Iglesia St. Thomas More en SJU

Iglesia St. Thomas More en SJU

Nueva iglesia en el campus principal de St. John's University.

Nueva iglesia en el campus principal de St. John's University.

UBICACIÓN

Campus de Queens, Nueva York de St. John’s University

AÑO

2005

CLIENTE

Universidad St. John's

St. Thomas More Church is a 13,400 sq.ft. church on the main campus of St. John's University in Queens, New York, dedicated by Cardinal Egan in November of 2004. A campus church had been a dream of the St. John's community since its inception over a century ago. Following exhaustive studies for the siting of the church, an old rendering was discovered in a campus basement that revealed the location of the church is as anticipated by the original campus master plan. The main church entry is on axis with the oldest building on campus, St. John Hall.

The church stands prominently on the campus green, a sanctuary for students and educators. SJU is a Vincentian Center engaged in worldwide outreach efforts to the needy. The University deemed it essential that the church embody the vision and spirit of St. Vincent de Paul, and provide spiritual education opportunities as well.

The church design evolved in collaboration with a group of world class artisans and includes major stained glass works, Florentine mosaics, and a new pipe organ. The life & works of St. Vincent de Paul are portrayed in expansive Florentine mosaics inside the elliptical form of the sky lit baptistery.

The sanctuary is a central plan, symbolizing the universality of the church with Christ the divine center, with a balance of all people in curved pews around the altar. There is no sanctuary platform and the celebrants share the floor with the gathered assembly.

"Después de entrevistar a seis firmas de arquitectura, y habiendo construido cada una de ellas hermosas iglesias, seleccionamos a la firma de Martin A. De Sapio, AIA. La firma había diseñado varias iglesias, algunas de las cuales visitamos; cada una nos impresionó por su fidelidad a los principios del Concilio Vaticano II y porque parecía pertenecer a su vecindario. Las iglesias, vistas en conjunto, eran bastante distintas entre sí, lo que nos llevó a pensar que los arquitectos colaborarían con nosotros, en lugar de llegar a la primera reunión con un diseño ya terminado de lo que debería ser nuestra iglesia".

Julia A. Upton, RSM, Ph.D., rectora emérita – St. John’s University

FOTOGRAFÍA

Foto de Taylor