THE ICON IN ARCHITECTURE:

AN ARCHITECTURAL PROPOSAL FOR

LIVING WATER COLLEGE OF THE ARTS

A Terminal Design Project

Submitted to the School of Architecture

of the University of Notre Dame

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

for the Degree of

Master of Architectural Design and Urbanism

by

Miles Thomas Doyle, BFA, M. Arch., MCRP

_________________________________
Douglas Duany, Advisor

_________________________________
Samantha L. Salden, Interim Director of Graduate Studies

Graduate Program in Architecture

Notre Dame, Indiana

May 2014
 © Copyright by

MILES THOMAS DOYLE

2014

All rights reserved

 ABSTRACT

This thesis argues that the built environment reflects the anthropology of the

society that built it. Each society’s concept of the human person, and the human person’s

relationship to themselves, to others, and to their God or gods, is reflected in how they shape

their buildings, and urban and rural environments. If this is the case, it is then argued that a
Catholic anthropology, informed by divine revelation, can be used to build the best and most

beneficial human settlements. This idea is applied to design the new vision plan for Living

Water College of the Arts in Derwent, Alberta, Canada.

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF FIGURES ...........................................................................................................................iii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................................iv

THESIS STATEMENT ......................................................................................................................1

CHAPTER 1: ANTHROPOLOGY AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT ..........................2

CHAPTER 2: LIVING WATER COLLEGE OF THE ARTS .................................................10

APPENDIX 1: REFERENCED IMAGES...................................................................................16

APPENDIX 2: PROJECT PLATES...............................................................................................29

APPENDIX 3: SKETCHBOOK PROCESS IMAGES.............................................................35

BIBLIOGRAPHY ..............................................................................................................................41

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 LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Aerial of the Derwent, Alberta, Canada area.................................................................16

Figure 2: Aerial of Living Water College of the Arts and Surrounding Property.....................16
Figure 3: Living Water College of the Arts......................................................................................17

Figure 4: Proposed Site Plan..............................................................................................................17

Figure 5: Gallery on the South Side of the Volkostrov Chapel....................................................18

Figure 6: Church of Saint Doroty, Trzcinica...................................................................................18

Figure 7: Trapeznaya (Narthex) of the Church of Saints Peter and Paul, Puchuga..................19

Figure 8: Painting of a Historic Homestead in the Derwent Area..............................................19

Figure 9: Proposed Site Plan with Notations..................................................................................20

Figure 10: View Looking from Church Porch Towards Shrine Entrance...................................21

Figure 11: View Looking from Shrine Porch Towards Church Entrance...................................21

Figure 12: View of the Theater with Propylon Entry to the Temple Precinct..........................22

Figure 13: View of the Theater Looking towards the Scenae Frons, etc....................................22

Figure 14: View of the Library, Scenae Frons, and Theater Group............................................23

Figure 15: View of the Library Garden, Looking West.................................................................23

Figure 16: View of the “Sacred” Axis..............................................................................................24

Figure 17: View of the “Secular” Axis.............................................................................................25

Figure 18: The Concert Hall..............................................................................................................26

Figure 19: The Studio Buildings........................................................................................................26

Figure 20: The Opera House.............................................................................................................27

Figure 21: The Fire Lodge..................................................................................................................27

Figure 22: The Pub..............................................................................................................................28

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Figure 23: A View Down the Residential Street, etc......................................................................28
Figure 24: Project Plate 1....................................................................................................................29

Figure 25: Project Plate 2....................................................................................................................30

Figure 26: Project Plate 3....................................................................................................................30

Figure 27: Project Plate 4....................................................................................................................31

Figure 28: Project Plate 5....................................................................................................................31

Figure 29: Project Plate 6....................................................................................................................32

Figure 30: Project Plate 7....................................................................................................................32

Figure 31: Project Plate 8....................................................................................................................33

Figure 32: Project Plate 9....................................................................................................................33

Figure 33: Project Plate 10..................................................................................................................34

Figure 34: Project Plate 11..................................................................................................................34

