Arts & Architecture assignment : Religious architecture
Introduction
Religious architecture, also known as sacred architecture is related to the religious practice, and the basic concern is about the construction and design of the place where worship is done and also sacred place such as mosques, temples, churches and stupas. Many resources are being devoted by the culture to their sacred place where they worship. The most permanent and impressive buildings which has been created by humanity are sacred and religious spaces. The holy religious and sacred structures which have been evolved since many centuries were the largest architecture in the world. Hagia Sophia which has come from the Greek work, the meaning of which is Holy wisdom was an Orthodox patriarchal basilica earlier, then it was considered as a mosque and now, presently it is considered as a museum which is in Istanbul of Turkey. From the day that is 360 to 1453,it was served as a cathedral that is Eastern Orthodox Cathedral and it was considered as a seat for Patriarchate of Constantinople (Müller-Wiener, Wolfgang 1977) ,exception was there, when under the Latin empire it was considered as a cathedral under Roman Catholic in the period between 1204 to 1261,and this building was then a mosque since 29th May,1453 and finally in 1931, it got secularized and then it started as a museum on the first of the February in 1935. (Magdalino, Paul, 2010). The various styles have been employed in the religious or a sacred place which sometimes reflect the trends of the other structures, even these styles remain unique from the other structures, where contemporary architectures have been used. When there has been a rise of Abraham monotheismd, especially Islam and Christianity, the sacred places has also became the places where worship, meditation and prayers can be done (Melton J Gordan, 1992). According to Scientology, people are immortal beings, who all have forgotten about their true nature (Neuser, Jacob 2003), according to this the method of rehabilitation when done spiritually is a type of counseling which is also known as auditing, in this practice, practitioners aims in experiencing painful events, which are quite traumatic so that they get free from the effects which are quite limited. Traditional practices have been followed in a church, practices like rites and worship, which has been developed over time. When deviations occur from such pattern, they are quite unacceptable. One is quite aware that this world consists of different religions followed by different people and diversity is seen in a same religion also, and it can be seen in the various designs of the church.
Architectures & Religion
Church architecture consists of the architecture related to the church. According to the Richard Keikhefel, when one enters into the sacred place, it means entering into the world of spiritual powers. The various kinds of architecture has been developed and has been spread fashionably ,which has occurred due to the establishment of monastic orders, and when bishops have been posted from one region to the another region, and it can be also said when stonemasons ,the one who are architects travel from place to place (John Harvey,1950). The different styles of the church buildings are known by the names such as Gothic, Baoque, Early Christian, Byzantine, Romanesque, and also be the term Revival Styles, from the 18th century to the early of the 20th century (Banister Fletcher, 2001). When we are considering the architecture or design of the church, we can see that regional characteristics have been overlaid on each of the styles. For a country, some of the characteristics are quite typical that their appearance is seen, no matter whatever is the style. For better understanding of the spiritual architecture of 2oth century Chapel of Notre Dame du Haut by Le Corbusier in Ronchamp, France is being examined closely. (Corbusier, 1955), mentioned that “Here we will build a dedicated to nature and we will make it our lives’ purpose”. Chapel of Notre Dame du Haut has thick and curved walls, especially the buttress shaped south wall and the vast shell of concrete gave a miraculous structure to the building (Glyn, 2011). Le Corbusier himself was surprised on the architecture if this monument, as it is completely different from his earlier work, he mentioned to one of his clients that “I have not experienced the miracle of faith but I have known the miracle of inexpressible space, the apotheosis of plastic emotion” (Vries & Droog, 2011). Le Corbusier wanted to evoke spiritual emotions through his architecture by playing with space and light, without affecting any of the church topology. The structure has small very brightly painted and ostensibly irregular windows which are punched on to the thick walls which gives dim and exciting light in the cool building. Further it is enhanced by the indirect light coming down the three light towers (Glyn, 2011). The interior of the building is modest with plain seats down the South only. The entire building curves towards the altar that is the walls, roofs and even floor curves towards the altar (Glyn, 2011). For more dim lighting effects the east wall is punctured with many pinhole windows. The South wall of the structure is astonishing, the vertical triangular frames of armoured concrete 16cm thick varying, at the base, from a width of 3m70 to 1m40 to 50cm at the top, carrying the immense, spreading shell of the roof; the rest, the bays, embrasures and splays which break up the interior wall is a tissue of concrete 4cm thick sprayed on to expanded metal by cement gun. The structure design of the roof of this project of Le Corbusier was inspired by the engineering of airfoils. The technologies were the pointed arch, the ogival, the flying buttress and the ribbed vault. When applied to the spiritual places that is church, the light and verticality has been emphasized by the Gothic style. The achievement of this appearance was done when the new features, which have been developed in the field of architecture and along with the technology.
The building which acts as a landmark was the gatholic cathedral, since it got raised from all the other domestic structures since above it there were towers, and presence of the pinnacles and also spires (Wim Swaan, 1988). These cathedrals were the tallest building, or we can in short say the skyscrapers which are considered as the largest buildings, which were seen by the Europeans. The renaissance forms were being used in the twentieth century for the construction of the church. Through this, connection between Rome and Catholicism has been reflected, and it has been distinguished from Anglicanism.
