!architecture to finish my Brazilian posting of weird architecture.
This is the Metropolitan Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro, it was built between 1964-1979 and it was designed by architect Edgar de Oliveira da Fonseca. Some say he was inspired by the maya pyramids 
, others that he was inspired by the Apollo program 
The Cathedral is 75 meters tall (246ft) and 106 meters of diameter (348ft). The internal height is of 64 meters (210ft).
Interior of the cathedral
Statue of John Paul II
A statue of homeless Jesus 
Bonus now from the Cathedral of Brasilia
The Metropolitan Cathedral of Our Lady of Aparecida. Designed by Oscar Niemeyer and built between 1958 and 1970 under the direction of Structural Engineer Joaquim Cardozo (who also made the structural project pf the cathedral).
The statues represent the 4 evangelists.
That cathedral is not very aesthetic (debatable as Niemeyer won the Pritzker prize for it) but it's very interesting from a !engineering POV. It's a hyperboloid structure composed of 16 hyperbolic-curved pillars made of reinforced concrete, each one weighting 90 metric tons. And 16 sections of glass fiber between the pillars, forming the stained glass, its total surface is of 2,000 sq meters.
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Puts homeless Jesus sleeping on a bench to prevent the homeless from sleeping on it
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That jesus statue is just a very cheeky antihobo architecture
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The bishop of Brasilia refused to step in the cathedral for years because, well, look at it. But it aged somewhat well
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Why? Its a monument to how 112 diseased, alcoholic, Catholic Spaniards destroyed an empire in the name of God.
He should be tap-dancing on the roof.
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Very cool.
The stained glass in particular is very impressive.
I actually don't mind The Metropolitan Cathedral of Our Lady of Aparecida, either, I generally endorse a certain number of Churches taking on more experimental/current designs in order to see which draw people in and what will project into the future. When Gothic architecture was still new people were saying it was wholly unbefitting of Churches and now they are amongst the most iconic locations in Christendom. I'm not sure Brutalism will ever experience the same but in the modern world you can pretty easily choose to attend a different parish.
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This German church is always a favorite of mine:
Though I like what they were going with this one it being THE Cathedral of SF is a little lame plus it just reminds me of Mormon temples way too much lol:
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I'm feeling lazy to look it up but there's a few interesting ones in Japan I know of,
I think one might even be the location of Our Lady of Akita(?) (don't quote me on that part).
Personally not my style, but building pyramids and stuff is pretty cool
and fitting for South America. Maybe someday we'll repurpose the ones in Egypt, too. 
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I love how Catholicism builds on pre-existing culture, incorporating acceptable elements. Not at all like many Prot churches (least of all Mormonism)
The original cathedral in SF (also the first in Cali) is sick though, not just in design but also location.
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Fun fact about that Cathedral: there's a quote beneath the clock "Son, observe the time and fly from evil" Sirach 4:25 and it was placed beneath that clocktower specifically because the Old St. Mary's Cathedral was located in the vicinity of the red light district and all the brothels. !Catholics
Oops it's not Sirach 4:25 it's uhh Sirach 4:23
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When you're trying to get your parish to live a chaste life but you're serving to the yellow fever capital in the densest Chinese community west of Xinjiang
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It's not Brutalism, it's modern/futurist architecture. The campus of the University fits the brutalist style better with the exposed concrete.
Niemeyer was extremely influential and he lived a long life. The campus of a Federal University near where I live was one of the last things he designed and it's currently being built. I have mixed feelings about his oeuvre and style, they didn't age well, but at the same time it has become so characteristically Brazilian that I think both his style and the brutalist look of our public buildings distinguish us from all of our Spanish-speaking neighbors.
I do wonder about future church designs, these were some of the last "grand cathedrals" built on the country and then you have tasteless Evangelical churches like that walmart replica of the Temple of Solomon in São Paulo, which serves as headquarters of the Universal Church of God.
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I was kinda talking past your OP and riffing on your comment towards the end about the second one being unaesthetic to point out that Gothic stuff used to be viewed the same and perhaps in the future even Brutalist ones will be better received, too.
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I've been inside it. It's ugly on the outside but the stain glass works well on the inside.
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A lot of these Brazilian buildings have beautiful insides but hideous exteriors.
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Hideous.
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I will glory not because I am righteous but because I am redeemed; I will glory not because I am free from sins but because my sins are forgiven me. I will not glory because I have done good nor because someone has done good to me but because Christ is my advocate with the Father and because the blood of Christ has been shed for me.
-St. Ambrose
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