Figure 35: Sketchbook Study 1..........................................................................................................35

Figure 36: Sketchbook Study 2..........................................................................................................36

Figure 37: Sketchbook Study 3..........................................................................................................37

Figure 38: Sketchbook Study 4..........................................................................................................38

Figure 39: Sketchbook Study 5..........................................................................................................39

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 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank all those who helped in the conception and production of

this project. I would like to especially thank Professor Carroll William Westfall for his

deep insight into classical architecture theory, Professor Douglas Duany for his great skill

in architecture and urban design, Professor Alan DeFrees for his knowledge of and help

with heavy timber construction techniques, and Naomi Noster for her help in information

gathering regarding Living Water College of the Arts. I am truly grateful to you all.

v
vi
 THESIS STATEMENT

The built environment reflects the anthropology of the society that built it. Each

society’s concept of the human person, and the human person’s relationship to themselves,

to others, and to their God or gods, is reflected in how they shape their buildings, and urban

and rural environments. If this is the case, a Catholic anthropology, informed by divine

revelation, can be used to build the best and most beneficial human settlements.

1
 CHAPTER 1

ANTHROPOLOGY AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT

Vitruvius, in his Ten Books on Architecture, gives us a glimpse of the ancient Roman

understanding of how to build. Without the use of modern structural analysis, the ancients

constructed using rules of thumb, and tried and true methods, but based those methods

on observations of natural phenomena such as the human body. The symbolism in ancient

temple architecture references primitive wood construction, but also references the form of

the human person. Vitruvius explains that the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian columns are all

based on the individual culture’s concept of their own bodies. The Doric is proportioned

like a muscular man, the Ionic like a woman, and the Corinthian like a young girl.1 Each

column, with corresponding entablature, is the image of a person from that specific culture.

The columns represent, in a way, the citizens of that society. Not only do the columns

on a temple represent the human person, but the overall proportions of the temple are

derived from the human figure as well. Vitruvius, in book III, explains that “the ancients”

handed down “proportional sequences for every type of work,” but “especially for the

sacred dwellings of the gods”2 since these are the most important and enduring buildings

of a culture. The proportioning sequences were taken from a “well-formed human being”3

1 Vitruvius, Ten Books on Architecture, Ingrid D. Rowland and Thomas Noble Howe, ed. Cambridge
University Press, 2007. IV, 1, vi-ix.
2  Vitruvius, III, 1, iv.
3  Vitruvius, III, 1, i.

2
whose body would possess certain perfect proportional relationships, and through those

proportional relationships achieve symmetry. This perfectly proportioned human being

is the “Vitruvian Man,” and is not taken from any individual, but was conceived of in the

human mind, which took certain pleasing aspects of beautiful human bodies in nature,

studied them, and interpreted those studies to arrive at an ideal figure. And just as the size

and shape of the Vitruvian Man’s individual body parts must “answer” to the size and shape

of his body as a whole, so architecture requires “a correspondence between the measure of

individual elements and the appearance of the work as a whole.”4 Vitruvius also noted that
through the study of the human body “the ancients” discovered principles of measure, or

number: the number of digits on both hands equals ten; six foot-lengths make the height of

the body; etc. Therefore:

If it is agreed that from the limbs of the human body number was discovered, and
also the fact that a correspondence of dimension exists among individual elements
and the appearance of the entire body in each of its parts, then it is left for us
to recognize that the ancients, who also established the houses of the immortal
gods, ordered the elements of those works so that, in both their shape and their
symmetries, fitting dimensions of separate elements and of the work as a whole
might be created.5

Ancient Roman architecture strove to imitate human symmetries: systems of

proportioning and composition were abstracted from the human figure and reinterpreted to

create a building.

