San Francisco Cathedral Architecture

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I’m sure I’m not the first to say this, but…

I visited San Francisco recently and was really dissapointed…

Here’s the Episcopalian cathedral:
View attachment 5071

And here’s ours:
View attachment 5072

And the one next door in Oakland:
View attachment 5073

I guess I shouldn’t expect much from the one of the most liberal cities in America, but still…

Can we trade with the Episcopalians please? They get Notre Dame and we get a giant washing machine agitator and a giant wooden closet…
 
Jsmith17 said:
I’m sure I’m not the first to say this, but…

I visited San Francisco recently and was really dissapointed…

Here’s the Episcopalian cathedral:
View attachment 5071

And here’s ours:
View attachment 5072

And the one next door in Oakland:
View attachment 5073

I guess I shouldn’t expect much from the one of the most liberal cities in America, but still…

Can we trade with the Episcopalians please? They get Notre Dame and we get a giant washing machine agitator and a giant wooden closet…
Click to expand...
Hey! That’s all hip and cool, and it’ll get all the kids to come to Mass now!
 
Have you ever read the book “Ugly as Sin”?

It’s worth your time.

And if you’re into ugly Cathedral Architecture, you out to head down to Los Angeles and see the Taj Mahony there. Or at least google “Taj Mahony” and you’ll see what I mean.
 
geocities.com/ring_of_fnord/Jetsons_TajMahony.jpg

I think this is the best justice that can be done to this farcical mess…turn it into a cartoon backdrop.

Do these people really think this is helping the Church? If this is what we want in our churches, why not just rent out space from some hotel every Sunday? Bah…

Against absurdity.
Stephen
 
I think St. Bernard had a good reaction to some crazy churches of his day (they were crazy in a different way, but you’ll get the point):
“What is the point of this ridiculous monstrosity, this shapely misshapenness, this misshapen shapeliness? What is the point of those unclean apes, fierce lions, monstrous centaurs, half-men, striped tigers, fighting soldiers and hunters blowing their horns? In one place you see many bodies under a single head, in another several heads on a single body. Here on a quadruped we see the tail of a serpent. Over there on a fish we see the head of a quadruped. There we find a beast that is horse up front and goat behind, here another that is horned animal in front and horse behind…Good Lord! If we aren’t embarrassed by the silliness of it all, shouldn’t we at least be disgusted by the expense?”
Click to expand...
 
With the pictures you supplied, it seems you are comparing two outsides with one inside, three different churches. (Or did I miss something?)

I do not especially care for ultra modern church architecture, but sometimes that modern look outside hides a spiritually inspiring inside.
 
another good reason to long for and work for the day when Episcopalians and Anglicans become reconciled and return to full communion, we will get all their great churches, organs, and music. yea! not to mention all their faithful people who have done their best to maintain their faith in the sad period of division.
 
puzzleannie said:
another good reason to long for and work for the day when Episcopalians and Anglicans become reconciled and return to full communion, we will get all their great churches, organs, and music. yea! not to mention all their faithful people who have done their best to maintain their faith in the sad period of division.
Click to expand...
Yes, the same divisions are coming to the Roman Catholic Church, mark my words. The lines have already been drawn we just haven’t recognized it yet. 😊
 
Jsmith17 said:
I’m sure I’m not the first to say this, but…

I visited San Francisco recently and was really dissapointed…

Here’s the Episcopalian cathedral:
View attachment 5071

And here’s ours:
View attachment 5072

And the one next door in Oakland:
View attachment 5073

I guess I shouldn’t expect much from the one of the most liberal cities in America, but still…

Can we trade with the Episcopalians please? They get Notre Dame and we get a giant washing machine agitator and a giant wooden closet…
Click to expand...
The “giant washing machine agitator”. I visited there for Easter Vigil in 1992. Impressive on the inside. The organ was way over the top for my taste. You can’t hear anyone singing. Architecture aside, it is in an impressive location, great views. This is the trend for the future I’m affraid. Los Angeles followed suite. Novel design but it retained its function down to the crypts underneath. It will be some time before another grand, gothic inspired, church will be built. What we must do is help preserve the ones that remain. Get involved and donate what time and money you can to keep our old churches around for future generations. Most importantly stand up and be heard in your parish. If you feel that tradition is being stripped from your Home, get involved before its too late.
 
Another_Mary said:
With the pictures you supplied, it seems you are comparing two outsides with one inside, three different churches. (Or did I miss something?)

I do not especially care for ultra modern church architecture, but sometimes that modern look outside hides a spiritually inspiring inside.
Click to expand...
I think you are correct. I have been into the San Francisco cathedral a number of times, and while it is beyond dispute that its exterior looks like nothing so much as a giant washing-machine agitator, inside I thinks it’s extremely beautiful and quite inspiring.

What I have always found puzzling in these discussions is the feeling by some that our universal Catholic faith somehow depends on, or is uniquely fostered by, an architectural metaphor rooted in 11th Century Western Europe. Surely the universal message of Our Savior is larger and more robust than the proponents of this kind of kind of architectural imperialism give it credit for. We’re not all inspired by the same physical forms. My parish church is modest New England brick, and is frankly much fuller than the stone Episcopal cathedral in the adjoining city.
 
Jsmith17 said:
I’m sure I’m not the first to say this, but…

I visited San Francisco recently and was really dissapointed…

Here’s the Episcopalian cathedral:
View attachment 5071

And here’s ours:
View attachment 5072

And the one next door in Oakland:
View attachment 5073

I guess I shouldn’t expect much from the one of the most liberal cities in America, but still…

Can we trade with the Episcopalians please? They get Notre Dame and we get a giant washing machine agitator and a giant wooden closet…
Click to expand...
I LOVE the Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland. I have been inside (I am not merely judging it from photos) and it’s awesome. Some of the furnishings do not meet my personal taste but all in all it’s an awesome structure.
 
