Portland Architect Chris DiLoreto's Luminous Church Design
April 3, 2015
Church of the Resurrection, Tualatin
St Mary Our Lady of the Dunes, Florence
DiLoreto says that the opportunity to work with high-quality materials is part of church-design's attraction. "The Catholic tradition obviously values long-lasting buildings," he notes.
A sleek modernist staircase, leading to a hanging balcony in St Edward in Keizer, exemplifies DiLoreto's progressive approach to the most venerable task in Western architecture. "We're not in the 16th Century," he says, "but we should be as confident in
Design within the Catholic tradition tends to give prominent placement to the Crucifix.
DiLoreto's designs arise from an in-depth, participatory process involving members of a given parish. "By the final stage, they can explain the design better than any first-year architecture student could," he says.
A rendering from DiLoreto's design, now in progress, for Southeast Portland's fast-growing St Joseph the Worker parish
DiLoreto is also currently working on a renovation of St Michael of the Archangel, a historic urban church at the south end of downtown Portland.
"If you ask the right questions early on, you do the right project in the end," DiLoreto says.
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A local designer brings modern chops and classical ambition to Catholic Church design.