For Vitruvius, the understanding of the human person’s relationship to the cosmos

was a purely natural one. The court of the gods existed, and needed to be revered and

appeased, but they did not take a hand in creating the human race. The hierarchy of the

human person within the Cosmic Order was determined by their ability to reason, animals

4  Vitruvius, III, 1, iv.

5  Vitruvius, III, 1, ix.

3
of lower order lacking that ability. Likewise, the human was not understood to have any

eternal significance, so whatever beauty was found within the human figure was a purely

natural pleasure: beauty did not have a moral dimension. Vitruvius shows this to be the

case with the words he used to describe the beauty that is found in architecture: venustas

and eurythmia. Venustas means pleasure or delight, it does not have a moral component to it,

and its root word is Venus, from the goddess of erotic love. Eurythmia means shapeliness

or an attractive appearance coming from a good sequence of proportions, the root words

being eus (good) and rhuthmos (sequence). The quality of “beauty” that the words venustas

and eurythmia describe is natural and superficial, and does not transcend simple pleasure. The
understanding of the human person’s body and its relationship to the cosmos shaped the

ancient Roman understanding of how the human body could inform architectural design.

Therefore, the ancients, in using the human person as a model for proportion and number,

made architecture in the image (icon) of man as they understood him to be.

The Christian understanding of the human person is very different from the ancient

and pre-Christian one, and has even grown more profound and rich in the past thirty years

through the writings of Pope John Paul II, which have been compiled into what is now

called “The Theology of the Body.” The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains that:

“Christ, … in the very revelation of the mystery of the Father and his love, makes
man fully manifest to himself and brings to light his exalted vocation.” It is in
Christ, “the image of the invisible God,” that man has been created “in the image
and likeness” of the Creator. It is in Christ, Redeemer and Savior, that the divine
image, disfigured in man by the first sin, has been restored to its original beauty and
ennobled by the grace of God.
The divine image is present in every man. It shines forth in the communion of
persons, in the likeness of the union of the divine persons among themselves.
Endowed with “a spiritual and immortal” soul, the human person is “the only
creature on earth that God has willed for its own sake.” From his conception, he is

4
 destined for eternal beatitude.6
This passage demonstrates the Catholic Church’s incredibly profound understanding

of the human person. Humans are more than the highest animal in the natural order, and

the beauty of our bodies is meant for more than simple delight. In reality, the imaging

of God in our own bodies imbues us with an inherent dignity and beauty that reaches

beyond the natural order. The Catholic Church believes that each person is rational and

has an individual soul, which will be judged by God at the moment of death. “Each man

receives his eternal retribution in his immortal soul at the very moment of his death, in

a particular judgment that refers his life to Christ: either entrance into the blessedness of

heaven-through a purification or immediately, or immediate and everlasting damnation.”7

This means that each person is an individual, and responsible for their own actions, but also

“needs to live in society. Society is not for him an extraneous addition but a requirement of

his nature. Through the exchange with others, mutual service and dialogue with his brethren,

man develops his potential; he thus responds to his vocation.”8 This union within society

is incredibly profound. “There is a certain resemblance between the union of the divine

persons and the fraternity that men ought to establish among themselves.”9 The union

between men resembles the union of the Holy Trinity, but each person retains his own

individuality and freedom. This icon (image) of the human person is very different from the

ancient one. Humans in classical antiquity were thought to exist totally within the natural

order, and the hierarchy on earth was determined by a greater ability to reason or physical

6  Catechism of the Catholic Church. 1701-1703. Accessed on 03.16.2014 at: http://www.vatican.va/

archive/ENG0015/__P5G.HTM
7  Catechism of the Catholic Church. 1022. Accessed on 03.16.2014 at: http://www.vatican.va/archive/
ENG0015/__P2L.HTM
8  Catechism of the Catholic Church. 1879. Accessed on 03.16.2014 at: http://www.vatican.va/archive/
ENG0015/__P6G.HTM
9  Catechism of the Catholic Church. 1890. Accessed on 03.16.2014 at: http://www.vatican.va/archive/
ENG0015/__P6I.HTM

5
might. The Christian belief is that all humans are equal in dignity, and the greater ability of

one does not give them the privilege of domineering another. Instead, each person is unique

and an image of God, and should be treated accordingly.

