Relationship between traditional and contemporary elements in the architecture of Orthodox churches at the turn of the millennium

Abstract

The paper will present the contemporary practice of church architecture in Bulgarian, Romanian, Russian and Greek orthodox churches, at the end of the XX and the beginning of the XXI century, and analyse the relationship of traditional and contemporary elements, with the aim of determining main trends and development tendencies. Free development of sacred architecture was interrupted by long reigns of authorities opposed to Orthodox Christianity. After the downfall of Communist regimes, conditions were created for the unobstructed construction of sacred buildings in all Orthodox countries, while the issue of traditional church architecture re-emerged as important. Further development of Orthodox church architecture may be affected by some issues raised in relation to the structure and form of liturgy, regarding the internal organisation of the temple. The freedom of architectural creation is strongly supported by the richness of forms created throughout history. Traditionalist approaches to the architectural shaping of churches are dominant even nowadays, tradition being understood and interpreted individually. At the same time, efforts to introduce contemporary architectural expression into church architecture have been increasing and gaining strength.

Greek-Orthodox Religioscapes as Domains of Migratory Integration and Hybridisation in Germany and Great Britain: A Comparative Study

“…58 That is not, however, the norm in Greece, not least in the sense of a modernist, innovative tendency, 59 whereas, examples of Greek-Orthodox modern design approaches are easier to come across abroad. 60 Particularly in the context of Greek migrant religioscapes, the obvious aesthetic of hybridity in the United States of America is worth noting. This phenomenon surfaced variably, across three phases of architectural change: in the first phase (1850-1950) it was mostly pre-existing buildings that were used, former Protestant and Catholic churches, usually in abandoned areas due to the so called "white flight"; the second phase (1950s-1980s) was a period during which the Greek-Americans experienced economic affluence and built new, modernist churches in their new suburban religioscapes; in the third phase (1980s-) a return to traditionalist, historical correctness is mostly identifiable.…”

Contemporary architecture of Serbian Orthodox temples: Improving the institution of the student architectural competition for a temple through pre-defined evaluation criteria

“…Interest in research on the topics of the modern Serbian Orthodox temple is evident in the scientific literature at the end of the XX and the beginning of the XXI century [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. Within this important architectural and social phenomenon, the role of student competitions has only just opened with a few papers [15].…”