Sacred space

Architectural Review, The, July, 2005 by Isi Metzstein

ARCHITECTURAL GUIDE TO CHRISTIAN SACRED BUILDINGS IN EUROPE SINCE 1950

By Wolfgang Jean Stock. Prestel, 2005. [pounds sterling]22.99

The impact of post-Renaissance secularisation of the Western world has generally been benign. But, in art and architecture, this secularisation has inverted an enriching process in which the secular has been abrogated by the sacred. And in an age of modern, overwhelming commercial secularism, religious buildings continue to present a challenge.

This German-English bilingual publication (a rather irritating format), is objective and systematic. It is, however, perhaps weakened by a rather pointlessly guidebook-ish form; do the publishers and author really expect a significant audience for such a limiting Grand Tour-ism restricted entirely to Europe's modern churches? For those so minded, and others too, however, this is a well-produced, sober and fairly non-doctrinaire overview of post Second World War religious architecture.

Professionals and students will regret the almost total lack of site plans, and the very limited, idiosyncratic inclusion of sectional information. But, in spite of weaknesses, this book offers desirable and timely scepticism against the current vogue for the overproduction and lazy acceptance of every eccentricity as an 'iconic' flourish.