The Catholic Church also teaches that divine revelation did not replace the old law,

but fulfill it. Christian belief takes what is true from non-Christian belief and incorporates

it, building on our understanding of God and his creation. “As St. Paul says of the Gentiles:

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.

Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity,

has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made.”10 Therefore, much of the

ancient knowledge regarding eurythmia and venustas, where it coincides with divine revelation,

can be understood to reflect not simply an earthly and superficial beauty, but the beauty of

the Creator. The human person, made in the image (icon) of God, reflects His beauty, and

so by association does the ancient architecture that uses the beauty of the human person to

inform its proportions.

Although ancient architecture can reflect the beauty of God, it is also influenced

by the cultures and religions that created it, and the geographic location it was built in. For

example, the Dorians built temples based on certain proportions that they found within

their own bodies, and used materials and building conventions that they were accustomed

to use. Professors Richard Economakis and Kevin Buccellato, at the University of Notre

Dame, argue that Doric temple construction originated with a wooden structure that was

designed to withstand earthquakes.11 The form that the final stone temple took was based

10  Catechism of the Catholic Church, 32. Accessed on 03.16.2014 at: http://www.vatican.va/archive/
ENG0015/__PA.HTM
11  Economakis, Richard. “The Carpentry of Proto Doric Buildings: New Thoughts on a Theory of
Origin.” Lecture and Notes from Kevin Buccellato’s Design and Construction of Architectural Elements class,
University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN, Fall 2014.

6
on this more primitive wooden structure. The wooden temple was so revered that the

Dorians decided that they needed to build it out of stone, a more permanent material, while

keeping the tectonic forms of the earlier wooden building. The stone temple was, in a way,

a sculpture of the highly revered wooden temple. If this is the case it implies that while the

Dorians, and other ancient Greeks, found true beauty in the human figure, the image of

God, and applied that knowledge to the design of their buildings, many of their decorative

decisions were based on local building practices and specific needs. The timeless beauty

that is found in classical architecture is not rooted in the architectural ornament12 of temple
construction, but is primarily found in its symmetria, eurythmia, and decorum, of which the

ornament plays a part. The architectural genius of the ancient Greeks was in taking methods

of construction and refining them to a stage where all of the parts were in harmony with the

whole, and the whole with the parts, just as a perfect human body would be.

Buildings usually do not stand alone, but exist in relationship to other buildings, just

as humans exist in relationship to other humans. If a building is made in the image of a

human, then the larger built environment is made in the image of a human within society.

Each culture’s urban environment reflects the relationship that humans have to one another

within that culture. It reveals the hierarchy and structure of the society, and what is thought

to be of greater or lesser importance. The placement of buildings along important routes,

building height relationships, construction materials used, material cost, buildings at the

termination of views, etc., all convey what a particular culture holds as valuable. A single-

family detached house, with its own yard and sidewalk, manifests a very different concept

of the human person than does an ancient Roman insula. How dwelling units relate to each

other, and to commercial, civic, and religious buildings, as well as to nature, expresses the

12  Vitruvius, IV, 2.

7
way in which the people of that place define themselves within that culture. Therefore, the

entire built environment, from the individual building to the larger urban context, manifests

an anthropology specific to a time and place.

A Catholic anthropology would be beneficial to use to inform design decisions

because of the dignity given to the human person, and the responsibility placed on each

person for their fellow man and the natural world. As shown before, humans are made in

the image and likeness of God. A building can reflect this image through its design, not only

in its formal aspects, as did classical architecture, but in its practical and social aspects. A

beautiful building reflects the beauty of the human person. A well planned, well built, easy

to use, and comfortable building reflects the dignity of the human person. Each person is an

individual, and should be given the respect, dignity, and privacy that they deserve. But each

person is also a part of the larger community in a profound way, and their actions, good or

ill, affect the larger community in both the physical and spiritual realms. The Church teaches

in her social doctrine that man, “created in God’s image, received a mandate to subject to

himself the earth and all that it contains, and to govern the world with justice and holiness, a

mandate to relate himself and the totality of things to him who was to be acknowledged as

the Lord and Creator of all. Thus, by the subjection of all things to man, the name of God

would be wonderful in all the earth.”13 The right and just use of the earth not only improves

man’s situation, but also gives glory to God. Man must also remember that he is not the

master, but a steward of creation.

