a building for the glory of God? What does this mean? There are - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Can a Christian place of worship be a building for the ‘glory of God’? What does this mean?

There are over 3 million cathedrals. These buildings have been created, often over many hundreds of years, to make space for people to worship God and to express in architecture a Christian sense of the grandeur of God and the value of spiritual life. They are places for wonderful music, weddings and funerals, everyday prayer, community life and – most importantly worship. I would like you to cut out and stick your favourite 4 images in your topic books and explain what you like about them (what is admirable/impressive?)

This is Christchurch Cathedral in New Zealand. What do you think happened to it?

What do you think the right course of action was? Demolish/re-build or leave broken? • An earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011at 12:51 p.m. local time. The earthquake struck the Canterbury Region in New Zealand's South Island and was centred 6.7 kilometres (4.2 mi) south-east of the centre of Christchurch, at the time New Zealand's second-most populous city. The earthquake caused widespread damage across Christchurch, killing 185 people in the nation's fifth-deadliest disaster. • Christchurch's central city and eastern suburbs were badly affected, with damage to buildings and infrastructure already weakened by the magnitude 7.1 Canterbury earthquake of 4 September 2010 and its aftershocks. The earthquake destroyed the Christchurch Cathedral's spire and part of its tower, and severely damaged the structure of the remaining building. The remainder of the tower was demolished in March 2012. The west wall suffered collapses in the June 2011 earthquake and the December 2011 quake due to a steel structure – intended to stabilise the rose window – pushing it in. The Anglican Church decided to demolish the building and replace it with a new structure, but various groups opposed the church's intentions, with actions including taking a case to court.

This is Christchurch Cathedral now. What are your thoughts?

• The Anglican diocese has already spent £2m on a new Transitional Cathedral which has been hailed by some as the most important building to be built in New Zealand for many years. “Internationally it is the most recognised building in the country,” says Andrew Barrie, professor of architecture at Auckland University. Due to its building materials the structure has become known as the “cardboard cathedral”. It was created by Shigeru Ban who this year won architecture’s grandest award – the Pritzker Prize. • The cathedral has elements of wood, steel and poly-carbonate and is built to 130% of the current earthquake standard. It is designed to last for 50 years – it was never meant to be permanent. Barrie says it also shows how such structures can be a model of what is possible in post-disaster environments. However, some would rather see the original Christ Church Cathedral restored, not only to honour its architectural significance but also its place in the founding of the city.

Split your page in half Original Christ Church Cathedral Transitional Cardboard Cathedral Tell me about the earthquake here Tell me about the new building here

This is a cathedral! What do you think is the point?

The Tree Cathedral’s outline is based on Norwich Cathedral and was designed in 1986 by landscape architect Neil Higson. He chose different species of trees to represent the character of the Cathedral's sections: hornbeam and tall-growing lime for the nave, evergreens to represent the central tower and spires, flowering cherry and apple as a focus in the chapels. In springtime colourful bulbs represent the sun shining through stained glass windows onto the ground

What do these quotes suggest? 2. 1. 3. 4.

Finally… Imagine you were a team of architects, and a Christian community asked you to design a 21st century space ‘for the glory of God’ what would you design? Draw your design on a sheet of A4 with your partner and annotate your design.