"New shrine’s architect considers beauty essential"

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Beauty is one of the most important things for us to rediscover. We have lived for a long time with people telling us, even architects telling us, what’s important is to have a building that’s functional, that’s liturgical, that expresses something, that seats enough people, that doesn’t cost too much — all these things. They hardly ever talk about beauty.

For a Catholic, and for a Catholic building, beauty is essential, because first of all, God’s middle name is Beauty. And he, being in his creation, created great works of beauty that we are able to be stewards of. So, in our own way, we’re asked to imitate the creator in also creating beauty. So that’s the most important reason that we should build beautiful buildings — that it’s for God, it’s for his glory and it’s an imitation of him.

—found at the Society of St. Barbara