Blending the Subjective and Objective Realms of Sacred Architecture at the Pantheon: Creating a Comparative Framework for Evaluating Transformative Experiences in Ritual Contexts

This paper seeks to create a comparative framework for evaluating transformative experiences for different types of ritual contexts found in sacred architecture by bridging the gap between the phenomenology of human experience and architecture’s built conditions. The methodology creates a framework for statistical analysis, whereby evidence of people’s actual (i.e., real, lived) “subjective” experiences can be evaluated against the “objective” architectural conditions. The comparative framework is put to the test by comparing the experiential and environmental conditions found at the Pantheon in Rome. Experiential data for the Pantheon is extracted from Julio Bermudez’s large survey database (N = 2872) of “extraordinary architectural experiences” for this study. This data is compared against “objective” graphical architecture analysis using Lindsay Jones’ “morphology of ritual-architectural priorities” with a specific focus on ritual contexts. The quantitative and qualitative data reveals that the Pantheon produces transformative experiences for visitors that are related to the expected outcomes of specific design features. The percentages from the “objective” and “subjective” analysis both rank the priorities of theatre, contemplation, and sanctuary in the same order. This study concludes that built environments possessing a higher presence and quality of “ritual-architectural priorities” are more likely to be perceived as sacred and produce transformative experiences.

Vietnam

In the 16th century, the first Spanish and Portuguese Dominican missionaries arrived in Southeast Asia, included Vietnam, but only after the first decades of the seventeenth century, Christianity began to take hold and lived through different episodes of the Proclamation of the Christian faith: first it was tolerated and then abandoned by the dynasties, supported by the colonialists, declined in the north by the communists, it expanded in the south under the Republic of Vietnam and stabilized until now after the reunification of the country followed by a long breakage due to political change. Along with this story, sacred architecture was interpreted in various ways to define identities in religious life and faith. However, the most difficult period of religious architecture is not only in the political conflict of the past, but also until now, the time of the economic boom. The change of values as well as the aesthetic system make sacred art and architecture remain a giant wheel stuck in mud.

Architecture for Music : Sonorous Spaces in Sacred Buildings in Renaissance and Baroque Rome

Architectural spaces are usually considered only in their visual and threedimensional character. However, the proper experience of space is multisensory. Sonority is undoubtedly the non-visual characteristic that most affects architecture, influencing its three-dimensional shape, and the size and distribution of its individual parts. Early modern sacred architecture is a case in point. Focusing on Rome and the development of architecture in relation to musical practices, this article demonstrates how architectural forms evolved through a process that ranged from provisional installations to the design of entirely new churches and oratories. In the Baroque period, these religious structures were conceived as synaesthetic spaces of sonority and architecture, in which vision, hearing and liturgical acts merged in an expressive unity.

The Model of the Universe, Encoded in the Thracian Cult Spaces, in the Context of Modern Cosmogonic Concepts

Accepting the thesis that the Thracian cult buildings under a mound can be interpreted as models of the universe, time and space, man and his ideas of harmony (A. Fol, V. Fol, M. Ruseva), in this article I further develop this thesis, while exploring it, placed in the context of modern concepts and theories in the field of physics, as well as taking into account the place of religions and other sciences in the construction of a comprehensive modern cosmogonic model. At the same time, I consider and analyse the extent to which such searches are a topic in modern sacred architecture.

Fullness and Emptiness

This paper aims to analyze prominent examples of contemporary Christian architecture in the Far East, and the influence of religious and architectural concepts of sacred architecture of the Far East on contemporary Christian architecture built there. Numerous examples show the influence of the permeation of that area’s cultural, traditional, and religious heritage with the Christian cultural and theological framework. Christian sacred architecture is based on the monotheistic concept of faith in one incarnated God that opens to humanity the path to salvation achieved in the afterlife. Religions of the Far East share common concepts of proccesuality described as Tao, the governing principle in the background of all life. It is the principle of continuity in an eternally changing universe. The intention of this paper is, therefore, to direct the view towards the permeation of cultures that encourages Christian sacred architecture towards the search for a new, authentic identity.

Universal Sanctum: For Anyone from any Religion seeking Spiritual Realisation through Interior Architecture

<p>In the realm of religion, when rituals and prayers become a routine or a default reaction, often prescribed by elders, they lose value and meaning. In the modern era, we have distanced ourselves from the past ideals of religion. Nevertheless, we continue to seek meaning in life beyond material objects. The connection to the inner-self establishes this meaning and purpose. From this understanding, I realised that all religions, despite their subtle differences lead to spirituality and enlightenment. The idea that architecture can provide a universal middle ground between people and which they truly seek, is the context from which my thesis proposal derives from. My thesis question: How can the design of a Universal space of spiritual devotion be realised through exploration and manipulation of spatial qualities within sacred architecture, in a contemporary inner-city context? Thus, this thesis will look into the architectural genre of Sacred Space in a contemporary setting. The objective will be to investigate the significance of sacred architecture and the common qualities between the various religions and their respective places of worship. The focus will be to propose an interior space which can be deemed sacred by any one from any religion seeking spiritual upliftment. In doing so, the space will intend to unify people from different religious and cultural backgrounds, and lead them towards the common goal of connecting with the inner self. The key theory investigated in this research looks at the case of religion for today’s society, interpretation of spirituality in the east and the west, defining sacred architecture and all that it entails, and the need for this typology in the contemporary world. The contextual basis of this thesis will focus on New Zealand and the predominantly contemporary and diverse culture of the country. The rise in various ethnicities and technological advances means that the presence of a universal space of spiritual reflection and gathering is necessary now more than ever. In my observation, there is a noticeable lack of contemporary sacred architecture, in New Zealand. Perhaps this is the result of our predominantly Secular society. My proposal will aspire to see through this absence and attend to the need of spatial experience to mediate between people and which they spiritually seek.</p>

