Brutalist and decaying. . .

Designed by Isi Metzstein and Andy MacMillan, a once promising building now lies in ruins in a Scottish wood.  Roughcast concrete in style, the seminary followed the architectural cues of Le Corbusier.  Heralded as the most significant building in modern Scottish history, it is now a decaying mess.  Those who watched from afar lauded the structure but those who lived in it were not so kind.  The building proved nearly impossible to heat, something of a necessity in Scotland.  It was also prone to leaks -- not because of poor construction but because of its poor design.  The ills in the structure proved expensive to fix. Constructed in 1962, already in 1967 there were some 63 reported leaks!  The huge concrete structure was poorly sound-insulated and created an impossible echo chamber that amplified everything but clarity.  

By 1980 St. Peter’s Seminary had so tried the patience of those who had to run it that it was closed.  The large numbers of seminarians had declined and the building proved to be a financial anchor and a great disappointment.  Now it is a slowly decaying monument to architecture that was guided by something other than the building's use and was a testament more to the ego of man than the glory of God.

You can read more of it here.

How many church structures will end up like this ill-fated seminary structure?  And it happens because those who conceive the structure forget why the building exists.  We are a people who crave things new and who disdain the wisdom of the past but it is precisely the wisdom of the past that has bequeathed to us various styles well-equipped to house the worship of God's people.  I wish less for new churches than for those thinking of building to look at the past and mirror in modern form and materials the lessons learned there.  The more the new looks like the old and accomplishes the noble purpose of its existence, the more the Church will benefit from the buildings erected.  Otherwise they will surely become what this seminary became -- impossible to use, costly to maintain, unpleasant to dwell in, and at odds with the needs of the Church.