Undergraduate Thesis

Location: Cleveland, Ohio

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Daniel DeGreve's undergraduate thesis project from 2002 was conceived as a counter proposal to the Deconstructivist church design represented by the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, which was under construction at the time. The selected project site was an existing surface parking lot encompassing the east side of Public Square in Cleveland, a quintessentially American civic space. The design of this theoretical Catholic cathedral church allowed Daniel to explore the concept of reconciliation, a bringing into harmony of things that have been in opposition. Tradition, Modernism, scale, ornament, construction type, liturgical ceremonial, and the relationship of the sacred order to the secular condition of the American city are topics addressed in this project.

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Utilizing the English 'close' as a model and referencing 'The City of God' by St. Augustine of Hippo, Daniel designed the cathedral precinct as a sacred city within the worldly city, giving it an outer enclosure of buildings that include bishop's and canons' residences, chorister grammar and preparatory school, diocesan chancery and parish offices, diocesan library, fellowship hall, and conference center. The tall campanile, or bell tower, serves as the grand gateway into the precinct from Public Square and engages in an architectural conversation with the landmark high-rise structures also fronting the Square. Running the interior perimeter of this outer layer of buildings is a covered outdoor ambulatory, from which the individual building entrances may be accessed and into which building occupants have principal views. The ambulatory ramps up in tiers from sidewalk level to the main floor level of the cathedral, which is elevated one story above the street. Tucked within the enclosure of the outer buildings and encircled by the outdoor ambulatory, the cathedral church is the sacred Temple and must be approached by ascent.

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The theoretical church is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and bears the imprint of her name in the vertical elements that align with the rotated grid geometry of the concrete floor slab and roof slab ribs. The rhythmic alternation and inversion of the structural piers and windows enhances the drama of translucent daylight admitted into the cathedral and the contemplative corridors of the outer buildings.

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