Common ground : a place for worship with supporting workshops

Abstract

He is all accountant, and works downtown, she is a practicing pediatrician in an adjacent suburb, their children are enrolled ill a private school, a mere 45 minute bus ride from their soon to be "home". While performing a relatively Menial, midmorning, carpentry task, my mind began to consider this family. Realizing that their family decision, for the most part, was a norm in the area, I soon felt troubled. This thesis explores the church as a (re)emerging place by investigating three questions. How can architecture help establish the church as a unifying anchor in a township whose residents represent differing Christian denominational backgrounds? How can traditional settlement patterns in the midwest of America be used to inform attitudes and present day strategies to recapture building that is in harmony with the open landscape? Can the church be activated as a place of personal and communal belonging by providing additional mid-week facilities, previously provided by the school system? The site is in Lemont Township, a suburb southwest of Chicago. The proposed construction has projected a form and environment for the contemporary township. The proposal will provide a non-denominational worship room in the Christian tradition, workshops for art, music and additional cultural training, and outside places for concerts, gathering, and worship. That same evening, I took a walk. Passing house after house- the neighborhood a silent collection of isolated units, each living its Own separate life, I came to this realization: we are a nation of strangers.