Church Building as a Sacred Place: Beauty, Transcendence, and the Eternal

This retrospective and forward-looking collection of 23 essays by Duncan Stroik shows the development and consistency of his architectural vision over the last eighteen years. The essays cover church modernism and modernity, renaissance and renewal, principles of church design, and a critique of modern iconoclasm. The appendices feature: a list of canonical documents pertaining to church architecture, a useful chart showing the comparative size of well known churches and comparative sizes of baldacchinos in Rome. Packed with informative essays and over 170 photographs, this collection will help priests, bishops, liturgical consultants, lay commissions and parishioners understand the Church’s architectural tradition. Duncan Stroik's architectural practice and career have helped lead the evolution of the international classical movement, and over the past decade his work has been instrumental in the new renaissance of sacred architecture. He is an internationally noted classical designer and heavily involved in promoting the new renaissance in Catholic architecture. He combines a passion for an architecture of durability, beauty, and function, with an intimate knowledge of Catholic liturgy.

Duncan Stroik's experience includes the design of ecclesiastical, civic, institutional, large residential and collegiate buildings. Stroik and his work have been featured on PBS, A&E, and EWTN television. His design work and essays on architecture have been featured in New York Times, Wall Street Journal, New Republic, and Catholic Dossier. He is the founder and editor of the journal, Sacred Architecture.