Thesis, Part 1: Abstract

As promised, I will begin posting the text of my thesis to this blog, perhaps on a weekly basis, if not more regularly. I welcome your comments and suggestions. 

If you prefer to read a tangible, printed version of my thesis, entitled, "Designing and Building Homes to Foster the 'Domestic Church': Catholic Principles for Residential Architecture," you may find it at the University of St. Thomas library. Current students and alumni are permitted to check out library materials; but I recommend you inquire at the circulation desk.

Without further adieu: 

For many, the term “modern-day family” might suggest a set of individuals, loosely bound together by law and/or biology, sometimes sharing a common living space or home, but still operating independent lives via technology, transportation and media. While this picture of family life may seem bleak, if not frighteningly accurate, the Catechism of the Catholic Church proposes a more optimistic view of the family as a kind of “domestic church” or “church in miniature.” What this suggests is that in spite of how modern families live, family life—and in particular Christian family life built upon the Sacrament of Matrimony—is inherently capable of making Christ known and loved throughout the world. And because of this, the Christian family has a role within society that places responsibility not only on individual families but also on society to protect the family as its most basic building block. So the question is, In what arena might these responsibilities be mutually supportive so as to create a more properly “human” society?

            Gaudium et spes states that “Man comes to a true and full humanity only through culture, that is through the cultivation of the goods and values of nature” (53). Residential architecture is an art form and a discipline by which natural goods and values are honed to create a cultural artifact, and more than that, a work of art by which truth, beauty and goodness can be manifest. Families create their own cultures out of their day-to-day activities. Informed by Christian principles, the culture of the family reaches out in self-giving love to the wider society, influencing and at times transforming human culture more broadly. Because family life is centered primarily around a kind of common life, and because this common life necessitates a shared living space, we can say that it is within a home that the family cultivates the goods and values of nature—which will include welcoming and nurturing new life—thereby cultivating a more fully human existence. So by living in a home—both a product and a shaper of culture—a family’s life is formed all the more, either as a support or a hindrance to a more human society.

            This essay examines how residential construction but particularly architecture can interact with a Catholic notion of family life as the domestic church in such a way as to effect a more human society. In particular it highlights three main principles by which both families and members of the home-design and building communities can shape their respective activities toward this goal; namely, hospitality, solidarity and sacramentality. By keeping these principles in mind, the author contends, both residential architecture as an art form and family life as a domestic church together will have a greater capacity for effecting a more human society and building a culture of life.