in the
church are very hopeful for the integration of technology. The virtual world is abundant with
opportunities to proclaim the gospel (Bankston, 2023).
Anything can be turned into good, and the pandemic is the prime example
of showing how humanity adapted to a new way of living.
Furthering into the physical
architecture of the effects developing technology has on churches in today’s
age, it is necessary to acknowledge how the layout of churches are
evolving. There has been much literature
that discusses these changes and ties into the history of the churches
symbolism through how it is organized internally. The cruciform shape was the most common
layout in churches throughout history, but in the modern day, culture wants
more movement and openness that betters the community and creates a stronger
spiritual center (Wells, 2024).
Many studies have shown how people are responding to this cultural shift
and critiquing current and new churches in their areas. “Storefront churches” has been the
commonality across the U.S. This allows
the church to acquire a unique space within the urban fabric, but also doesn’t
seem to hold the same symbolic weight as historic churches held before. After the pandemic, technology in the church
boomed. Modern quirks such as
contactless donation points, are convenient and adapt to the culture of today’s
fast paced society, but also give the impression that the space is not
primarily for worship, but an architectural showpiece (Wells, 2024).
Modern churches that have been constructed after the pandemic have
integrated this technology so the public doesn’t have this feeling about their
sacred place they attend. The culture of
today puts heavy emphasis on personal involvement, translating into the physical
architecture of the church in order to make it more welcoming. Overall, the churches of today have many
design factors to include; Cultural events, societal values, and historic ideas
are all being juggled continuously in the church to better the community and
create a symbol into the surrounding fabric.
Contactless donation point in a
Catholic Church
Uniform Cruciform church
organization
“Storefront Church”
The
“Storefront Church” has been the go-to design for newly planted churches. This idea allows churched to accommodate failed
or failing buildings already built for the commercial world, and adapting them
into sacred spaces. Not only does this weave
the church into the existing fabric, it has architectural implications as
well. Most new churches don’t have the
budget to fund an entirely new building.
Reusing the existing infrastructure is economically friendly and gives
the building a pre-defined perimeter.
While this is helpful at the time of construction, many guidelines and
regulations are already met with the existing building at play, making it hard to
alter the geometry of the building to become more inviting to the public. Cross Church in the northwest Arkansas region
is a good definition of how modern architecture is becoming the norm in the
religious world. The building itself has
a storefront façade, planar features, and compositionally geometric. The interior is revealed through the exterior,
allowing the audience to easily get acquainted with the building space. While this building isn’t inside of a strip
mall or takes up an existing building, the exterior can be compared to one. Glass, steel, and concrete are the makeup of
the materials being used today, and they are being translated into religious
architecture. By using common materials
and constructing these spaces with the same organizational patterns, the
symbolic image of the church in the landscape does not hold the same value as
those with vaulted roofs and unique shapes.
A more traditional example of the storefront church is Storyline Church
in Arvada, CO. This building used to be
a grocery store converted into a spiritual space. As stated before, there are many design flaws
within this building because it had to follow the existing parameters of a previous
infrastructure. Again, the same
technologies are being used that give the church a very neutral invitation to
the spiritual space. Not only do the
exteriors take a hit from these typologies, the interiors are filled with
developing technology. From an interior architecture
perspective, it seems as thought the room was designed around the technology,
not around the human experience.
Integrating the modern technology is a key aspect to everyday life in
order to connect people. Architecture
seems to be shifting in a different direction where technology is being the
foreground to design, and the experience is coming second. Religious architecture seems to be losing the
symbolic nature of the identity of the church.
Conforming to the modern accommodations while suppressing representation.
Cross Church in Fayetteville, AR
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