CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- For most graduating college seniors, the final weeks of school focus on exams, saying goodbyes and looking to their next steps in life.<\/p>\n\tBut for three seniors studying architecture at The Catholic University of America, the final weeks of school presented the opportunity of a lifetime: the chance to design the altar and chair for Pope Francis\u2019 historic trip to Washington, D.C. this fall.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cI still don\u2019t really believe it\u2019s going to happen,\u201d said recent Catholic University graduate Ariadne Cerritelli. \u201cWe never thought that we would win,\u201d she told EWTN News Nightly.<\/p>\n
\tCerritelli and her teammates Matthew Hoffman and Joseph Taylor, also recent graduates of Catholic University, won a design contest that will put their creations at center stage for Pope Francis\u2019 first public Mass in the U.S.<\/p>\n
\tAn altar, ambo and chair made according to their design will be used at the outdoor papal Mass on Sept. 23 on the east steps of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n
\tAt the Mass, Pope Francis will canonize Blessed Junipero Serra, the first canonization ever to be conducted in the United States. The September visit will be the third time a Pope has visited the National Basilica and Catholic University. It will be the second time Catholic University students have designed furnishings for a papal Mass.<\/p>\n
\tAfter the Mass, the pieces built for the trip will continue to be used as part of the permanent fixtures within the Great Upper Church of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.<\/p>\n
\tCerritelli said that she and her teammates drew inspiration from the National Shrine \u2013 and from the humility of Pope Francis.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThe main inspiration was that we wanted everyone to be able to get a taste of the inside of the basilica, to get a taste of Pope Francis\u2019 mission,\u201d she said, citing the Pope\u2019s expressed desire not to stand out. It is her hope that their pieces will \u201cblend in perfectly\u201d with the surrounding architecture and will bring the motifs of the basilica to the outdoor Mass.<\/p>\n
\tOthers on the winning design team explained that they drew heavily from the basilica\u2019s Romanesque-Byzantine style, particularly the arches present throughout the building.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cOne of the first thing we did was go inside the Shrine and get a feel for the space, look at what captured our eyes,\u201d Matthew Hoffman told EWTN News Nightly. \u201cWhen we walked in there, our eyes were taken up with those arches, and that\u2019s the point, to take you up to God and up to heaven.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tYet the architecture of the church itself is very grounded \u2013 a feature Hoffman said the designers wanted to bring to their pieces.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThe actual part of the building that supports it is those arches, so it\u2019s planted in the ground, it\u2019s firmly rooted, and so we thought that was the perfect architectural language that we could use,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\tEighteen teams competed in the design competition, which was announced on April 28, with submissions due May 15 \u2013 a period which overlapped with some students\u2019 finals and end-of-year assignments.<\/p>\n
\tThe contest required students to build a scale model of at least one of the proposed pieces and to prepare a presentation of their design. They had to consider the style of the basilica in their proposal.<\/p>\n
\tThe competition was held by The Catholic University of America\u2019s School of Architecture and Planning, the Archdiocese of Washington and the Basilica of the National Shrine for the Immaculate Conception.<\/p>\n
\tIts judges were Washington Archbishop Cardinal Donald Wuerl; Bishop Barry Knestout, auxiliary bishop of Washington; Catholic University president John Garvey; basilica rector Monsignor Walter Rossi; and Randall Ott, dean of the School of Architecture and Planning.<\/p>\n
\tBishop Knestout told CNA that the judges\u2019 decision considered the designs\u2019 simplicity and their ability to complement the existing Basilica space.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThere were a lot of beautiful designs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\tThe bishop explained that the rounded arch of the National Shrine is a \u201cvery strong element\u201d throughout the building. The winning design \u201cexpressed it in a very straightforward and simple way.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cOut of all the designs it was the only one that had the chair also repeat the same rounded arch,\u201d he added. The design \u201cwould look like it fits in the shrine itself.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tThe next steps, the bishop said, include the fabrication of the design and a decision on the materials to be used. This process will be worked out between the design team, the archdiocese and the National Shrine.<\/p>\n
\tHoffman said that when the big day comes, he may forget about his own creation.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cI may be honestly more distracted that I\u2019m going to see the Pope, than that he is sitting in my chair,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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Washington D.C., Jun 8, 2015 \/ 07:03 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- For most graduating college seniors, the final weeks of school focus on exams, saying goodbyes and looking to their next steps in life.<\/p>\n
\tBut for three seniors studying architecture at The Cath…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\n
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