Creativity and Contradiction: European Churches Since 1970

Today, while architects and builders are producing churches in Western Europe that are both inspiring and appropriate to their contexts, a renewed national concern With religious issues is accelerating church construction in the United States. In hope Of finding better solutions to our own design needs by exploring the work of others, and for the sheer joy of discovery, this book explores the liturgical, economic, and architectural issues that are shaping Europe's church design.

With over 100 photographs, sketches, and plans, Creativity and Contradiction documents over 70 churches in ten countries— Austria, Denmark, Finland, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and West Germany. Almost all of the churches were completed since 1970, and most have never been published in the United States. The book examines not only overall projects but also such significant details as lighting, furnishings, and art, and related topics ranging from Christian symbolism and ecumenism to fundraising and the status of Postmodernism in Europe. Reactions of parishioners and neighbors—always candid and sometimes barbed—are also presented.

"By daring to become an adventurer and daring to explore," Dr. Schuller writes in his foreword, "Mr. Lindstrom presents an Opportunity for readers of this book to step out Of our immediate environment and see how others express their faith through the design of spaces for worship. " Creativity and Contradiction offers architects, churchbuilders, and all other readers interested in religion, design, and construction—and Europe in general—a compelling architectural tour Of Western Europe's newest churches.