Balconies

Sacraments partially reveal and partially conceal their realities. So too a church building like a veil, reveals as it conceals. Justinian’s great church in Constantinople has balconies that follow the curvature of the walls so that the building reveals itself only parts at a time. The balconies of Visitation Parish in Kansas City, Missouri, evoke this same power of the building to reveal as to conceal. This balcony is pierced by the baptistery.