Great Catholic buildings point hearts to the divine

Pictured above, from left: Sainte-Chapelle Studios’ Nathaniel Frank, principal architect; Blake Novosad, project manager; Rachel Moore, media coordinator; and Joseph Bass, senior design director. “We have a deep reverence for the fact that (Catholic churches) are the very structures that people’s entire lives have unfolded in – their marriages, the death of loved ones, their baptisms, where they have sought healing in the midst of tremendous suffering,” Bass said. “The church is the great theater of sanctification.” (Photo courtesy of Sainte-Chapelle Studios)

By BETH DONZE
Clarion Herald

When a Catholic church or school is in the “drawing board” phase of construction or is undergoing a restoration, mobilizing architects and artisans who are intimately acquainted with the unique needs of Catholic buildings is a major advantage.

Recognizing a need for such a service in heavily Catholic, architecturally rich South Louisiana, the Archdiocese of New Orleans’ St. Louis IX Art Society established Sainte-Chapelle Studios last May with a mission to preserve, beautify and build churches, schools and other structures that serve Catholic ministerial needs. The full-service, non-profit sacred architecture firm brings together designers, artists, theologians and architects to craft each project to the specific needs, budget, culture and spiritual heritage of the given Catholic parish, school or ministry site.

The Catholic ‘edge’

When non-Catholic architects take on a Catholic architecture project, what the public typically gets is “a really good building,” but one that might fall short of its potential, said Nathaniel Frank, Sainte-Chapelle Studio’s lead architect.

“We always like to say that form follows function – for there to be the (ideal) form, you have to really have an innate understanding of the function,” Frank said. “You get great buildings, but you don’t get great manifestations of the church in terms of its beauty, goodness and truth.”

The first non-profit architectural firm in the state of Louisiana, the Mandeville-based Sainte-Chapelle Studios currently is serving the architectural planning and implementation needs of six Catholic parishes, schools and ministry sites in the Archdiocese of New Orleans, and the dioceses of Baton Rouge, Houma-Thibodaux and Lafayette. Its founding broadens the scope of the St. Louis IX Art Society to include the design, construction and restoration of Catholic structures, said Jordan Haddad, the art society’s president
“One of the key components of our mission is to really beautify our sacred spaces and all of those different places where Christian formation occurs,” Haddad said. “In the process of engaging in some conversations with a pastor about a large-scale beautification project for his parish, we realized that the scale of the vision was much greater than what one artist or even a team of artists would be able to accomplish.”

The idea of an architectural firm devoted solely to Catholic structures was hatched when Joseph Bass, the art society’s vice president of operations and development, met Frank through a Catholic men’s spirituality group. Frank’s portfolio included numerous sacred architecture projects, including complete overhauls of church facades, the erection of a church steeple and the renovation of a baptistry.

“I was so impressed not only by his technical expertise, but by his grasp of how the church can express what she believes in built form – and how that can be integrated and can elevate the mind and heart to God,” Bass said. “I was so excited to meet someone who not only had that passion, but who was tremendously gifted at being able to take that from theory into practice.”

Share common ‘language’

Haddad said one of the unique elements of Sainte-Chapelle Studios is the ease with which it brings together the sacred architect and design director with the art society’s own corral of Catholic artists, “so the very structure and design of the walls and of the arches and all the different components that go into a building” are considered from the outset. 

“All of these conversations are occurring on the front end of projects, so that when the final product is brought together in its entirety, it all hangs together seamlessly,” Haddad said. “There’s a wealth of inspiration and expertise and knowledge that comes into every conversation around these different projects – the theologian, the artist, the architect, the designer all at the table together, rather than slicing up a project and outsourcing it to people who might not be in conversation with one another every step along the way.”

Because budgets are not limitless, establishing priorities is crucial to get the best outcome, Frank said.

“Oftentimes, there are a lot of missed opportunities based on experience,” he said. “There’s an opportunity there with a sacred architecture firm to really elevate the experience, to really enhance and inform that experience, especially with the church’s mission here on earth. You get a great building, but it may not be the great building that forms us as Catholics.”

Taking a deep dive

Sainte-Chapelle Studios looks to two main sources to create and restore spaces that lift the mind and heart to God: the supernatural, which encompasses Scripture, church tradition, signs and symbols; and the natural, with inspiration drawn from local culture, natural elements and artists.

Everything starts and ends with prayer, Frank said.

“Our first task is cultivating a proper disposition toward the work, which is ultimately receiving from the Lord and co-creating with the Lord what this unique instantiation of the church could look and sound and feel and smell like,” he said, noting that his team does a “deep dive” into the client-parish’s history and spiritual and cultural heritage.

