Drywall, drop ceilings, and concrete. These are the standard features of most college campuses, perhaps even the occasional glass or brick. Practical and cheap as they may be, their compositions rarely inspire much more than a quick glance as their figures loom over campus. While these materials can be elevated from brutalist, geometric shapes into more beautiful ones, there is one enduring material that is universally beloved in exterior and interior design: wood.
The Bauhaus School in Germany placed significant emphasis on the beauty of wood, as one of the seven main materials in design, and how it ought to be closely studied to best appreciate its uses and effects. In the spirit of this philosophy but in a very different stylistic application, Canning Liturgical Arts has incorporated wood’s natural beauty in many of our projects, namely college chapels.
Wood in the Greater Composition
A proper use of a material necessitates a clear understanding of its artistic qualities and their potential.
- Identification of the wood type is a natural starting point. Depending on the type of wood, it will behave very differently. Its luster, odor, density, and color are all indicators of what type is it and what it is best for. A soft porous would may be unwise as a load-bearing beam and a hard, dense wood is heavy and requires careful consideration when affixed to a wall as a decoration. The right type of wood will do its job splendidly and remain long-lasting.
- Grain in wood is the arrangement of fibers based on the tree’s growth that can often be a key aspect of a wood’s natural beauty. It adds the texture so highly valued in interior design and makes each piece unique, since no two trees are identical.
- Finishes are natural or chemical treatments that complete a piece of wood and give it either a more vibrant natural color, a smooth synthetic color, or varying levels of shine. Each wood type responds to finishes differently, making the finish of choice one of the most important steps in the design puzzle.
Few materials have such universal appeal and uses as wood, ranging from the earliest examples of art and architecture into the modern day. On college campuses, it is often only used as minor decoration rather than a key architectural feature. Unless we consider college chapels.
Our Work in College Chapels
Often one of the jewels of any campus, a college chapel provides a comforting serenity amidst a sea of cold modern materials. Some of the best college chapels deliberately use wood to offset the necessary stone or plaster, thereby lending the space more warmth and texture. Canning Liturgical Arts has explored many of the unending possibilities for wood in liturgical spaces in five projects, each with their own unique spin.
Our Mother of Perpetual Help Chapel, Thomas Aquinas College
When the Canning team first arrived at Thomas Aquinas College’s Our Mother of Perpetual Help Chapel, the room felt cold and dark. Despite beautiful wooden hammer beams and trusses reaching into an arched ceiling and solid wood paneling in the sanctuary, the white walls and nonexistent decoration made the room feel devoid of reverence or peace. It is a common misconception that white walls and ceilings makes a room brighter and unfortunately the opposite is often true. Heavily contrasting the rich color and texture of wood often makes it feel heavy and makes the paint look darker and dingier than in reality. The eye is drawn to the plain bright space between the beams rather than to the wood itself.
Our Mother of Perpetual Help Chapel before renovations
By leaning into the wood’s natural warmth and celebrating the unique architectural design, the result is a cheerier, glittering Gothic-inspired interior that inspires a gaze of reverence and peace. The dual blue tones with delicate gold borders make the preexisting architecture more vibrant, while the gold and warm-colored paint on the wood compliment its natural qualities.
Our Mother of Perpetual Help Chapel after renovations
Christ Chapel, Hillsdale College
Hillsdale College’s Christ Chapel takes a more Classical approach but uses wood in a similar way. In this case, the abundance of natural and electric light married the wood and white walls, since the wood was kept below a certain height. The paneling along the sides, the many pews, and flanking balconies ground the lower half of the nave and direct the eye forward and up towards the altar. Since the chapel was brand new, the role of the wood could be properly highlighted as the project came to fruition and the different materials complemented each other.
Completed interior of Christ Chapel
St. Mary’s Chapel, Boston College
St. Mary’s Chapel is an early 19th century chapel that features simple Gothic elements like large stone pointed arches, an ornate and colorful apse, and towering stained-glass windows. But if we turn our attention upwards, we see the intricate wood coffers and trusses that break up the stark stone walls. The wooden ceiling also guides the eye forward to the illuminated apse, but adds a feeling of warm enclosure often missing from purely stone rooms. The result is a quiet retreat from the busy campus and city outside.
Restored interior of St. Mary’s Chapel of Boston College
Each instance of use demonstrates the versatility of wood and what a difference it can make in inspiring reverence amidst a busy campus. While synthetic materials have their place in architecture, natural materials never go out of style and age with such grace and beauty befitting that of faith and education. If your campus chapel is in need of repair, try starting with a building conditions assessment.
