I recently returned from a little get-away in Washington. For the first time, I took time out to visit the big cathedral atop St. Alban’s hill, in the north-west portion of the city.
It took over 90 years, really, to build this, which considering the really old cathedrals in Europe, is nothing. This one even has air conditioning.
It got me thinking, looking at the Greek and Roman architecture all over the city, then this gothic-style architecture about the “flavor” of Washington, D.C., and the culture of America. Is too much of our offical, government buildings (and by extension, this cathedral) too steeped in European culture? When I see a tourist coming out of the art museum, let’s say, in a t-shirt and shorts, the contrast between that dress and the building’s façade is striking.
What does this architecture really say? This is America? I think not. This is important, everlasting? Perhaps.