apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Thank you for including Richter's Cologne window this afternoon. While it's unlikely that AT fans will soon embark on stained window renovations, simply including something this beautiful is a brilliant break from anything else one might be doing today.

Cologne is currently going through some civic turmoil over a proposed central mosque. Somehow this window bridges the aesthetic traditions of Christianity and Islam in a manner that might lead cooler heads to prevail.

Thank you this visual respite this afternoon.

brings to mind another modern artist's foray into the divine: mark rothko's beautiful non-denominational chapel: http://www.menil.org/rothko.html

if you're ever in houston, be sure to visit!

Is it any surprise these days that a church wouldn't have religious icons? I miss the days when it was OK to have faith without worrying about offending those who don't. And I'm not even a church goer.

Those are interesting windows, very colorful.

Myself, I'd prefer to see *some* icons, or things that would make them worthy of being in a cathedral. Otherwise they're just "pretty windows".

Even like these would be more appropriate in my opinion. Not religious icons but no doubt the people who built them thought of the subjects as worth celebrating.

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2027337460098176252wDgcCV

Marco - in my opinion, I don't think those new windows "bridge" anything. In my opinion they *avoid* Christianity entirely.

Since "God" is very much a concept both tangible and abstract, much the way light is, I find these very appropriate, and love that representations of faith and worship are not always left in the hands of the literal.

I'm with Patrick, here - don't the religious believe that "God is everywhere"? Also, religious pictography was originally used because the vast majority of church-goers were illiterate - not the case anymore. This isn't about "avoiding" anything, and those who think that the non-believers are in control are kidding themselves.

re: "I miss the days when it was OK to have faith without worrying about offending those who don't."

That is soooo not the case here. Why would this church be worried about offending people ALREADY IN THE CHURCH?

Brilliant and evocative work.
G.R. never disappoints.
Thank you for this wonderful post.

The problem with talking about what "the religious" believe is that a given house of worship belongs to a specific religion (or denomination within a religion) that has its own specific beliefs. Muslims don't put up images of important spiritual people because they believe that puts too much emphasis on the image rather than what the image represents. Catholics ordinarily go berserk with statues and pictures because they believe people need concrete reminders of what they're praying about. Both groups are "the religious," but they'd be appalled by trying to mimic each other's worship spaces.

Since Cologne Cathedral is Catholic, the pixels are definitely in the territory where the Building Committee pats themselves on the back for their innovative use of contemporary symbolism, while the parishioners grumble about how real windows show saints, darn it!

Wende - Spot on. Again! (still ;->)

I'm not Catholic but one of the reasons I enjoy seeing cathedrals is the use of figures in the artwork. My favorite place to go at Christmas is Catholic retreat called The Grotto where you can hera everything from acapella choirs to modern jazz in the chapel and see fantastic light displays on the grounds.

http://www.portland-oregon-magazine.com/news/52/ARTICLE/1267/2006-10-21.html

Besides for me it's not about being "literal" as someone condescendingly said, but it's about appreciating tradition.

I love modern art. I love Christmas music played as jazz. But these windows miss their mark as being "inspirational" - I could even go for Picasso style cubist figures. Anything is more attractive (and *creative*) than oversized pixels.

This to me is "the emperor's new clothes".

I like the effect of the "pixels" towards the top of the windows, in the smaller spaces. But I find the overall effect disappointing. I don't think they need to show saints, but by breaking down stained glass windows to ONLY color, with no form or composition, they become seriously underwhelming. Oh, and I'm an atheist.