Houses of God: Religious Architecture for a New Millennium

by Michael Crosbie and Michael J. Crosbie

Book Overview

Houses of God demonstrates an inspiring array of gathering places for worship, collected from the USA and abroad. There are churches, synagogues and temples by some of the world's leading architects. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 082300290X
• ISBN13: 9780823002900
• Release Date: September 2000
• Publisher: Watson-Guptill Publications
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 2.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 8.8" x 11.8"

Customer Reviews

All sorts of churches .....

Nice coffee table book with a religious theme. The book is high quality and the various churches/buildings that are depicted by very well-done photographs. Really lots of great pictures of traditional, contemporary, offbeat and somewhat strange churches. Says lots about man's religious culture.

Finest Book on Religious Architecture in the Last 25 Years

Over the span of my professional career, I have focused on religious architecture. Having done extensive research on the topic over the course of my career, this book stands out as the finest compilation on this building type. The projects and religious organizations are diverse. What they all have in common is the quality of design and the search for appropriateness in architecture for worship.

God in Space and Space for God

As an admirer of all kinds of architecture, a real estate writer and a somewhat recent protestant convert to the Roman Church, I found this book intelligent and appealing at many levels. I have a deep love for orthodoxy and traditional architecture which I have learned in the Catholic Church, but I have also been graced with looking beyond trans-historical spaces to find God and communion in the ACTIONS of the liturgy, the GATHERING of a community, the silence found in open SPACES, modern or not. Andy Warhol may have said it best once that "the best thing to have anywhere is space," and to fill it with art or icons seemed sad---paraphrasing. I now understand what he meant. Gothic Cathedrals served a purpose for educationa and catechism with many pieces parts and light and art. But those days are gone in a fast modern world where we seek the simple. In this book the venerable Crosbie shows sensitivity and respect for each faith and each style. The photographs are stunning, the plans and cut sections are clear and easy to read and decipher; the art direction and clear crisp layouts let the building breath and pray and speak for themselves without heavy academic comments. I may not have liked 100% of the structures, but so little is written about new, working, and smartly done houses for worship this is a Godsend. No pun intended. I highly recommend it to the spiritual enthusiast or student, liturgists, architects, or those who like modern or contemporary structures.

Beautiful and diverse

A beautiful volume exploring a very diverse collection of religious facilities - small and large, urban and rural, contemporary and traditional. A great primer on design possibilities for Judeo-Christian religious facilities.The only variant it may be lacking in is ultra-contemporary mega-churches. . . but then, few of those are really pretty to look at.