Religion in Architecture

 

Nearly every religion has a form of architecture that influences and impacts peoples lives significantly and the purposes of these buildings have changed over time. For example, during the Middle Ages churches were used to care for the sick and poor. It's glass windows surrounded by walls of stories of grandiose occasions within Christianity giving a positive sign of hope and a bright beautiful light towards those with a glimpse of hope of survival.

                                      https://images.app.goo.gl/Y4C4kPsFiaWA3PxY7

However, in early Christian architecture there was a tendancy to form more isolated Monastic communities with the interior and exterior with darker colours which I personally associate with quite solemn yet overwhelming and almost depressing atmosphere which is oppositional to the calmness it wishes to depict. 

But as Gothic architecture became more popular the grandiose nature of Christianity and the powerful impact that they wanted to create on the world becomes more evidential. Even though this does form a stronger connection with society; buttresses assisting a sense of strength behind the church and in turn reflecting the strength of the beliefs behind the people, in my opinion there’s still a subtle lack of comfort towards society, that warm feeling that personally I would want of I was religious. 

Exeter Cathedral, Devon

                                       https://images.app.goo.gl/caPDxm7WjufffDem9


This is actually depicted strongly in Buddhist architecture. Temples used thresholds such as the moon gate to represent openness and peace. Which I find interesting due to the Barriers these create, with naturistic elements surrounding, forming a strong connection with religion, community and the natural world. I also find the simplicity of the moon gate as beautiful and tranquil, no angles means no harsh edges and therefore extremely inviting and well rounded. Furthermore  the fact that they are quite low to the ground (unlike within Christianity) makes them link more towards nature and homely, comforting areas. 

Other shapes formed within architecture for various purposes include: 

  • The Kaaba' (the cube) - purposely shaped for performance of religious acts. It's grand hight and cube structure forming a sense of blind symbolism
  •  The Grand Mosque 
  • Casablanca 

From an atheists perspective it’s quite easy to perceive both sides of religion show each religious architectural style reflects their culture and beliefs as I easily lack bias and can clearly perceive from an architectural viewpoint.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Politics of architecture: the relationships between people and how they decide to change their conditions of living

Image
Although within society we are constantly try t o improve the equality of female to male standing within society I am extremely surprised that the first female president of RIBA was in 2009. Yet the first female prime minister (Margret Thatcher) was in 1979. This 30 years difference is appalling and extreme changes need to be made.  As a woman myself I believe that change needs to be made at a much faster rate and that we need to be considered further within the architecturally community. Zaha Hadid as an inspiration of mine I can perceive how much change a woman can make architecturally and aspire to design such beautiful structures as her.  A beautiful interview with Zaha Hadid:  https://youtu.be/t29zH7ZpxqQ The configuration between Scotland's and England's seating in Parliament is extremely interesting as the Scottish curvature seating wise gives this sense if togetherness in comparisons to England's obvious division. It is also interesting to observe the archite...
Read more

Vaults, Buttresses and dimensions of design Vs Medieval domestic architecture

Image
Gothic architecture contains 4 different types of vaults; Barrel, Groin, Rib and Fan, with the most common being the Rib vaults. https://images.app.goo.gl/jmFRtcUA65fETrjo9 The building’s would take approximately 50 years to build with complexity's with the weight, height, detailing (overtime with the buttresses), thickness and more. These allowed openings for extremely ornate and gorgeous artwork that influence those who observe. The three eras of Gothic architecture are: Early Gothic (1120-1200) An example being the Abbey of Saint-Denis in Paris, built in 1140 being the first with precise vaulting and chains of windows along the perimeter. High Gothic (1200-1280) England - (1300-1375 Began with the subdivision of Rayonant with a more decorative style in comparison to the prior . An example of this being the Chartres Cathedral in France 1194-1220. (Close up drawn by myself). Late Gothic (1280-1500) -   The 'flamboyant' style   Characterized by prominent vertical lines in ...
Read more

How do we truly express ourselves?

Image
(Collage made by myself)  Should clothes/fashion have a gender? Should  self expression be demonstrated further in society without gender specification? And should architects specify their designs towards specific genders?  In my opinion. No.  It's fascinating to percieve how various generations percieve the roles of gender self expression and identity and how that has changed in society throughout the years.  When questioning someone of generation X (42-57) on gender association after showing one of my friends they spoke:  " When I was your age there were few men willing to walk around in dresses and corsets."  Whilst I can perceive as to why this happened  during the 1970s etc I'm glad that society has become more open about what people can where and that it's starting to become irrelevant as self expression is the most important thing in my opinion.  But how does this relate architecturally?  Well, throughout history, women have been ...
Read more