Building Tradition Episode 9: Classicism and Ecclesiastical Design

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On this Episode of Building Tradition, host Peter H Miller, Hon AIA interviews professor and architect Duncan Stroik and architect David Heit, AIA, NCARB.

Building Tradition Episode 9, Part I: Ecclesiastical Design, Interview with Duncan Stroik
Practicing architect and professor of Architecture at Notre Dame Duncan Stroik credits Alan Greenburg and Thomas Gordan Smith with inspiring him to design classical buildings. Stroik explains, "Modernism was the prevailing idea at most architecture schools, but as an undergraduate at University of Virginia, I was moved by Mr. Jefferson's classicism. And Jefferson's temple sparked my interest in ecclesiastical design." Now, Duncan G. Stroik encourages his students to 'do something good,' to push themselves beyond their comfort zone and to choose their first job for it's ability to teach them more. Listen as Mr. Stroik discusses his award-winning sacred spaces, his building artisan collaborators and his clients: the priest, the president and the parishioners.

Building Tradition Episode 9, Part II: Ecclesiastical Design, Interview with David Heit , AIA, NCARB
The Latin pronunciation of David Heit's architecture firm Civium is "Cheevium," which his clients, often classically trained Catholic priests, like to point out. Mr. Heit explains, "architecture is the most public of the arts...used and experienced by people, not just looked at. Better buildings mean better living. As architects we have a responsibility to design buildings for the greater good, to serve the community." David Heit, AIA,NCARB designs churches, libraries, museums and master plans on the prairies of Topeka Kansas. Listen in as Mr. Heit talks about how churches, universities and public buildings span beyond the current time to embody traditions of the past and to make memories for future generations.