St Mary’s Star of the Sea War Memorial Cathedral
DESIGN: DONOGHUE, CUSICK & EDWARDS
CONSTRUCTION: 1955-62
LOCATION: DARWIN, NORTHERN TERRITORY
Professor Philip Goad: How do you build a modern cathedral in the tropics? What form might it take?
The Brazilians knew how and St Mary’s Star of the Sea takes its cue from the catenary arches of Oscar Niemeyer’s concrete shell vaults of St Francis of Assisi at Belo Horizonte built in 1943.
But otherwise this Darwin church is completely different.
It has a campanile (tower) of local porcellanite stone and, instead of a single concrete form, it is a ribbed series of catenary arches with projecting rectangular bays to either side and it has a traditional ‘crossing’.
The entire length of both nave walls can be opened up by a series of glazed doors and above, off-centred windows puncture blank walls and at eaves level, a concrete grill runs the full length of the building’s eaves – all for maximising ventilation.
Inside, an unusual feature is artist Karel Kupka’s depiction of the Virgin Mary and Child as Indigenous Australians.