“What are the unique ways (those parishioners) have come to know Jesus in that community?” Bass said. “That inevitably needs to be expressed in concrete terms, because as a sacramental people, as a sacramental church, grace is mediated through those things. It’s the reason why you can go into a parish and know if it was settled by Italian immigrants. We have an extensive African-American Catholic population here as well. We want to be able to offer these communities their own unique, expressive voice in built form, because that is how the church has always expressed herself throughout history. What we’re hoping to do is to listen intently to the stories of these communities, so that those stories can be told in built form as well, thus elevating (parishioners’) communion with God.”

The firm’s research is so intensive, it goes beyond merely researching the history of the parish’s patron saint.

“We want to know what this saint has meant for this community,” Bass said. “Is it possible that in the early 1900s that there was a regular devotion that the community partook in, or were there certain signs and symbols that were unique to it that are still meaningful, but maybe haven’t been cultivated in a long time?” Bass explained, likening the design process to getting to know a person – you don’t just want to know the person’s name, but what makes up his or her identity.

“What are your likes, your dislikes? What motivates you? What are you passionate about?” Bass said. “Because at the end of the day, buildings are meant to mirror the human soul. Buildings are meant to ultimately be an expression of man’s assent to (seek) communion with God, and God’s condescension to us. And so, the (sacred building) is this unique meeting place!”

Local touchstones

Bass said local sacred architects must also keep that “particular Louisiana flair” in mind – to give those who use the buildings reminders of the many ways God is communicating to them through their surroundings.

“The church’s ultimate mission is to re-Edenize the world – to make the world Eden again,” Bass said. “Eden had specific trees and specific foliage and had specific sights and sounds, and so do we in South Louisiana. So, how do we Eden-ize these things that we’re surrounded by, like magnolia trees and crape myrtles and verbena – things that we’ve maybe grown up with and smells that we’re familiar with, but which now must be portrayed in a glorified way? What do they look like when they are being bathed in heavenly light?”

Eye on the future

Establishing an endeavor focused solely on Catholic architectural expression might seem unnecessary in an era of declining numbers of Catholics and the impact of that on the built environment. Yet, even if a physical church is shuttered, “people are still going to need to go somewhere and they’re still going to need to have a church that expresses their unique stories,” Bass said. “That’s something that we’re capable of. Even if there were the heartbreak of having your own parish break down, to be able to have a group of people who can come in and hear the stories of all these different communities and find ways to integrate them into a new space, that’s going to be needed as well.”

There also is a “massive need” for deferred maintenance and upkeep on our area’s large stock of Catholic buildings, “to not only beautify them, but to preserve them as well,” Frank said, citing needs such as waterproofing and the artful and safe installation of new HVAC units.

“These buildings are aging and they need to be taken care of,” Frank said. “Thankfully, the archdiocese has entities like the Building Office to help with that where possible.”

Frank said his work boils down to one fundamental question: how will the sacred building “espouse” its users’ beliefs.

“Buildings are capable of espousing our beliefs,” he said. “Using a house, for example – you picture your dream house, you envision the different spaces in those rooms and you envision people doing certain activities in those rooms. What you’re envisioning is your belief about how the family structure operates and how a family unit operates.

“If a house can encapsulate your beliefs about the family, a church can encapsulate your beliefs about your relationship with God. It comes down to understanding that relationship and helping to elevate it, because we all have the ultimate destination of heaven. The church is the vehicle by which we get to heaven. How does that structure help inform and enhance our worship and our relationship with our faith?”

Buildings can inspire awe

Bass likes to use a cultural analogy on the impact of buildings on people.

“Just think about the first time you ever went to Tiger Stadium, or the old Tulane Stadium or the Superdome. It does something in you; it elicits a response,” he said. “And so, what we’re tapping into is that part of the human spirit that wants to respond to God’s invitation to communion, and to be able to build churches that even better facilitate that invitation and that response.”

Sainte-Chapelle Studios invites parishes and schools interested in enhancing their Catholic beauty through architectural design to call (985) 231-4057 or email [email protected].

[email protected]


As plans for Sainte-Chapelle Studios, a sacred architecture firm, were coming together, Joseph Bass began praying to St. Louis, patron saint of the archdiocese’s St. Louis IX Art Society and the state of Louisiana, for his intercession. Members landed on the name of Sainte-Chapelle Studios in honor of the Paris chapel that served as St. Louis’ personal prayer space. “(That chapel) expresses the concrete nature of what we’re doing,” Bass said. “You can go to this place – Sainte-Chapelle – and really understand what our vision is, which is, ‘This is a place where a spiritual life has unfolded and has affected the world.’” The logo is pictured above. (Image courtesy of Sainte-Chapelle Studios)