Centralized Church Design Although Buildings Essay

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The centralized church, "of circular or polygonal plan, with one large central space, usually with a dome overhead" became more popular in the Middle Ages. First came Romanesque and then Gothic churches, in the form of works such as Notre Dame and the Royal Abbey of Saint Denis ("Church," Encarta, 2009). The new church designs housed a congregation within their center halls and contained high, arching ceilings that seemed to reach upwards to God. They were "roofed with arching sheets of stone, the Romanesque with arches and vaults of semicircular form, the Gothic with pointed elements" ("Church," Encarta, 2009).

However, domes and Greek crosses continue to fascinate church architects: for example, Christopher Wren, the designer of St. Paul's Cathedral created "a domed church of great openness designed in a restrained style that combines elements of Neoclassical, Gothic, and Baroque architecture," marrying older and daring conceptions from antiquity with Eastern-style domes ("Saint Paul's Cathedral," The Britannica Concise Encyclopedia, 2009). Within, "the interior of the church consists of a three-aisled nave and choir, of equal lengths, extending east and west from a great central space at the crossing.

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Porticoes project north and south at the center of the building. The crossing is covered by a great dome, pierced at the crown to allow a view of the lantern above. Over this dome rises a concealed conical dome of brick that acts as support for the timber framework of the exterior dome, the entire domical feature thus being constructed in three shells. The western front of the church has as central motif a double-storied portico of coupled columns," and creates a sense of antiquity more than Christianity ("Saint Paul's Cathedral," The Britannica Concise Encyclopedia, 2009). The innovation evident in the example of St. Paul's also shows the lack of agreement as to which certain structures and styles manifest holiness despite the generic image that is often called to mind when the word 'church' is spoken.

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