St. Albert the Great Catholic Church
Austin, TX

"Resurrection" Window
24'-3" x 24'-3"
Fourteen Stations of the Cross
14 @ 3'-0" by 3'-0" each

German, French & Domestic Mouthblown Glass; Machine- and Hand-rolled Glass; Dichroic Glass; Lead; Solder.

Cotera, Kolar, Negrete & Reed Associates, Austin, TX, Architects

R. D. Habiger Associates, Albuquerque, NM, Lit. Consultant

The sanctuary at St. Albert the Great utilizes native stone, exposed wood beams, slate tile and a semicircular pew arrangement to create a warm, open, yet contemplative environment for worship. The smaller Reservation Chapel is located behind the altar. "Resurrection", a stained glass window wall, provides separation yet still allows a sense of connection and spatial flow between the two spaces. This window wall hovers four feet in front of the stone wall behind the altar creating a shadowed reveal where the Reservation Chapel's entry doors are located.

As an interior window, "Resurrection" relies on a nearly achromatic glass palette that allows it to remain animated when seen from either side in front- and backlighting. In the transmitted light of the Reservation Chapel, the pure white glasses of the Nave are transformed into tints of amber that echo the warmth of other materials. At night artificial lighting further transforms the white glasses. Many textures of clear glass provide sparkling, refracted glimpses into the Reservation Chapel without diminishing intimacy of the smaller space. As the only exception to an otherwise achromatic palette, dichroic glass accents stream down adding color that mysteriously changes as the viewer moves past.

"Resurrection" is the thematic culmination of the Fourteen Stations of the Cross Windows which flank both sides of the nave (the fourteenth depicts the laying of the body of Christ into the tomb). Taking the butterfly, an early Christian symbol of resurrection, as its starting point, the stained glass uses a lower "landscape" of clear glasses to represent the empty tomb (chrysalis) while serving as a reminder of the transient nature of our corporal existence. Rising upwards is a powerful statement in both wispy and denser whites that provides a quiet, yet dramatic backdrop for the celebration of the Mass.

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