The Beauty Ever New Podcast: Recent Episodes
Beauty Ever New
Welcome to Beauty Ever New, a podcast about Catholic Art and Architecture. Our name is inspired by a celebrated phrase from St. Augustine where he laments his late arrival into the splendor of God’s truth. We invite you to join us as we have conversations with artists, architects, musicians, fundraisers, scholars and more, about how to bring beauty into our churches and communities. If you are a seminarian, a priest or bishop, a committee member in your parish, or a parishioner who wonders Sunday after Sunday, why your church looks a certain way, then we hope you will join us, this podcast is made for you.
Fr. Paul-Michael Piega, Rafael, and Chris discuss the importance of vision for living the life of faith in the parish, making disciples, and sacred architecture's role in forming culture and worship.
What do you do with a million dollars to make your church more beautiful?
Tune in to find out.
Rafa and Chris make a 2022 guess at the potential future of machine learning integration into the architectural design process. We'll do an update in the future to see how much things change or stay the same.
Today we sit down with Luis Martinez, a student in the architecture program at the University of Houston to discuss the beginnings of his thesis for a new monastery for the Benedictines of Our Lady of Clear Creek in their new location in New Mexico.
We review the first of two parts of John Skillen's book "Making School Beautiful which focuses on the theory of making school beautiful. The second part will focus on the application of this theoretical framework.
Use discount code "BEN20" at checkout for 20% off your copy today.
This episode we talk about how to engage with your kids in beauty, and how to think about a career in architecture, or even sacred architecture for your high school age or undergraduate students who want to pursue a career designing in service of the church.
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One of the top 10 items we discussed was reaching out to someone who is practicing architecture to talk, and we said to reach out to us. So here is our contact info. We hope you will take us up on it.
c.duffel@gmail.com / cduffel@jacksonryan.com / 972-965-3002
rmorales@jacksonryan.com
Rafael and Chris sit down with Fr Richard to talk about art and architectural integration in the seminary formation, the ways that diocesan practices affect architectural development, the growing trend of traditional architectural expression in catholic churches, and tilling the spiritual soil of the seminarians in the diocese of Galveston Houston.
The Conference for Catholic Facility Management is a group that hosts an annual conference (this 2022 year the conference was in Denver), where people involved in catholic facility management gather to talk about a variety of topics from facility management, to construction, to real estate, to sustainability.
This year Rafa and I attended the conference on behalf of our office Jackson and Ryan Architects in Houston, and we are recording this episode a week after we returned to Texas to talk about how the trip to Colorado went.
We got to tour a number of buildings, but our favorite was the seminary chapel at St. John Vianney.
Looking forward to Baltimore in 2023.
You can contact Kate via the links below.
https://www.katemarinart.com/contact
Linked In
The future is here, it is just unevenly distributed.
Automation is a reality, and a growing part of the design and construction world. In this episode Chris lobs topics, or aspects of design and construction at Rafa and he gives his best "mid 2021" guess as to if it can, will never be, or already is automatable.
Then we talk about the virtues and vices of art that is "created" by an AI or a non-human intelligence, if that is even a thing.
If you had to choose between a perfect, super affordable, machine made design, or a flawed, expensive, man-made one, which would you choose? What value does a human made object obtain from it's creator?
HT: cover art made with Image from Andrea De Santis on Unsplash.
We received a great question from Ricardo, courtesy of the Catholic Gentleman podcast, on architecture in Latin America and guidelines for Sacred Architecture.
Is there a Catholic way of building? What is the building block of western civilization? How do we return to an architecture of place?
Firm I mention at the end: Estudio Urbano. Link to a lecture they gave on new urbanism below:
The Art of Making Places: A Panel Discussion on Ciudad Cayalá & Herencia de Allende - The Institute of Classical Architecture and Art
What started with a conversation on the future of architecture...what sould churches look like, what should we base designs on and of course how did we get here...reached a higher gear when Ryan dropped the metaverse bomb. Join Chris, Rafa and Ryan on a wide ranging conversation on the future of church architecture.
Special Guest: Ryan Trusell.
What is the connection between patience and architecture? Could we build a Cathedral that takes 800 years to construct? In the quest to build beautiful churches again, patience will play a pivotal role.
What does hospitality have to do with architecture? With the liturgy? With church campus design? in this Non-Cathedra segment Rafa discusses the connection between hospitality and architecture, and how love and care is conveyed through thoughtful designs.
Rafael and Chris sit down with Deanna Ennis from the construction department of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston to talk about her experience in construction around the diocese and specifically on church work. We talk about what the diocese is up to, and what practical sorts of things happen behind the scenes so that the diocese can support the 150 parishes, over 400 priests, and 1.8 million Catholics all around the Houston area to thrive and spread the Gospel.
Cover Image Credit Todd Qackenbush on Unsplash
Special Guest: Deanna Ennis.
Join us as we talk with Tricia Dougat about her business designing and selling devotional goods, her journey in faith, and her particular design aesthetic, and how it all works together. We laugh a TON. Hope you enjoy. Visit "Providential.co" online to purchase some of Tricia's goods.
Special Guest: Tricia Dugat.
Join Rafael and Chris as we talk with instructional designer and educator Taylor Fayle about the intersection of soul and machine, Digital Minimalism, digital technologies, Catholic Liturgy, and how we relate to the technology that shapes and enables our lives. (Episode Cover a Modified Photo by Annie Theby on Unsplash)
Special Guest: Taylor Fayle.
A look back at the first season of Beauty Ever New. What we learned, what we liked most and where we want to go next.
