Ecclesiastical
Ecclesiastical architecture is intellectually and aesthetically highly challenging. Hans Roegele believes that understanding the theology of the denomination is very important to building a proper church. This informs the functional considerations of space, flow, acoustics, lighting, and seating. Hans Roegele has written about church design in his master's thesis, bachelor history thesis and in an article for Sacred Architecture Journal. Following graduation from Notre Dame, he worked for prominent church architect and professor Duncan Stroik on projects such as Thomas Aquinas College Chapel and Our Lady of Guadelupe. Featured here is a chapel renovation in Texas, and an excerpt from the thesis.
While working for known church architect Duncan G. Stroik, Hans Roegele managed a Roman Catholic chapel renovation in Texas. Shown is the chapel sanctuary. An existing functional space was transformed with the addition of simple, unifying elements that focused attention on the sanctuary area. This project also involved the reconstruction of the sacristry and the addition of a confessional.
Parish Delineation
This thesis focused on the development of New England ecclesiastical architecture as it was influenced by contemporary architectural styles, town-planning models, and denomination-specific theology, with a final emphasis on Catholic churches.
While New England towns cannot be described as urban, they were very close-knit communities, with few of the period’s hierarchical distinctions. From that comes the uniformity and simplicity of both private properties, and the communal areas. For this particular project, I suggested a traditional green that would both welcome the parishioners and people of the town, and add a public space to the community. As people moved further into the campus, the spaces became more private and defined by their function and the buildings. Ultimately they center on the interior space of the church.
New England church architecture had been doctrine built, beginning with the deliberate reductionism of the Puritans, and the equally assertive Gibbs derivatives that the royal governors brought over for Anglican worship. When Catholics arrived they tended to assume the same massing schemes as the late Congregational Church, but apply their own decorative scheme, usually either Baroque or Gothic.
The design celebrated this architectural dialogue, by extending the lines of the church, and giving it an unmistakable New England massing, but along the clear lines of Roman classicism. The remainder of the buildings had somewhat un-orthodox vernacular designs.
While New England towns cannot be described as urban, they were very close-knit communities, with few of the period’s hierarchical distinctions. From that comes the uniformity and simplicity of both private properties, and the communal areas. For this particular project, I suggested a traditional green that would both welcome the parishioners and people of the town, and add a public space to the community. As people moved further into the campus, the spaces became more private and defined by their function and the buildings. Ultimately they center on the interior space of the church.
New England church architecture had been doctrine built, beginning with the deliberate reductionism of the Puritans, and the equally assertive Gibbs derivatives that the royal governors brought over for Anglican worship. When Catholics arrived they tended to assume the same massing schemes as the late Congregational Church, but apply their own decorative scheme, usually either Baroque or Gothic.
The design celebrated this architectural dialogue, by extending the lines of the church, and giving it an unmistakable New England massing, but along the clear lines of Roman classicism. The remainder of the buildings had somewhat un-orthodox vernacular designs.