Man, then, must never forget that “his capacity to transform and in a certain sense create the world
through his own work … is always based on God’s prior and original gift of the things that are”.
[956] He must not “make arbitrary use of the earth, subjecting it without restraint to
his will, as though it did not have its own requisites and a prior God-given purpose,

13  Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. II, X, ii, 456. Accessed on 03.17.2014 at: http://
www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/justpeace/documents/rc_pc_justpeace_doc_20060526_
compendio-dott-soc_en.html.

8
 which man can indeed develop but must not betray”.[966] When he acts in this way,
“instead of carrying out his role as a co-operator with God in the work of creation,
man sets himself up in place of God and thus ends up provoking a rebellion on the
part of nature, which is more tyrannized than governed by him”.[967]14
In this way, a Catholic anthropology can greatly benefit design decision making,

and possibly provide a solution to many of the world’s current problems in the built

environment. Part II will describe how a Catholic anthropology is reflected in the design of

Living Water College of the Arts, in its architecture, site plan, and program.

14  Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. II, X, ii, 460. Accessed on 03.17.2014 at: http://
www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/justpeace/documents/rc_pc_justpeace_doc_20060526_
compendio-dott-soc_en.html.
9
 CHAPTER 2

LIVING WATER COLLEGE OF THE ARTS

Living Water College of the Arts is a small, privately owned school, about a mile

southeast of the hamlet of Derwent, Alberta, Canada (Figures 1 & 2), and about 100 miles

east of Edmonton, the province’s capital. The ethnic makeup of the area is mostly Polish

and Ukrainian, with smaller populations of Russian, German, and Irish. The school’s mission

is to “provide technical training in the Arts, inspired by Faith and informed by Reason.

Believing all three are essential to great art, this college integrates them into one unique

program to restore Faith and Reason to the Arts.”15 It was founded in 2001, and offers

training in traditional fine art media, photography, film, choir, theater, and iconography.

There is currently one building (Figure 3) that houses all of the school’s programs, as well

as a chapel, kitchen, library, and living quarters for the students. The building is located

on the southern border of a quarter section of land owned by the founders Kenneth and

Marlane Noster. The college’s vision is that it will grow its student population and program

offerings, and incorporate a monastic community dedicated to fostering the arts. The future

program requirements for the college include a chapel, a shrine, a Stations of the Cross path,

a monastery, an outdoor theater, a concert hall, a playhouse, a library, studios and workshops,

a refectory and community center, an administration and general classroom building, student

15  “Mission.” Accessed on 03.17.2014 at: http://www.livingwatercollege.com/about-the-college/

mission.

10
and faculty housing, and a garden (Figure 4).

Certain factors played a role in determining how the master plan of the school would

take shape. The ethnicity of the local residents, being mostly Polish and Ukranian, informed

the starting point for research in architectural form (Figures 5-7). The architecture of these

countries, as well as Russia and Germany, lend themselves for use in this project for many

reasons. Not only are there historic homesteads in the area (Figure 8) built in a vernacular

Ukranian method, but also the climate and geography of this area of Canada is very similar

to parts of these northern European countries. The traditional wooden architecture of these

countries, including log construction, heavy timber, and waddle and daub or brick cob infill,

uses materials that can be found on or near the site of the college, and can be built by local

tradesmen. These construction techniques also fit with the desire of the college to build in a

sustainable way, since these construction types provide buildings that can last for hundreds

of years. The form of the traditional architectures of these countries also responds to the

demands of the climate and weather, especially regarding snow and wind loads, minimizing

cold air seepage, maximizing heat retention, etc.

