USF student sketches Catholic churches of San Francisco
Catholic San Francisco
By Michael Vick
After the death of his father in 2002, then high school student Francis Putulin set off on a mission. His goal was to draw every Catholic Church in San Francisco.
"I needed to keep my mind busy during the summer that I started this project," Putulin, 21, said of the months following his father's death from liver failure. "In a way, this project is dedicated to his memory."
Putulin said he had personally visited close to 40 of the 50 churches in his set of drawings. He viewed most of the churches from the outside only because many were not open when he was available to visit. For the other churches, Putulin used pictures from the San Francisco public library, along with books on the history of the Archdiocese. Putulin also used visits to churches during high school as an opportunity to brush up on their architecture. He would sneak away from the gymnasium where the basketball team, the Crusaders of Archbishop Riordan High School, played and explore whatever church was connected with the opposing team.
Putulin's drawings include several churches that are no longer open, including St. Joseph in San Francisco where his parents were married and he, his siblings and his cousins were all baptized.
"I always loved that church because it stood tall amidst the often times rough surrounding neighborhood of SOMA [South of Market Area]," said Putulin. "Every time I pass by the church on the way to my grandmother's house, it still rips me apart to see it gradually deteriorate."
Putulin said the plight of St. Joseph Parish made him particularly sympathetic to the cause of other parishioners whose churches were closed. For this reason, he included all the Catholic churches in San Francisco, not just the ones still open.
"I felt that an important part of my past would no longer be open for me to go to every day," said Putulin of St. Joseph. "I chose to include the churches that are no longer open as a way of paying tribute to the impact they have had on people." Putulin's interest in architecture, particularly churches, began at an early age. He would build churches out of wooden blocks, and had a keen interest in visiting churches whenever he could.
He said his parents took him to many churches during his childhood, including 13 of the 21 California missions. Putulin even recalled his mother double - parking in front of churches in San Francisco so he could run in and grab a church bulletin.
Putulin's mother, Aurora Aquiler - Putulin, said his extensive knowledge of the churches in San Francisco, down to the exact address and even the names of the pastors both past and current, comes as a surprise to people.
"One comment I always hear from people is that he has a photographic memory," said Aquiler - Putulin in an e - mail interview. "He can remember the details and always puts them in his drawings."
She said her son has always had a deep faith. When he was young, he even suggested the family convert their backyard into a church.
Both Putulin and his mother credit his late father Nazario with inspiring his architectural ambitions. Born in Meycauayan, a city just north of Manila in the Philippines, the elder Putulin studied architecture at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila.
After coming to the United States in 1982, Nazario Putulin found it difficult to secure employment in an architecture firm. At the time, most major firms in California were in Southern California. He decided to pursue computer programming, and worked in the ITS department for the City and County of San Francisco. His son took up the architectural mantle.
"I felt very proud and honored that he was following the same path that his dad traveled," said Aquiler - Putulin.
Now a senior at the University of San Francisco, Putulin is a part of the school's fledgling architecture program, just four years old.
Professor Seth Wachtel is the program's director and one of Putulin's professors. "Francis has grown steadily in his architecture skills and personal confidence," said Wachtel in an e - mail. "He is very committed to his major and puts in more time on his design projects than many of his peers." Wachtel praised Putulin for his effort to draw the Catholic churches of San Francisco. "Well conceived 'side - projects' are excellent additions to a strong architecture education," said Wachtel. "As a vibrantly active and dense city, San Francisco is an especially rich environment for such architecturally focused activity."
Putulin said now that he has completed the drawings of San Francisco's Catholic churches, he plans to continue with the churches in San Mateo and Marin counties. Eventually, he hopes also to include the churches in the Oakland and San Jose dioceses. He also plans to draw all 21 of the California missions, and said they are the reason he fell in love with churches in the first place.
His immediate goals are more practical. He hopes to graduate and move on to graduate school, though he does not yet know where he wants to attend.
Putulin said he plans to offer the church drawings at no cost to any parish that wants one, although as yet very few people even know about the drawings.
"The only people who knew I was doing the project were my family, friends of the family, and a few of my own friends from school," he said. "Now I guess everyone will know."