The long awaited episode detailing the almost tragic fate of France's most famous Cathedral has finally arrived! Join us as we present the long and storied history of one of the great architectural treasures of Christendom.
Join us as we talk with author and speaker Denis McNamara about what it means to make things new in the theological context and how that should inform the design of Catholic Churches. How liturgy impacts church design, the practicalities of trying to to build beautiful churches and more!
Special Guest: Denis McNamara.
Social Media is an established reality that has become ubiquitous to modern life. Its promise from the start was to connect the world, to do away with the distance between us, but at what cost? Companies have developed gimmicks of ever increasing complexity to keep our attention. What are we to make of all of this? Jeff Jimenez works in cyber security and talks with us about the importance of genuine community and the obstacles that social media presents to our lives.
Special Guest: Jeff Jimenez.
Social Media is an established reality that has become ubiquitous to modern life. Its promise from the start was to connect the world, to do away with the distance between us, but at what cost? Companies have developed gimmicks of ever increasing complexity to keep our attention. What are we to make of all of this? Jeff Jimenez works in cyber security and talks with us about the importance of genuine community and the obstacles that social media presents to our lives.
Special Guest: Jeff Jimenez.
The long awaited companion to the episode on John Senior is here! Join us as we talk with Joseph Leaño about the Poetic Mode of Knowledge. How to understand it, how to talk about it and most importantly how to live it out.
Special Guest: Joseph Leaño.
Join us as we talk with fellow architect Michael Raia, founder of Studio io about the foundations of church design, liturgy and how tradition should inform our designs today.
Special Guest: Michael Raia.
We share our thoughts on the Notre Dame fire in Paris. Check out the rest of our episodes at beautyevernew.com
The conversation with Michaela Barta continues. This time we delve into the heart of the podcast. What is beauty? Why is it so tricky to define it? How does it change our lives and focus our perspective?
Special Guest: Michaela Barta.
Artists have a special relationship with God in that they share, in a certain sense, in the supreme creative act of God. Artists are given talents that they are called to develop, so that through them they may reveal God to the world through their work. Joins us as we talk with Michaela Barta about John Paul II's letter to artists.
Special Guest: Michaela Barta.
How often do you notice the building you work in or live in? How does it shape or change your behavior? The truth is that architecture forms us in it's own silent but powerful way. Ryan Trusell is an artist, a writer, an amateur theologian, husband and father. Among his creative endeavors is the only, as far as he knows, benedictine zombie novel, an ongoing collection of clay pottery and home scchooling his three children. Ryan has first hand knowledge of how difficult it can be to create "catholic" art that doesn't devolve into thinly veiled propaganda. Through his upbrining in Arkansas, Ryan learned the importance of being surrounded by beautiful architecture. Join us on this wider ranging architecture with this great artist.
Special Guest: Ryan Trusell.
Encountering death is a difficult reality no matter the time or circumstance. No one knows this better than Joseph Earthman, a 4th generation funeral home service provider, now a funeral director and business owner in Houston, TX. He helps families say goodbye to a loved one they have lost. Join us for a conversation on death, funerals and how to say a proper goodbye.
Special Guest: Joseph Earthman.
Architecture is sick. Is it really? Why would architecture be sick? Chris and Rafael take a look at architecture in general and church architecture specifically over the last 80 years and discuss how the industrial revolution inspired a radical change in how buildings were designed. Architects like Le Corbusier became household names and changed the face of our cities, our schools, our houses and yes even our churches. This topic is at the heart of the podcast, join us to find out if architecture is sick, the diagnosis and is there a cure?
Episode Show Notes: here
Music is a transofrmative force. It speaks to us on such a deep level, that at times can shake us to the core. It can help define our identity, our memory and how we see the world. Like so many of the arts, music changed after the incarnation. It became infused with meaning in rich and powerful ways. This new music sent shockwaves through the ages, changing how we make music right down to this day. Some of this music has lasted, its beauty endures and the Church continues to proclaim it today, still echoing the wondrous and inexplicable gift of the incarnation. Join us as we talk with Samuel Sentmanat about the power of music.
Show notes here: https://beautyevernew.com/articles/powermusic
Special Guest: Samuel Sentmanat.
Our lives have become buried under the weight of constant distraction, so much so that we have lost the ability to fully appreciate the True the Good and the Beautiful. If we are to reclaim our ability to design and experience beauty, then we have to reconnect with our ability for wonder. John Senior, a legendary educator, knew this better than anyone. Along with two other professors he founded the Integrated Humanities Program at the University of Kansas, a program that above all, was an immersion in what it means to be human. The program was wildly successful and led students on a search for Truth through wonder and beauty. Join us as we talk with Joseph Leaño about Fr. Francis Bethel's book, John Senior and the Restoration of the Real and learn how John Senior and the IHP revolutionized education and led to many fruitful conversions that still nourish the Church today.
Check out the episode show notes: https://beautyevernew.com/articles/kansas
Special Guest: Joseph Leaño.
Beauty isn't free. Often times it requires great sacrifices on behalf of the artists and the patrons. On this episode of Beauty Ever New we are joined by Andrew Robison, president of Petrus Development. Asking people for money can be incredibly scary, how do you aproach someone? What do you say? What works best? Let's walk through this together and demistify this scary proposition.
Special Guest: Andrew Robison.
This first episode is the pre-history of Beauty Ever New. Get to know us, your humble hosts. Find out why we decided to start a podcast in what is a difficult time in the history of the church. Where do we think Catholic Architecture is going? What do architects do anyway? and much more!