The planning of the site began with the placement of the shrine. A shrine to

Our Lady currently exists at the peak of the hill to the east of the existing school. This

location was thought to be appropriate to place a more permanent shrine, which could

serve as the center of the community’s spiritual life. Three organizing “axes” define certain

programmatic organizations of the college (Figure 9). The east/west axis, centered on the

shrine, organizes the spiritual program. The shrine’s door (Figure 10) faces east and looks

towards the main door of the chapel (Figure 11), and both are surrounded by a colonnade

that defines the “temple precinct” of the school. The monastery is attached to the chapel.

Behind the monastery is the monastic cemetery. The main chapel of the school, and the

cemetery chapel, face east, ad orientem, as is preferred in the Roman rite. To the west of

the shrine sits the outdoor theater (Figures 12 & 13). This was placed on the east/west axis

11
because of the importance of the theater in the student’s life, and for its siting nestled within

the slope of the hill. The theater is the place where people come together to reflect on their

place within society, and the greater and eternal truths of their existence. Behind the scaenae

frons of the theater is the library (Figure 14), the seat of knowledge. The library encloses a

garden (Figure 15) for reflection and contemplation. Reason and Faith are thus linked on the

east/west, or “spiritual” axis (Figure 16).

To the northwest of the library is the administration and classroom building. This

sits at the head of the north/south, or “secular” axis (Figure 17), and at the entrance to

the school. Opposite the library is the concert hall (Figure 18), with supporting program

of practice rooms, etc. Just south of the library and concert hall are four studio buildings

(paint, sculpture, wood, and stone), organized into pairs, with enclosing courtyards (Figure

19). At the foot of, and anchoring, the “secular” axis is the opera house (Figure 20), the sister

building to the outdoor theater. Just west of the opera house the refectory and community

center sits against the pond, which has been dug out from a seasonal wetland. A small

boathouse and pier sits near the middle of the pond along the waterside walkway.

The third, “domestic,” axis is organized off of the shrine, and links important

buildings in the community’s daily life. The shrine, the fire lodge (Figure 21), the water tower,

and the pub (Figure 22) all serve the physical and spiritual needs of the residents. Student

and faculty housing lines the base of the hill (Figure 23), in the middle of which is a small

pub or lounge. The pub is a place for students and faculty to socialize in an informal setting.

North of the pub is an octagonal bonfire building, or the fire lodge. North of the shrine is

a water tower, which serves the entire school. To the east of the academic village, and south

of the monastic cemetery, is a greenhouse and garden. This links the lives of the students

with those of the monks, and is a place where the two groups can come together to work

and learn.

A tree farm will be planted on the college’s property to supply the lumber needed for

12
future repairs to damaged buildings, or for renovations or new construction. There is also

space for small scale farming on the property. The college is bordered on the south with an

abandoned railway bed, in which the rails have been taken out, and it is now a mostly unused

gravel road. The main entrance to the college is from the northwest, which links up with a

north/south highway.

The campus manifests a Catholic anthropology in its use of materials, construction

technique, and building and site planning. The human person is both an individual and

communal. God gave us the gift of the earth to husband, but also to respect and to keep.

The decision to build in heavy timber and log construction is threefold. First, these materials

are readily available in western Canada and are still in use, especially in home construction.

Replacement lumber would be able to be grown on or near the site to provide wood for

future residents of the college. Second, heavy timber and log construction were historically

used in the area by Polish and Ukrainian immigrants, as well as Russian, German, and

Irish. The building techniques of these peoples are appropriate to use in this location for

their cultural resonance. Third, as stewards of the earth, we are called to build in the most

sustainable way possible. Heavy timber and log construction produces buildings that can last

for hundreds of years, when the proper density of lumber is used. The cost of construction

is higher than typical platform frame construction, but the buildings will last much longer,

require less maintenance, use materials local to the site, and provide an opportunity for

tradesmen to become highly skilled builders.

The buildings are designed to be appropriate for wood construction, in their

footprint, massing, and roof design. As individual buildings they recall the independence of

the human being. Each building is whole unto itself, as is a human body. But the buildings as

a group relate to one another in ways that create space, define perspective views, and provide

a structure and hierarchy to the site. They are “object” buildings, individual and complete,

but they work together in community, and serve the overall goals of the college. The

13
buildings create an architectural language and find their place within the hierarchy of the site.

