Quantitative and Qualitative

Church buildings have two aspects: the quantitative (fit) and qualitative (appropriateness). In our culture we are comfortable with the quantitative and find it easy to describe - room sizes, number of seats, mechanical system criteria, etc. Appropriateness has its origins in peoples’ interior lives and we find it harder to describe. On church projects appropriateness is essential because the fundamental “business” of the parish is its life in relationship with God. The design process for church spaces must respond not just to quantitative and functional issues but, first and foremost, to the realm of the Spirit, to meaning, values, relationship, intimacy, goals, vision and will. Many Values-Many Voices shows you how to effectively combine fit and appropriateness.