Spiritual Aspect of Architecture Chapter 1: ABSTRACT
Spirituality being a very broad concept still struggles for an apt definition and has room for many perspectives which varies from individual to individual. In general, spirituality is more of an intangible phenomena resulting in a state of mind in which one feels connected to much higher level of order in life. This order in one's life brings about a significant change by opening the doors to absolute truth, peace, stability and happiness. The path to spirituality varies from individual to individual. But this is a well proven fact that the way to spirituality is through one's own self and one's interaction with the physical world.
All forms of art aim to exaggerate the effect
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Also, religion earlier had a very strong-hold on the society, so all spiritual spaces were basically also religious - sacred. So, there is not much history of spiritual architecture without it being religious. Today religion has lost its hold and people are moving more and more towards secular philosophies, yoga, meditation etc. To find peace and happiness there arises a need to study the design principles of spiritual spaces individually, without the interference of 'the sacred' as deliberate attempt.
The study would first attempt to study what is expected out of a spiritual space in terms of interaction between mind, body and environment. e away sound. It is considered more as a backgroup element rather than as an initiator generating a true experience. But this is very superficial understanding because ''Sound creates space''.
The Hindu philosophy the absolute sound or swara- OM is considered capable of awakening man's dormant energies and uniting him with the whole. It is called the 'NADA BRAHMA', where Nada in Sanskrit means 'sound' and Brahma is name of a Hindu god. Therefore Nada Brahma means the sound is god and also the sound of god.
There has to be definite sound frequency at which all matters vibrate as one. Some architectural spaces can cause a faintest sound to magnify and cause the whole space to vibrate, affecting all inside
There are many different types of spirituality such as believing in oneself, transcendent forces, or other people. Many authors define spirituality differently, according to Merriam-Webster Online dictionary(2013) spirituality is defined as the quality or state of being concerned with religion or the quality or state of being spiritual. As nurses, we know that spirituality and religion are not the same and one can be spiritual without being religious. When we encounter clients who have borderline personaliti...
As the timeline of humans progressed since the very first settlements, so did the way humans built structures. Human beings became smarter and the planning behind enormous structures became more intricate and marvelous. Further back in history, places of worship played an enormous part in the everyday lives of everyone in those times. Different civilizations have built great temples of worship that have expressed their love of a deity (or deities). These great buildings embody the very best that those people can offer: their best engineering, their best carpentry, their best architecture, their best decoration. Two great examples are the Romanesque Abbey Church of Sainte-Foy and the Gothic Chartres Cathedral. While these two structures are
While spirituality is often defined today as the synonym for religion, there are many dissonant voices in Christianity who would disagree with this meaning. Peterson is one of them, arguing that spirituality is not religion or exclusive, but that spirituality is deeply integrated in the
Religion has 7 core attributes that allow someone to call it a religion, these include Narrative, Doctrine, Emotional, Material, Ethical, Ritual and Social. These seven attributes help individuals identify what can be classified as a “religion”, however spirituality has no “easy way” to identifying it. Spirituality can be found within the individual looking for their “meaning” but not physically expressed.
Worthington et. al. (2011) says historically, religiousness involved individual and institutional elements; however, now spirituality is thought of as an individual phenomenon and linked with meaningfulness, New Age beliefs, and personal transcendence. Additionally, spirituality is described in personal terms like one’s relationship with God, and as a result, spirituality is more highly regarded than religion. The authors define spirituality as a feeling of closeness and having a relationship or dedication to God or a higher power; this can be a religious experience or a nonreligious one. They state that what one considers sacred is usually related to the awareness of social influences. According to the authors, four types of spirituality have been identified based on closeness to God. First, is religious spirituality. Religious spirituality’s connectedness to God is based on one’s specific denomination and the closeness is specific to the deity identified. Second is humanistic spirituality. Humanistic spirituality involves closeness to humans. This type of spirituality fosters a loving connection with a specific group of people and a sense of selflessness and concern
Spirituality can be defined as ‘‘ways of relating to the sacred’’ (Shults and Sandage 2006, p. 161) that involve the experience of significance (Zinnbauer and Pargament 2005)”. (Jankowski and Vaughn, 2009, p.82).
My spiritual wellness is what I believe in life. I believe in my religion which is Christianity and its beliefs. I keep myself motivated through faith by the morals and beliefs throughout the day. Spiritual wellness is your purpose in life and that is an important part that has to do with your
In The Sacred & The Profane: A Nature of Religion, Mircea Eliade attempts to define the sacred by stating it is “the opposite of the profane” (pg. 10). Through out the book he tries to explain this statement through the concept of hierophany (the idea that one can experience, sensorily, the manifestation of the holy/sacred), however his main explanation of the sacred being “the opposite of the profane” is the comparison of a modern religious man and a modern non-religious man (a profane man). Eliade compares the two by explaining how each would react to space, time, nature, and life. This essay will explain the idea of sacred space, how a religious and a profane man would experience it, and how the idea of sacred space might be applied to the study of medieval art and architecture.
