

Ceiling of the Sagrada Família (photograph by SBA73/Flickr user)

The architecture of churches has always aimed to awe. Yet while some houses of worship convey the staggering unknowable nature of the spiritual with flying buttresses and ornate rose windows, other churches seem ready to take off for the heavens all on their own.

Below are 20 churches from around the world that look like space ships, from brutalist behemoths to stained glass-studded modernist cathedrals. We start with the futuristic 1918 concrete Third Church of Christ, Scientist, in Washington, DC, which, if development plans go forward, will soon be torn down. Perhaps it’s time for it to become the rocket ship it dreams of being and escape to the stars.

THIRD CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST

Washington, DC, United States

photograph by rodeomilano/Flickr user

photograph by rodeomilano/Flickr user

SAGRADA FAMILIA

Barcelona, Spain



photograph by Danny Fowler





photograph by David Fernández



CATHEDRAL OF CHRIST THE LIGHT

Oakland, California, United States



photograph by Christian Ortiz





photograph by Jim Hawksworth



ST. MARY’S CATHEDRAL

Tokyo, Japan



photograph by Morio/Wikimedia



photograph by Shinjuku1/Wikimedia



photograph by Sizuken/Flickr user



photograph by Morio/Wikimedia

SAINT-PIERRE

Firminy, France



photograph by Duncan Standridge





photograph by Pieter Morlion

ST. JOSEPH THE BETROTHED

Chicago, Illinois, United States



photograph by iryoda/Flickr user



CLIFTON CATHEDRAL

Bristol, England

photograph by the_justified_sinner/Flickr user



photograph by Dauvit Alexander



photograph by mtgf/Flickr user



PILGRIMAGE CHURCH

Neviges, Germany



photograph by seier+seier





photograph by Xavier de Jauréguiberry



ST. JOHN’S ABBEY CHURCH

Collegeville, Minnesota, United States



photograph by Heather Seneff





photograph by Johnny Clark



RIO DE JANEIRO CATHEDRAL

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

photograph by Rodrigo Soldon

photograph by romanlily/Flickr user

OUR LADY OF TEARS

Syracuse, Sicily, Italy



photograph by Marco Bellucci



photograph by Stefan L.





photograph by Stefan L.



CATHEDRAL OF BRASILIA

Brasília, Brazil

photograph by paul74/Flickr user

photograph by illuminaut/Flickr user

METROPOLITAN CATHEDRAL

Liverpool, England



photograph by Arthur John Picton





photograph by catholicism/Flickr user



STYKKISHOLMSKIRKJA

Stykkishólmur, Iceland



photograph by Chris Zielecki



photograph by jerrroen/Flickr user

DIVINE MERCY SHRINE

El Salvador City, Philippines

photograph by Allan Donque

HOLY TRINITY CHURCH

Geneva, Switzerland



photograph by stonechat/Flickr user



OAKLAND CALIFORNIA TEMPLE

Oakland, California, United States



photograph by moregoodfoundation/Flickr user



ST. FRANCES CABRINI CHURCH

New Orleans, Louisiana, United States (demolished)



photograph by Karen Apricot



TEMPPELIAUKIO CHURCH

Helsinki, Finland



photograph by Matthew Duncan



photograph by ken.h/Flickr user



HALLGRIMSKIRKJA

Reykjavík, Iceland



photograph by extramundane/Flickr user



photograph by O Palsson