Universal Sanctum: For Anyone from any Religion seeking Spiritual Realisation through Interior Architecture

<p>In the realm of religion, when rituals and prayers become a routine or a default reaction, often prescribed by elders, they lose value and meaning. In the modern era, we have distanced ourselves from the past ideals of religion. Nevertheless, we continue to seek meaning in life beyond material objects. The connection to the inner-self establishes this meaning and purpose. From this understanding, I realised that all religions, despite their subtle differences lead to spirituality and enlightenment. The idea that architecture can provide a universal middle ground between people and which they truly seek, is the context from which my thesis proposal derives from. My thesis question: How can the design of a Universal space of spiritual devotion be realised through exploration and manipulation of spatial qualities within sacred architecture, in a contemporary inner-city context? Thus, this thesis will look into the architectural genre of Sacred Space in a contemporary setting. The objective will be to investigate the significance of sacred architecture and the common qualities between the various religions and their respective places of worship. The focus will be to propose an interior space which can be deemed sacred by any one from any religion seeking spiritual upliftment. In doing so, the space will intend to unify people from different religious and cultural backgrounds, and lead them towards the common goal of connecting with the inner self. The key theory investigated in this research looks at the case of religion for today’s society, interpretation of spirituality in the east and the west, defining sacred architecture and all that it entails, and the need for this typology in the contemporary world. The contextual basis of this thesis will focus on New Zealand and the predominantly contemporary and diverse culture of the country. The rise in various ethnicities and technological advances means that the presence of a universal space of spiritual reflection and gathering is necessary now more than ever. In my observation, there is a noticeable lack of contemporary sacred architecture, in New Zealand. Perhaps this is the result of our predominantly Secular society. My proposal will aspire to see through this absence and attend to the need of spatial experience to mediate between people and which they spiritually seek.</p>

FORMAL EXPRESSION OF SACRED SPACE IN THE WORKS OF CARL MOSER

The article analyzes the imitation of traditional historical forms in the formation of sacred space. The main examples of world architecture are presented, which partially or completely copy the historical forms. The development of the sacred architecture of the modernist epoch in its imitation is represented. The phenomenon of perception in certain visible figures of objects is an expression of a more general situation, an expression of a certain type of views or collective beliefs. The using of traditional forms in modernist architecture is considered, which at the same time is not a complete rejection of modernist preferences, but also an attempt to reinterpret the geometry of traditional historical forms. The combination of national landscape and local specifics and European established traditional forms of sacred space is presented. Contradictions in the perception of sacred space and reading the symbolism of its content are considered. An attempt is also made to adapt the principles of modernism to the needs of the formation of sacred space, in which, after the suspension of historical knowledge, the essence of the phenomenon under study is sought, which is understood as its invariable feature. Religion, art, science and language are presented as forms of human thinking about reality with forms of epistemologically understandable symbol. The need to take into account the relationship between certain forms and messages that are transmitted through them in the formation of sacred space. Symbols pointing out not certain sacred reality, but certain intellectual tendencies, social situations or expressions of culture are singled out.

THE KRYVCHYTSKY MASSIF OF LVIV: IT’S SOCIO-HISTORICAL AND GEO-TOURISTICAL ATTRACTIONS, PROSPECTS OF COGNITIVE EXCURSIONS

The article describes the tourist potential of the Kryvchytsy microdistrict, located near the densely populated city of Lviv. Possibilities of combining socio-historical and natural-geographical tourist attractions in tour routes have been clarified. Socio-historical attractions related to medieval and modern sacred architecture, archeological artifacts, places of residence of famous people, the Holocaust monuments have been explored. A part of the socio-historical attractions of Kryvchytsy is connected with the heritage of the railway industry of the beginning-middle of the XX century. This is a serpentine-shaped railway, which shortly overcomes a 100 meters’ tall path that goes on top of arched bridges, through a car highway, near river flows that started their existence in the Austrian period in Lviv, some railway bridges that were built in the Polish period and the huge iron bridge that was constructed in the Soviet period. The high bridge-like structure is also valuable as a good spectating point of landscapes. The authors believe that the resumption of railway traffic on this branch of the track for tourist needs would be economically viable if we implemented appropriate advertising, gastronomic, entertainment and other attractions. We explored the natural-geographical monuments that have the value of the geo-heritage objects, compositions of geo-sites and geo-morphosites. They illustrate the geological history of the territory (a typical section of the Cretaceous-Neogene rocks), geomorphological features of the hills-remnants and varieties of modern geomorphological processes. Along with geo-tourism objects, the islands of unique phyto- and zoo-cenoses were described as a place that started it’s existence only because of the conditions of the urban region, as well as a good source of drinking water. There were also shown the needs of learning and exploring the geo-touristical objects. On the basis of the conducted scientific researches of social-historical and geo-touristical attractions two cognitive and local lore routes are formed by the Kryvchytsy massif which unites the modern traditions and tendencies of development of the local lore in excursion activity. Authors have developed a map with a trek of sightseeing tour routes for guides from Lviv to use it. A lot of attention is paid to the greening of tourism, the balance of socio-historical and natural objects of excursions, the health component of the organization of the tourist process. Key words: socio-historical attractions; geo-heritage; geo-sites; geo-morphosites; the Kryvchytsia microdistrict in Lviv.