CONTRASTING ELEMENTS

April 3, 2015, Lisa B. Welch

At one point in time this church had a beautiful smooth, ornate stone skin.  Its outer layer was precisely cut and assembled to appeal to the client or local authorities at the time.  Nowadays, look at what we have.  The previous smooth skin has been stripped away leaving us with a true reveal of the building’s character and a glimpse at the building’s soul. The complexity of the carved stone window gives you a glimpse of the grandeur of what once was a very detailed façade.  It’s the 21st century and I think this building is more beautiful now than when it was originally erected.  I appreciate the stark contrast between the precision of the stone window set against the raw rubble masonry. It’s contrasting elements like these that are the foundation of some of today’s most celebrated cutting edge buildings.  What modern architecture does is to take a concept like this, then abstract it into new architectural forms and spaces.