Traditional vs. modernism
There has been always a battle, when the issue of tradition has come in the culture. In the new century, there has been emergence from eight year period which have been characterised by all the traditional values, and ideas in all field of the lives, which included architecture. The people, by whom modernism was invented in the 1920s, the traditional forms were being rejected as it was considered as stuffy and also incorrect politically. Their mind was so occupied with the novelty, that designs which were being created by them, match the machines, so that an abstract environment can be created by them. After the second world war, the agenda of architecture was dominating, and unexpectedly the people which are related to the world of art, that is revolutionary and the minimalist aesthetic were being holed by the America. When we put side by side, the two styles, an interesting study could be done for the debate between modernist and traditionalist that is some are concerned about the designs of the sacred place, and some are only concern about the worship. By an architect Ziegler-Copper, the Sacred Heart cathedral which is situated in the Houston is based on the styles which are considered as tradition. It has quite open, high entrance which is vertical. This provides an excellent idea for re using the typologies traditionally. The section of people who give priority to only tradition instead of innovation when it comes to the architecture of church, do not see and need for justification. They think that human beings have been tied to the god spiritually, and there has been the development of the architectural solutions. Contemporary, the sensitive and intelligent church was being used for a great success. True methods were being used to design a church that was based on the tradition and faith. When examination was done closely, various non traditional aspects have been done in the Houston Cathedral. It is made up of rich materials and also the planes which are not filled and also there exist abstractions in volume. It is not a traditional architecture. The harmony and peace have been achieved by an architect by combining both traditional and modern values, without loosing anything.
Other aspects related to an architecture of the church
In Europe, the way by which the architecture of the churches were being developed and the built of the church differs from region to region, as well as difference in the architecture of the church can be seen in the same region and also in the same period. The factors which determine the built and the design of the church depend on the local community, depend on the city, village or town, it also depends on the type of the church whether it was an abbey or a collegiate church, ether the church is under the protection of priest, or whether the church is under the protection of the rich family, or whether there will be the presence of the holy objects that will attract pilgrimage towards the church. The churches which have served a small religious community, no matters whether it is abbey or collegiate church, the greater complexity have been demonstrated. The churches which are under the protection of the bishop have employed the large number of architect and this has been demonstrated in the design of an architecture style, unlike the builder. The ideas were being developed by the Metzger, after the second world war, with the church which was situated at Baesl-Richen, known as St.Franscus.The another building, which is quite notable is the chapel by Le Corbusier in 1955, which is situated at Ronchamp.In the United States, the principle of continuity and simplicity of style could be seen in the roman catholic abbey church known as St.Procopius which is situated in Lisle that is near Chicago. A theoretical principle, which has bought the change, was the Sacrosanctum Concilium in the Second Vatican Council, which was being issued in the December 1963.The active participation was being encouraged by the people, and while building new churches this should be kept in mind. The instructions and rubrics have encouraged the requirement of the freestanding altar, which allow the bishop or priest to place the public. These changes can be seen effectively in the church which follow Roman Catholic and are present in the Brasilia and Liverpool, which consist of circular building and has a free standing altar. Due to shortage of the finances, and also the theology of the market place, there was a suggestion of a building of church, with multipurpose, where both sacred and secular events took place at different time, but in the same area. The emphasis was on the unity of the religious action, and it was faced by the idea of movement. In England and the United States, Richard Giles promoted the structure, where there have been three spaces, one space for baptism, another for the worship of the people, and third for the ceremony, where last wine and bread were being consumed. Along with the movement that occurs in the postmodern world, the movement in architecture was being formed in a reaction of a modernism ideal. It is quite rare, but then also there are notable and few examples of an architecture, where historical styles and memory related to the culture of the Christian architecture has been created. The practitioners who are quite notable and includes Duncan Stroik, Dr. Steven Schroeder ,Thomas Gordon Smith and etc who have told us about the western culture. According to them the western culture include, the customs which are traditional, beliefs of religion, values which are considered ethical, political system, heritage of social norms, and technologies and artifacts specifically. There are various implication of the western culture in case of sacred place that is a cultural influence of Biblical Christian in customs, spiritual thoughts and traditions which are both ethic and moral, around and after an era of post classical. Churches has a strong hold over the faith during the early years of the Catholic Church that occurs in Korea, and western church culture were not being implanted unilaterally, rather it was being hold by the local catholic spontaneously. There has been an exchange between west and the east, due to the contribution of the Hanok Church, and the clue of the architecture of the church has been held by the Hanok Churches.
Conclusion
Finally, one can say that architectural regionalism tells us about the way of designing and building sacred places, keeping in mind the value of the traditional ideas. While creating architecture of the religious places, one should keep in mind, the religious beliefs. There is a diversity in religious place, and the architecture of any sacred place are being showing the religious and traditional values of the people, and there are some differences between the traditionalist and modernist, while taking into an account the architecture of the church, and there has been an influence of the western culture on the designs and built of the church.
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