Ground was broken last week for an immaculate new chapel at Loyola University in New Orleans.
The naturalistic modern sanctuary by Trahan Architects will sit at the heart of the university’s Audubon campus and serve as a communal space for Loyola’s 16,000 students.
Containing a series of smaller circles connected in a ring to the larger circular design of the chapel, the 5,000-square-foot sacred space brings together natural light and cast-in-place concrete in a variegated composition with views of an adjacent live oak tree that offers worshippers a thoughtful reflection on the natural world.
“A faith that does justice is core to a Loyola education, and this new space will be transformative for our Jesuit Catholic mission,” Rev. Justin Daffron, Loyola University’s Vice President of Mission & Identity, said in a statement.
The firm was able to complete its design concept via a series of pandemic-induced backyard experiments with poured concrete and other sources that ultimately led to a striated form meant to offset the university’s mostly Gothic and Tudor Revival architecture.
The chapel will mark Trahan’s second noteworthy religious building in the state, complementing its 2004 design for a parish complex in St. Amant, Louisiana that incorporated a similar use of natural light and poured concrete to create a sacred spaced space situated within a complex natural geometry.
“The process of concrete design and making is beautiful due to the unpredictability of the pour and the planar quality of the formwork,” Founder Victor F. “Trey” Trahan III said. “It is similar to a cylinder of geological formation, almost extruded from the earth, and we have exposed the layers below. It will age and patina as a canvas of the Louisiana environment.”
The new Gayle and Tom Benson Jesuit Center will open in 2022 following a 12 to 15-month construction process.
4 Comments
beautiful
Did they have a contest to see who could design the most uncomfortable chairs? Punishment for your sins during the week?
Our church went from a modern design that at least had floor to ceiling windows along one side and a view of the woods. You could reflect on the seasons if the sermon was boring (which it usually was). Anyway, we went to one of these windowless bunker buildings that you couldn't see out of. It, like this, would have made a good 911 command center.
Well they are Catholic so your chair comment probably isn't too far off.
Interesting observation though. It's like this space (and worship spaces like it, of which there are many) was designed to be interesting only if you were in the throes of an ergot-precipitated religious ecstasy. As you point out, anyone who has actually attended church regularly knows those moments don't really happen... its mostly sitting through boring shit so you can go get pancakes with your friends afterwards.
They rendered cold pour joints as if they are a design feature ...
Praise doG.
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