Architecture is the concept of bringing structure, materiality, form and space together as a whole, provide people with enclosed atmosphere to experience. Considering this, it is important to identify that materiality and the purpose of details has been a key methodology to bringing architectural intentions into the design in an affective manner, more over producing an architectural expression. However, this position is rather declining in architecture, reducing tectonics and materiality to being secondary to form and space. With the start of modernism, the attempt to achieve minimalistic style has caused detailing to increasingly develop into a decorative aspect of a building, neglecting its individual contribution to architecture.
Spiritualism is the system of religious beliefs centered on the presumption that communication with the dead, or spirits, is possible (Grolier '97). Spiritualism challenged dominant cultural beliefs of the 19th century (Paul) and is still in practice today.
What makes modern architecture? Before answering this, one would need to understand what the term “modern” exactly describes. In architecture, modernism is the movement or transition from one period to another, and it is caused by cultural, territorial, and technological changes happening in the world. In Kenneth Frampton’s Modern Architecture: A Critical History, he details these three major societal changes that impact and create modern architecture.
“Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life.” According to Buddha, everyone needs some form of spirituality to define his or her life and existence. Webster Dictionary defines spiritualism as “a system of beliefs or religious practices based on supposed communication with the spirits of the dead, often times through mediums.” Though this is one general definition of spiritualism, this concept is one that does not hold a conclusive meaning. Each and every single person has the ability and right to create and practice their own idea of spiritualism. From ancient times to present day, the term and practice of spirituality has transformed, particularly from region to region. Despite the discrepancies in practices and overall understanding of this idea, spirituality has had an effect and impact upon all of humanity since the creation of time. This religion that is believed to have been established in the early eighteen hundreds, after two little girls claimed to have the ability to talk to spirits, sparked interest in this spiritual movement, allowing it to spread rather rapidly over many geographical locations. Aside from being recognized as a religion, spiritualism is also believed to be a form of philosophy and a science in which spiritualists believe that there is life after death and try to demonstrate this through the ability of attempting to communicate with those that have passed on. Spiritualism was socially different from other religions in existence at the time because it presented followers with a more tolerant belief system that assimilated the principles and facts from a selection the world's religions. Spiritualism also made it acceptable for women to play a disti...
The real world of our universe one can present as consisting of the totality of the interconnected (through the known fundamental interactions) units of the nature, for example, photons, atoms, molecules, cells, living organisms, men, stars, galaxies and ets. Their materiality is shown, for example, in the outwards activity (the power), in which the units of nature come forward as integrated formations in the relation of other units of nature; their spirituality, enlightened through the materiality, in the form (in order of the growth of the spirituality) of the inside activity (that is of the spontaneous transitions into their different states), in the form of the senseorganized unity ( regulated by any laws), of the soul, and of the spirit. Different units of nature have different degrees of the spirituality, which are shown in the spontaneity, statisticality, selforganization, freedom of the will and so on, therefore one can say about corresponding spiritual aspects of any units of nature.
Spirituality can have many different definitions, depending on who is asked. It can be something as simple as looking for a higher meaning to life, or something so complex that one can base their beliefs, religion and overall life around it. There are several different ways to express one's spirituality; rituals, songs, dances, stories, and writings are all common methods of expression.
Ganga and Kutty stated (2013) spirituality refers to a path of life that enables people to seek reason of their existence and helps people explore challenges. Ganga and Kutty (2013) conducted a study on adults to see if spirituality had positive effects on their life, meaning did their life have purpose or value. Each participant partook in a study that asked questions about their life and purpose. The study consisted of a daily spiritual experience scale, it was a point scale that consist of 16 items to be rated on a 6-point scale. The results concluded that spirituality has positive effects on their life when seeking their purpose. Each participant felt that he/she had a purpose and that their life was valuable and meaningful (Ganga and Kutty, 2013). According to Ganga and Kutty (2013), spirituality is a way for people to discover the meaning of their life. Spirituality is a personal adventure to understand answers to the questions they seek to find about their spirituality and purpose in life. It says spirituality is a set of beliefs and practices that concludes with life changing paths that make a person’s life meaningful. Spirituality has been viewed as an important factor when realizing the purpose of life. Ganga and Kutty (2013) expressed spirituality enhances our emotions, thoughts, beliefs, relieves stress and it finds meaning and purpose of one’s life. I believe