On a practical note, the buildings were also designed so that they could be built at various

times, phased in as funding becomes available.

The site plan was designed with the physical, spiritual, communal, and societal needs

of the school in mind. The spiritual, secular, and domestic axes, along with the academic

village and monastic gardens and fields, manifest a Catholic anthropology by symbolizing

the relationship between these three aspects of human life: the sacred, the secular, and the

familial. The site plan is also a sign of the connection between faith and reason. The alleged

discrepancy between these two modes of relationship is not present on the campus. Instead

both exist together in a unified whole, while retaining a decorous relationship between the

parts. The building placement within the site creates areas between the buildings that are

loosely defined travel and gathering spaces.

A distinction is not made between areas for automotive and pedestrian traffic.

Instead, both use the same space and must respect one another. The human person is the

most important and respected member in the public realm, reflecting their inherent dignity.

Automotive traffic, however infrequently that occurs, is subordinate to pedestrian traffic

and pedestrian activities. The rural and peaceful character of the site is thus preserved,

while allowing vehicular access to most areas of the campus. The academic village houses

students and professors alike. Professors would live either with their family, or with one or

two other professors. Students would live in groups of six to a house. The buildings are all

similar in size and appearance so that a familial relationship can be built between the college’s

members. The houses are grouped near the base of the hill and arranged in such a way as

to create a more relaxed and small village feel. All buildings are sited within a one furlong

(1/8 mile) radius circle, which is the size of a typical medieval European neighborhood, and

allows the pedestrian to easily traverse the site, even in winter. Much of the existing wooded

area was kept, and more trees were planted on the remainder of the site, as well as in the

14
new tree groves. This respects what existed before the college was built, and improves the

site for human and animal habitation.

For these reasons the materials, construction technique, and building and site

planning manifest a Catholic anthropology, which creates a beautiful, livable, dignified,

sustainable, and decorous campus.

CONCLUSION

The anthropology of any society is reflected in its built environment. A Catholic

anthropology addresses all of the needs of man, spiritual and physical. Because of this, using

a Catholic anthropology for design decision making helps create environments for human

flourishing. The new master plan for Living Water College of the Arts reflects a Catholic

anthropology, and succeeds in fulfilling the future needs of the college.

15
 APPENDIX 1

REFERENCED IMAGES

Figure 1: Aerial of the Derwent, Alberta, Canada area. The village of

Derwent can be seen in the upper left of the image. The existing Living
Water College building is circled in red. “Derwent.” 53°38’07.96” N and
110°56’00.92” W. Google Earth. April 8, 2012. January 17, 2014.

Figure 2: Aerial of Living Water College of the Arts and surrounding

property. “Living Water College Property.” 53°38’34.08” N 110°56’04.95” W.
Google Earth. September 28, 2011. January 17, 2014.

16
Figure 3: Living Water College of the Arts. Image accessed on 03.17.2014.
www.livingwatercollege.com

Figure 4: Proposed Site Plan. The proposed foliage is not shown in this
image. The intent is to populate a majority of the site with dense groupings
of trees, with footpaths that weave themselves under the canopy. There
would be no trees along the “secular” axis street, or along the residential
street. Trees would line the path along the pond in the west, but open up to
certain picturesque views.

17
 Figure 5: Gallery on the south side of the
Volkostrov chapel. Opolovnikov, pg 199.

Figure 6: Church of Saint Doroty, Trzcinica. Public domain image. Accessed

on 01.17.2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kosciol_sw._Doroty_
Trzcinica.JPG

18
Figure 7: Trapeznaya (narthex) of the church of Saints Peter and Paul,
Puchuga, on the Northern Dvina. Opolovnikov, pg 159.

Figure 8: Painting of a historic homestead in the Derwent area. Eleanor

Cleland. Untitled. 1991. Oil on canvas. Private collection.

