Interfaith Design

  • 1.  What will a post-religious architecture look like?

    Posted 09-15-2012 02:58 PM
    This message has been cross posted to the following Discussion Forums: Committee on the Environment and Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art, & Architecture .
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    With the decline of organized religion and the rise of the spiritual, what will a post-religious architecture look like?  More: http://bit.ly/OwOadX

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    Michael Crosbie FAIA
    Faith & Form
    Essex CT
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  • 2.  RE:What will a post-religious architecture look like?

    Posted 09-17-2012 07:52 PM
    Since man will then be the measure of all things then the focus will be solely on elevating man to god-like status. With no sense of humility and repentance (because there will be no sin) everyone will take turns elevating themselves before their fellow man and they will all bow down and worship them.
    If there is a post-religious period it will be because of man's failure to recognize God as creator and to teach others about Him.

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    Dan Wyckoff AIA

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  • 3.  RE:What will a post-religious architecture look like?

    Posted 09-18-2012 10:01 AM
    there will never be a 'post-religion' mankind ... religion is intrinsic to humanity like the economy or education are ... institutions, forms, and gods will change for sure (as they have), but religion will never disappear or be transcended ... 

    now, there could more evolved forms of religion ... new practices of spirituality in 2250, say, may look and even feel utterly different to us 2012 beings, but again, the moment that two or more people get together and try to share and participate in anything dealing with a divine realm, religion is born ... and since we are social animals, well, religion will never perish ...

    which is a good thing ...

    we only need to learn how to deal with those of other faiths, that's all ... no easy task 



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    Julio Bermudez Assoc. AIA
    The Catholic University of America, School of Architecture & Planning
    Washington DC
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  • 4.  RE:What will a post-religious architecture look like?

    Posted 09-19-2012 11:43 AM
    I agree. Well said Julio.

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    William Beaupre AIA
    Maple Grove MN
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  • 5.  RE:What will a post-religious architecture look like?

    Posted 09-18-2012 12:28 PM
    Two points to ponder...
    To answer the question of what will a post-religious architecture look like invites input from a number of camps including theological, social/psychological, arts and architectural. But it should also include recognition and validity of the practice of the same faith in cultures other than our own.  Looking for solutions within a limited scope of context may result in limited resolve when dealing with a global subject.

    The term 'Christianity after religion' or reworded - 'post-religious' implies a stoping of one thing and remnants or restarting of something, There are many who do not see Christianity in that context.  Study of the writings in the Bible with context to the social events events of that time shows us that there are many parallels to the situations of current context that Bass and so many other writers try to address.  In our societal need to explain and project as much as we possibly can we can easily fall victim to forgetting that the Church, as Bass is describing it, is not ours but Christ's.  Spiritual awakening comes at His direction at a place, time and context, i.e. it can be anywhere, old or new.  Thus the 'movement of God's Spirit' comes from God, rather than 'stages that dramatize God's Spirit', as Bass puts it.  Applying a similar mindset to the physical environments we create will produce spaces that inspire, nurture and facilitate the faith.  Basic tenants of any faith are the building blocks of the environment that man creates in response to that faith.  And to add to Mr. Wyckoff's point; failure, or even level of success, is based on man's level of recognition and acceptance of God as creator and His message.  


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    Robert Strom AIA
    Principal
    IHS Design Studio, LLC
    Castle Rock CO
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  • 6.  RE:What will a post-religious architecture look like?

    Posted 09-19-2012 01:44 PM
    The question originally framed by Mr. Crosbie was about "...post-religious..." architecture. This discussion would benefit from a consideration of the terms religion and relationship.

    In evangelical circles, Christianity is described NOT as a religion but as a relationship. "Followers of Jesus" describe themselves as disciples, co-laboerers, or "fishers of men" that want to obey the teachings of Jesus. Relationship implies dialogue. God became a man to have a relationship with us, to show his love for us. The walked in our sandals. He invested himself in the lives of those around him, and told them they could be "born-again". So the architecture is looking for an expression of relationship that is transformative. 

