And the Readers Said 'Amen'

For a long time now, I've been fascinated with the repurposing of some of the world's most beautiful buildings-- churches. New York is full of elegant old churches, many of which no longer have congregations and have adopted new uses in order to avoid being torn down. 

There's the one on 6th Ave and 19th (20th?) that was a nightclub when I moved here and now fronts as a boutique mall. (I went to the opening.) That sort of makes me sad, actually. But then there's the amazing Novare condos of West 4th, formerly the Methodist "Peace" Church for helping Vietnam protestors in the 60s. This 1860 building is kind of my New York dream building and the living spaces in there are nothing short of heavenly. 

But now, it seems as though the Netherlands has honed in on the exact right repurpose for a once and still grand cathedral. A bookstore. Seleyx hired architects Merkx + Girod to give this Dominican structure in Maastrich, which fell into disuse after Napoleon, a major makeover. Give me 8,000 square feet of books and coffee bar and I'm a happy camper. I could browse in here for daaaaays. Old + New... always my favorite.