This is me, Eccles

This is me, Eccles
This is me, Eccles

Friday 21 August 2020

The World Cup of Ugly Churches - nominations requested

Time for another World Cup. We've done Bad hymns (Lord of the Dance), Bad cardinals (Cupich), Bad Catholic journalists (James Martin), and Liturgical abuses (Idols).

So let's have a World Cup of Ugly Churches. They can be Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox - any Christian denomination. We'll exclude mosques, Buddhist temples, etc. (which tend to be quite attractive anyway, although not spiritually nourishing).

To nominate something please provide a URL that links to information about the church in question*, so that I can get a picture and be sure that it really is a church and not a warehouse or nuclear bunker. The photo can be taken outside or inside, whichever you prefer.

*either by replying to this post, or by replying to my Twitter advert.

Voting will be by Twitter polls, and will start when I have enough entrants.

To get us started, here are three strong-looking contenders.

Parroquia Santa Monica

Parroquia Santa Monica, Rivas-Vaciamadrid, Spain.

Wotrubakirche

Wotrubakirche, Vienna, Austria.

Eglise Sainte Bernadette

Eglise Sainte Bernadette du Banlay, France.

Remember that all these were built in order to glorify God. Or at least to make the architect rich.

33 comments:

  1. There we are
    https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Josef_(Holzkirchen)
    https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirche_Seliger_Pater_Rupert_Mayer
    Both situated in the Archdiocese of Munich, both build under the reign of Cardinal Marx. And he's very proud of the buildings. The church in Poing was even awarded an architecture prize.
    Holzkirchen lies 50 km south of Munich and Poing is about 25 km from the east of Munich. I didn't see the churches in reality, because I think, it's a waste of time to have a short look of the sensations.
    Sorry there is no english wiki-version, maybe it works with google translator

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  2. Another one, very special:
    https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Jakobus_(München)
    This is directly in Munich. The older church (in the style of a parking garage) has been demolished, and build up new, looks even worse, consecrated in 2019.

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  3. http://www.jakobus-frankenthal.de/

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  4. It is with great pleasure (?) that I nominate St. Augustines, Tunbridge Well: the UK's largest mission hut!
    http://www.st-augustine.co.uk/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. See also:
      https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St_Augustine%27s_RC_Church,_Crescent_Road,_Tunbridge_Wells.JPG

      Delete
  5. A great challenge for Eccles’ readers! At the off we have:

    A Bergoglian WMD aimed squarely at Traditionalists
    A Minecraft monstrosity, monument to Modernism
    A Tomb-Chair of (not) Peter, Valley of the Kings Revivalism

    All entries taken from: The bigger they are the harder they fall dept.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Check out "catholic_or_protestant" on IG. he publishes daily pics of churches and you have to guess if it is catholic or not.

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  6. https://www.wz.de/imgs/39/3/2/1/4/6/3/8/7/tok_0e241e160253a81ccbe492fa601b0b6f/w950_h526_x750_y545_aff87859b04d2f4c.jpg

    pilgrimage church in the diozese of cologne built up 1966. In my eyes it is built to scare the pilgrims away

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  7. I promise that this is not a nuclear power plant. It really is a Catholic Church. Honest.....truly...it is. It was designed by Michael Graves, the Target designer of teapots and kitchen ware. This is St Mary's Catholic Church of Rockledge, Florida in the Diocese of Orlando.
    https://www.google.com/search?q=st+mary%27s+rockledge&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiosfjbm63rAhVKmVkKHXjSDfoQ_AUoA3oECBYQBQ&biw=1280&bih=625&dpr=1.5#imgrc=gUZMJx0BP6PuwM

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  8. This is not a nuclear power plant, nor is it an example of human sexual organs. It's a Catholic Church. Honest ... truly...it is. It was designed by "world renowned architect" Michael Graves, the Target designer of teapots and kitchenware. This is St Mary's Catholic Church, Rockledge, Florida, in the Diocese of Orlando.

    https://wjconstruction.com/our-projects/st-marys-catholic-church/

    For more pictures Google "St Marys Rockledge" and you will ......be amazed.

