A CATHOLIC CHAPEL AND STUDENT CENTER IN THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST OKLAHOMA

Preliminary Study

Designed 2018

INTENDED as an initial stylistic study for our recently completed project of St. John’s University Catholic Center in Stillwater, Oklahoma, this early design represents a window into our creative process. While a variety of styles and material palettes were considered for the student center, we initially explored a simplified Spanish Churrigueresque style that would pay tribute to the early roots of Catholicism in the region, and also allow for a simplified, costeffective design of elegantly-massed volumes punctuated by moments of high ornamentation at important points such as portals, gates and towers. The proposed plan was arranged around a Mission-inspired courtyard that would create a private exterior space still permitting, through ironwork grills, glimpses of the central chapel from the main thoroughfare, a major artery of campus. Two wings, connected by a vestibule running across the front of the chapel, with a separate narthex beyond, would house classrooms, study spaces and a dining hall, with circulation through the cloisters on either side. Trees, fountains, a grassy lawn, and shaded arcades counteract the Oklahoma sun. A bell tower rises from the northeastern rear corner of the church, serving as a powerful way-marker across campus.

After further discussion with the client, we instead drew on the older precedents of the Italian Romanesque, as seen in Cram and Ferguson Architects: Recent Work. The new student center was dedicated in 2023.

Now we are doing what we can by way of amendment. [...] [T]he restoration must be accomplished, however arduous the effort. And the reward is worth the effort.

—Ralph Adams Cram

“The Ministry of Art,” The Ministry of Art, 1914