exterior views of barry byrne and alfonso iannelli's st. patrick's roman catholic church in racine, wisc.

detailed photographic study of barry byrne and alfonso iannelli’s gothic style st. patricks’s catholic church (1925), located in racine, wisc.

the gothic style box-shaped church features a visually striking roofline comprised of cream-glazed and textured terra cotta lancets, buttresses, and pinnacles atop a wire-cut brick façade punctuated with tall, pointed window.

based in chicago, barry byrne was one of the most idiosyncratic practitioners of modernism. he apprenticed to frank lloyd wright in the early 1900s, but his mature designs are based on principles learned from louis sullivan and his travel in europe in 1924, where he met several modernist architects. like sullivan, byrne used ornament to frame otherwise flat, unadorned, elongated wall surfaces, creating an architectural idiom all his own, blending gothic lines with an art deco aesthetic.

in the 1920s, byrne concentrated on ecclesiastical designs, and st. patrick’s ranks among his finest creations

images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 archive. all rights reserved. 2022.