Mattapoisett64 said:
I think you are correct. I have been into the San Francisco cathedral a number of times, and while it is beyond dispute that its exterior looks like nothing so much as a giant washing-machine agitator, inside I thinks it’s extremely beautiful and quite inspiring.

What I have always found puzzling in these discussions is the feeling by some that our universal Catholic faith somehow depends on, or is uniquely fostered by, an architectural metaphor rooted in 11th Century Western Europe. Surely the universal message of Our Savior is larger and more robust than the proponents of this kind of kind of architectural imperialism give it credit for. We’re not all inspired by the same physical forms. My parish church is modest New England brick, and is frankly much fuller than the stone Episcopal cathedral in the adjoining city.
Click to expand...
What a wonderful posting. Good for you. I had heard all the ignorant “St. Mary of Maytag” slurs before I visited St. Mary’s for the first time and I will admit I was a bit biased. When I got there it was a lot larger than I had assumed it would be. While still not to my taste, it looked better on the outside then it does in the mere picture most use to condemn her.

Inside is a whole different story. It’s huge and it’s commanding. It’s awesome. Again it certainly is not my favorite of a design but I wouldn’t hesitate to make it my parish church in an instant.

Grace Cathedral is nice, but there are certainly nicer churches in The City including some Catholic ones:

farm1.static.flickr.com/108/303716213_6f4796c966.jpg?v=0

missiondolores.org/images/MD_and_basilica.jpg
 
LUISV said:
The “giant washing machine agitator”. I visited there for Easter Vigil in 1992. Impressive on the inside. The organ was way over the top for my taste. You can’t hear anyone singing. Architecture aside, it is in an impressive location, great views. This is the trend for the future I’m affraid. Los Angeles followed suite. Novel design but it retained its function down to the crypts underneath. It will be some time before another grand, gothic inspired, church will be built. What we must do is help preserve the ones that remain. Get involved and donate what time and money you can to keep our old churches around for future generations. Most importantly stand up and be heard in your parish. If you feel that tradition is being stripped from your Home, get involved before its too late.
Click to expand...
Saint Mary’s in SF and Our Lady of the Angels in LA are two profoundly different structures. Gothic was never a “tradition” in California. I don’t really care for gothic so I hope you are right in your predictions.
 
WhollyRoamin said:
Have you ever read the book “Ugly as Sin”?

It’s worth your time.

And if you’re into ugly Cathedral Architecture, you out to head down to Los Angeles and see the Taj Mahony there. Or at least google “Taj Mahony” and you’ll see what I mean.
Click to expand...
No, it’s not worth one’s time… It’s an ignorant and polemical work that does nothing to educate.
 
Navarre said:
No, it’s not worth one’s time… It’s an ignorant and polemical work that does nothing to educate.
Click to expand...
Ignorant? Please.

Polemical? Maybe. Perhaps you take a certain bias with you? I don’t know-- we’ve never met. But it takes two to polemically tango.

IMHO, it’s an excellent commentary on Catholic architecture and its deformation-- and people interested in religious structures would find it interesting. People interested in worshipping in airplane hangers would probably find it polemical.
 
LUISV said:
The “giant washing machine agitator”. I visited there for Easter Vigil in 1992. Impressive on the inside. The organ was way over the top for my taste. You can’t hear anyone singing.
Click to expand...
That’s strange, because I’ve always found the organ at St. Mary’s of the Maytag to be underpowered and swallowed up by the odd acoustics. You were probably sitting in an acoustical hot spot, of which St. Mary’s has many. It’s a fine Ruffatti instrument but underscaled for the space. Perhaps if it had been placed in the rear of the church, the acoustics would have been less spotty.

I recently visited Oakland’s new Cathedral of Christ the Light, and despite my preference for traditional Gothic architecture, I found it aesthetically more pleasing than I expected, at least the interior. They are not finished with the decoration, so it looks spartan, but unlike the almost cartoonish Taj Mahoney, Oakland has symmetry and plenty of light. That being said, if given the responsibility, I would never commission something so modernistic.
 
Cavaille-Coll said:
I recently visited Oakland’s new Cathedral of Christ the Light, and despite my preference for traditional Gothic architecture, I found it aesthetically more pleasing than I expected, at least the interior. They are not finished with the decoration, so it looks spartan, but unlike the almost cartoonish Taj Mahoney, Oakland has symmetry and plenty of light. That being said, if given the responsibility, I would never commission something so modernistic.
Click to expand...
hahaha… Oakland’s new Cathedral looks strangely like the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton Ohio. Check them out, it’s remarkably similar.

Which might be as close as anything in Oakland is ever going to get to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
 
WhollyRoamin said:
hahaha… Oakland’s new Cathedral looks strangely like the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton Ohio. Check them out, it’s remarkably similar.

Which might be as close as anything in Oakland is ever going to get to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Click to expand...
It looks nothing like it.
(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
 
It is not Catholic churches only, facing the problem of terrible buildings. Here’s an eye opening story of the Third Church of Christ, Scientist in Washington, DC.

They have a church building so ugly and dysfunctional, that the congregation wants to raze it. Unfortunately, the city has granted it “historic” status and won’t let them tear down their own structure. Don’t miss pictures of what I believe is the ugliest church in the world.

Paul
 
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