    Religion is a human construct. Church is a place, a sacred space, a "house of God", a place to go, in which one worships or meditates. Religions are inventions of man to describe the infinite and unknowable. Religions are marked by hierachy, order and rigidity. Dogma can have positive connotations to the devout. It represents the truth made solid and reliable in a positive way. Ritual, mystery, rhythm, non-verbal expression (or in Latin when spoken) are treasured. His name is above all names. The cathedrals of Europe are a magnificent expression of the almighty awesomeness of God. The cruciform plan maps the life of the adherant from baptism at the entrance to death at the altar and resurrection with The Christ on the cross. Church architecture is religion codified into its own frozen music.

    "Post-religious", is almost synonymous with "Information Age". The truth has not changed. But the ways of discovering it, experiencing it, and being transformed by it (Him, Him, Him) are now more self-directed. Truth used to be known because an authoritative voice in Rome, or a cathedra, or in a high pulpit told us what it was. Now we "seek" the truth with a search engine. If we find some, we tweet about it. Church has become (some would say returned to being) a verb.

    "Post-religious" architecture will not adhere to the design dogmas of religion. It will be an architecture born out of a desire for dialogue between the creature and the creator. It will be a vessel for the church.




    Discussion Forums: Committee on the Environment and Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art, & Architecture .
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    With the decline of organized religion and the rise of the spiritual, what will a post-religious architecture look like?  More: http://bit.ly/OwOadX

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    Michael Crosbie FAIA
    Faith & Form
    Essex CT
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  • 7.  RE:What will a post-religious architecture look like?

    Posted 09-21-2012 12:19 PM
    These lyrics have often conjured images of post-religious architecture by John Lennon :

    Imagine there's no countries

    It isn't hard to do
    Nothing to kill or die for
    And no religion too
    Imagine all the people
    Living life in peace...

    come and experience this architecture now......

    Michael Scarmack, AIA
    Earth_Architect
    Scarmack Architecture ':-)
    the Cosmos and all places in & between




  • 8.  RE:What will a post-religious architecture look like?

    Posted 09-25-2012 12:23 PM
    Thanks Michael for the provocative question - but it is terribly depressing to ponder...

    I suppose that the discussion depends somewhat on how we understand the term "religion."  Without making too much of it, I suppose we could use a basic definition, such as: the ordered(structured) and communal(shared) response(communication/communion) to the divine by the faithful. 

    The gathering together, the structure and practice of the faith community is what gives rise to the physcial facilities that we design to literally facilitate worship and communion.

    Any communal enterprise requires order, and order engenders a visible form/structure to the common expression of a group - i.e. ritual.  Then when we speak of "the spiritual" that fills in the place of common religious expression I take it to mean the highly individual or personal expression that eschews ritual.

    So perhaps another way to frame our question would be to ask, What would/will/do our structures look like when they serve what Michael describes as a growing trend toward "the spiritual," i.e. the near-structure-less expression of faith?

    Short answer: like entertainment venues.  That is, if we preserve some sense of the communal. 

    ...think Bread and Circuses, in lieu of the Bread of Life and the authentic drama of Salvation History.

    Or, if our religious culture dis-integrates into purely personal expressions of faith, perhaps it moves toward those experiences that are virtual and seem to be infinitely flexible/customizable - like an iPad?

    Coming at the question from a slightly different angle, I am reminded of Thorncrown Chapel and how such effort is made to create a structure that is barely there.  Does this physical structure correspond to a particular religious "structure" that is also reduced to an absolute minimum, to privilege or "free-up" the spiritual?  I would be interested to know what the intentions were, or the religious sensibility of the commissioning faith community. It certainly is an elegant expression of gothic minimalism.

    I appreciate this discussion.  Thanks.


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    Adam Hermanson AIA
    Principal
    Integration Design Group, PC
    Henderson CO
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