"Lighthouses Are More Helpful Than Churches"

     So why is it then that churches get the great architecture?  Ben Franklin didn't give us an answer to his original question. It seems such a waste that some of the most magnificent edifices have been in homage to imaginary friends.  People have given everything to build these places for the egomaniacal foundations that wanted nothing but symbols of their own power, imposing upon the weak and poor.  

     Places of learning and places that have a real purpose - ie lighthouses - deserve better than those that only serve to take. 

Richard Meier's building at the Crystal Cathedral Compound pic taken by me 

     The Reverend Robert Schuller is one of those that used religion to build monuments to himself.  At the awards ceremony for this years AIAOC student design competition, the man gave a little lecture on the importance of architecture, all while wearing a giant gold necklace not unlike something 50 cent would wear.  I couldn't help but think of how many people that gaudy thing could feed or clothe or shelter.  And the necklace was just a drop in the bucket for the multi-millionaire.  His buildings - masterpieces by Phillip Johnson, Richard Neutra and Richard Meier - could have cared for even more.  But this man, like every other megachurch egotist, needed something to show off.  

Richard Meier's building at the Crystal Cathedral Compound pic taken by me

     I picked on Schuller here, but he's not alone, he's not the first and he won't be the last to use religion to build great buildings of little purpose on the backs of the weak. 

Some lighthouses do have nice lines: 

oi on flickr Knarraros Lighthouse