ABSTRACT
The Catholic churches of suburban Los Angeles comprise an unsurpassed resource for gaining insight into how the architectural program of a fast-growing denomination, grappling with an evolving identity and a new approach to worship, inspired mid-century architects to develop a fresh approach to American church building in the post-war era. Between 1948 and 1976, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles constructed more than 250 new churches in an effort to accommodate a 253% increase in membership. Considered within the analytic framework proposed in Richard Kieckhefer’s 2004 study Theology in Stone, these churches evidence the transformation of the classic sacramental church-building tradition as it shed period-revival conventions in favor of modernist design principles and architectural vocabularies. At the same time, they illustrate the emergence of the modern communal church-building tradition, from the earliest experiments to the fully developed template that guides Catholic architecture through the present day.