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  9. I like the friendly hippopotamus church in number 3.

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  10. I nominate Notre Dame du Rosaire des Lilas, Paris. Exterior: style nuclear bunker. Interior: Clinical hospital theatre style. It reduced me to tears seeing it after having visited the one it replaced just before it was demolished. It is on Wikipedia.

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  11. I also have to nominate St Bernadette's Church in the Domaine in Lourdes. Someone asked me where it was one day in Lourdes and I pointed over to it saying 'it doesn't look anything like a church from the outside.' A young priest behind me smiled and said 'I agree with you totally there Madame!'

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  12. We need some British entries:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifton_Cathedral

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    Replies
    1. It is worth quoting Auberon Waugh´s Way of the World column in the Daily Telegraph from 11 March 1992:

      ...one monstrosity which towers over everything else. This is Clifton´s Roman Catholic Cathedral, dumped there at some depraved moment in recent history, of an ugliness and brutality which can only make one gasp. It’s hideous concrete ‘wings’ on the roof, added at who knows what extra cost as a gesture towards the idea of decoration, might almost have been calculated as an insult to man´s intelligence.

      It occurred to me that this disgusting object might have some function apart from its role as a standing insult to man and God...

      Delete
  13. Christ Cathedral, Diocese of Orange, California, USA.

    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Philip_Johnson_-_%E6%B0%B4%E6%99%B6%E6%95%99%E5%A0%82_Crystal_Cathedral_%E5%BC%B5%E5%9F%BA%E7%BE%A9%E8%80%81%E5%B8%AB%E6%8B%8D%E6%94%9D_004.jpg

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  14. The late, great Alice Thimas Ellis noted that Liverpool Cathedral looks just like one of those devices for introducing powder into your dishwasher.

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  15. New church of Fatima, https://www.nackler.com/Img/detail/633973528589200000.jpg it looks like a gigantic ventilation grille

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  16. What about Kappal Matha Church (Our Lady of Good Health) in India? Must surely be the most original & interesting design ever!


    https://www.google.com/search?q=kappal+matha+church&oq=kapal+matha+ch&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0l4.6110j0j9&client=ms-android-motorola-rev2&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

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  17. https://assets3.thrillist.com/v1/image/1438582/792x1500/scale;jpeg_quality=60.jpg

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  18. From comments I've received after sharing this:

    Igreja de Santa Maria, Marcos de Canaveses, Portugal - https://www.snpcultura.org/igreja_marco_canaveses_siza_vieira_15_anos.html

    Basílica da Santíssima Trindade, Fátima, Portugal - http://websig.cm-ourem.pt/fatima/index.php?page=locais&uid=1

    https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/san-josemaria-escriva-church

    ReplyDelete
  19. https://www.japanvisitor.com/nagoya/nanzan-university

    https://tokyo.catholic.jp/english/archdiocese_en/17918/

    https://peraichi.com/landing_pages/view/aktaa

    Takatori Catholic Church http://blog.yao-building.com/?eid=73#gsc.tab=0

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  20. http://www.goodshepherd-arnold.org.uk/

    My parish, the Good Shepherd, Arnold, Nottinghamshire, UK (Roman Catholic).

    A dig around on the website should reveal the glorious symphony in concrete.

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  21. What an amazing selection of competitors! This will be a close contest.

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  22. I nominate Igreja de São Benedito, Andrelândia/MG, Brazil (Roman Catholic):

    https://www.pinterest.de/pin/371617406730108629/

    https://br.pinterest.com/pin/342414377889931406/

    https://viajeibonito.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/andrelandia-minas-gerais-brasil-igreja-de-sao-benedito-1-1024x683.jpg

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  23. Thank you, everyone. Nominations are now closed, and I have about 80 horrors to sort through.

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  24. Bruvver Eccles, are we going to have a competition?

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    Replies
    1. Yes, there's a series of polls on Twitter. We started with 84 and are nearly down to 32 (Round 2). When we get a bit further I'll post an update here.

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