19
 20
Figure 9: Proposed Site Plan with notations. The proposed foliage is not present in this image. See figure 4 for description.
Figure 10: View looking from church porch towards shrine entrance.

Figure 11: View looking from shrine porch towards

church entrance.

21
Figure 12: View of the theater with propylon entry to the temple precinct.

Figure 13: View of the theater looking towards the scenae frons, and the
studio buildings and opera house beyond.

22
Figure 14: View of the library, scenae frons, and theater group. Circular
markings on the ground indicate where trees would be planted.

Figure 15: View of the library garden, looking west.

23
Figure 16: View of the “sacred” axis. Buildings from the foreground: concert
hall, library, scenae frons and theater, shrine, church and monastery, and
monastic cemetery.

24
25
Figure 17: View of the “secular” axis, looking from the entry of the administration building south towards the opera house.
 Figure 18: The concert hall.

Figure 19: The studio buildings.

26
Figure 20: The opera house.

Figure 21: The fire lodge.

27
 Figure 22: The pub.

Figure 23: A view down the residential street towards the tower of the opera
house.

28
 APPENDIX 2

PROJECT PLATES

Figure 24: Project plate 1. Aerial view from the west of the proposed
campus.

29
Figure 25: Project plate 2. Aerial of the Derwent area and precedent images.

Figure 26: Project plate 3. Aerial of the Living Water College property and
precedent images.

30
Figure 27: Project plate 4. Proposed campus plan, and view of the proposed
campus from the entry road.

Figure 28: Project plate 5. View down the “secular” axis, and views of
various buildings.

31
Figure 29: Project plate 6. View of library garden, and other views of the
library.

Figure 30: Project plate 7. View of library garden, and other views of the
library.

32
Figure 31: Project plate 8. View of temple precinct, view of “sacred” axis,
and views of the fire lodge.

Figure 32: Project plate 9. Views of the temple precinct and monastary
grounds.

33
 Figure 33: Project plate 10. Views of the residential street.

Figure 34: Project plate 11. View of the theater, with other views of the
theater and scenae frons, and a view of the campus from the nearby hill to
the southeast.

34
 APPENDIX 3

SKETCHBOOK PROCESS DRAWINGS

Figure 35: Sketchbook study 1.

35
Figure 36: Sketchbook study 2.

36
Figure 37: Sketchbook study 3.

37
Figure 38: Sketchbook study 4.

38
Figure 39: Sketchbook study 5.

39
40
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Beranek, Leo Leroy. Concert Halls and Opera Houses: Music, Acoustics, and Architecture. Springer:

New York, 2004.

Brunskill, R. W. Timber Building in Britain. Victor Gollancz, Ltd.: London, 1994.

Campbell, David. Wood in Traditional Architecture. Schiffer Publishing Ltd.: Atglen,

Pennsylvania, 2010.

Catechism of the Catholic Church. Accessed on 03.16.2014. www.vatican.va

Chappell, Steve. A Timber Framer’s Workshop: Joinery, Design, & Construction of Traditional Timber

Frames. Fox Maple Press: West Brownfield, Maine, 1998.

Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. Accessed on 03.17.2014. www.vatican.va

Economakis, Richard. “The Carpentry of Proto Doric Buildings: New Thoughts on a

Theory of Origin.” Lecture and Notes from Kevin Buccellato’s Design and

Construction of Architectural Elements class, University of Notre Dame, South

Bend, Indiana, Fall 2014.

Kirk, Malcolm. Silent Spaces: The Last of the Great Isled Barns. Bulfinch Press: Boston, 1994.

“Mission.” Accessed on 03.17.2014. www.livingwatercollege.com

Opolovnikov, Alexander, and Yelena Opolovnikov. The Wooden Architecture of Russia: Houses,

Fortifications, Churches. David Buxton, ed. Harry N. Abrams, Inc.: New York, 1989.

Vitruvius, Ten Books on Architecture, Ingrid D. Rowland and Thomas Noble Howe, ed.

Cambridge University Press: New York, 2007.

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