SUBLIME Zepa Tshendup
M. Arch. Thesis
Hammons School Of Architecture
Fall 2016
IN
ARCHITECTURE
SPIRITUALITY What I have sought to achieve is a spatiality that stimulates the human spirit, awakens the sensitivity and communicates with the deeper soul. - Tadao Ando
Contents 01
Introduction Sublime in Architecture
04 The Spiritual Spirituality in Architecture Current State of the Spiritual Significance in Architecture Is there room for a spiritual dimension in architecture that is not for religious purpose? Culture, Spirituality & Architecture Connections Between Human & Architecture
Detail Material & Form Light & Shadow Aura
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Case Studies Peter Zumthor Bruder Klaus Field Chapel
Louis Kahn Salk Institute
Daniel Libeskind Jewish Museum
Peter Zumthor Therme Vals
Conclusion
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Project Framework
43 Site Analysis Rationale Design Program
Resources
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INTRODUCTION “In an age in which some have said that we know ‘the price of everything, but the value of nothing’, I wonder if architects can really only design with their heads or whether they can still bring to their work that “angelic” intellect of the heart and the soul? I wonder, too…and to reintroduce those timeless qualities of harmony, human scale and character that generate a sense of belonging – enriching the soul rather than impoverishing it…” Christopher Day
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‘Other than architects, few people think about architecture, but many ‘feel’ it. It is those who don’t that I feel sad for, for their aesthetic feelings have been blunted, even obliterated – and architecture must carry much of the blame.’1 ‘Instead of an existentially grounded plastic and spatial experience, architecture has adopted the psychological strategy of advertising and instant persuasion; buildings have turned into image products detached from existential depth and sincerity.’ 2 ‘The incredible acceleration of speed during the last century has collapsed time into the flat screen of the present, upon which the simultaneity of the world is projected’.3 Why this fascination with ‘fast’? The word ‘slow’ has been affixed with connotations of mundane, lazy and dull. But ever since the turtle won a race against the hare, prudence entails a slow and steady pace, a heightened sensitivity, which can inform how we think, feel, connect, and live. ‘This acceleration brings up issues of de-stressing design – both by social arrangement and harmony-inductive environment. Places to renew the spirit and bathe the soul in peace are even more important today than in 1998.’4
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The purpose of this research is to explore the importance of emotions and spirituality in architecture through answering questions such as: What constitutes a spiritual experience? Is there room for a spiritual dimension in architecture that is not for religious purposes? How does our culture and tradition in architecture capture the spiritual essence? This is important because ‘modernist design at large has housed the intellect and the eye, but it has left the body and the other senses, as well as our memories, imagination and dreams, homeless.’5 Our surroundings are mostly built environment and architecture can significantly affect us (both positively and negatively). The structure, form, space, lights, materials and colors have the power to manipulate our mood. Therefore it is vital that buildings, humans, and earth co-exist in harmony.
In summation, this research is a study on the spirituality in architecture because architecture that appeals to the emotion has become rare in modern times where the human emotions are normalized. In an attempt to move away from the detached and emotionless architecture, the focus of this research is understanding the qualities and techniques that make up a spiritual and emotionally rich architecture. Like music, art, and poetry, architecture can enrich our lives if we let it.
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The Spiritual
SUBLIME IN ARCHITECTURE
The word spiritual is a broad term with numerous meanings, traditionally associated with religion but not necessarily in this context. Here it is rather applied to suggest places that possess spirit or life. Some synonyms of the word ‘spiritual’ would include sacred, meaningful, sense of otherworldliness, energy, sublime, immeasurable, ineffable, aesthetics, numinous, aura and many more. Spiritual experience is an intangible phenomenon that we know exists but is an occurrence that is hard to label in concrete terms. It directs us through our instincts and reflexes. It is the ability of something that can move and evoke emotion in us. The most fascinating thing about architecture is it can connect with the human on an intimate level and the architects keep the capability to give a structure to intangible phenomena like feelings. Vitruvius in his Ten Books of Architecture outlines three principles for a building to be successful. They are, firmitas meaning structural stability, utilitas implying functionality and venustas meaning beauty that evoke emotions. It is the third principle that provides an intriguing opportunity to create architectures that are ‘’simply beyond’’. It is also the base for the unique touch of an architect, dignifying architecture as a profession. Vitruvius basically was referring to the intangible and emotional effect that architecture can have on the human spirit. Most architecture is designed to be inhabited and hence it is inevitably experienced. Therefore, it is vital to the user of a building to be able to connect on an intimate level. ‘The world might be public, out there, as nature is, but it is experienced ‘in here,’ locally, individually, and uniquely.’6 However, the ability of a building to instigate an emotional reaction will, of course, depend on the individual inhabitant, as some may be more susceptible to such experiences than others.
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The degree to which a building can affect the most disengaged of visitors is perhaps a way to measure the quality of architecture. Architecture that appeals to the emotion has become rare in modern times. ‘Today, in our highly civilized society the houses which ordinary people are doomed to live in and gaze upon are on the whole without quality‌we must strive to advance by arousing interest in and understanding of the work the architect does.’7
The buildings and townscapes of our time commonly lack a spiritual and emotional content. The sense of emptiness, distance and rejection they do possess derives from the inability of modern settings to resonate with the unconscious sensibilities of the human mind. The progress of modern architecture has normalized human emotions, and consequently is unable to reflect emotional extremes such as ecstasy and melancholy. Juhani Pallasmaa
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Spirituality in Architecture Being in this world:
‘In the built environment, placelessness and its vapid character, dysfunction, alienation, and disconnectedness, has become alarmingly pervasive.’8 Aristotle saw the word “spirit” as connected to the good, virtue, or unity because the nature of an organism stands at the base of life’s hierarchy or telos- the organizing principle in itself which directs the growth, development, and characteristic of that organism. ‘Spirit of place is essentially a fuller engagement of the self in place, because the development of the self-moves from individualistic concerns to harmony with other beings as it grows in wholeness.’9 We are all by our nature spiritual people. We have in ourselves an infinite capacity for connection with all things. Anything that galvanizes individuals and directs towards the better aspects of our nature are worthy of our attention. According to Architecture, Culture, and Spirituality, the spirit of a place entails that the moral liability of the individual be extended to encompass their community and its broader environment. Buddhists believe that there is a divine beauty in all of us and if we prioritize that we naturally create a culture more in harmony with other beings and with our planet, which is what we need the most at this point in time.
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Current State of the Spiritual Significance in Architecture The relationship between people at these times is muted. Even as one sits or stands, the spiritual experience is an internal one, a private one, whose only outward manifestation might be a smile or a tear. Spirituality is a sublime connection. The paradigm of rationalism tends to devalue tacit knowledge, seeing it as subjective and private. It is a design for a higher and more integral, transformative, and inclusive everyday experiences. The light of our awareness is not limited to entering what is comfortable and acceptable to the mind. It is here to illuminate all rooms – even those dusty closets with all of the old, emotionally charged baggage we have been reluctant to explore. Given that tacit knowledge is translated by personal contact, it is an internal one, an experiential domain, and to examine it in intellectual terms is unjustifiable. When a phenomenological rather than analytical standard is applied, a different picture emerges. It is not necessarily important that they be obviously expressed. Rather, the spiritual design moments are integrated into the fabric of the design contributing to a process of revelation. They are to be discovered and experienced through a self-reflective consciousness.
It is not knowledge of how to perform music that is communicated. It is awareness of what music is; a voice that the musician articulates through music, and the captivation compelled by this voice establishes a common space that both musician and listener occupyThe difference between good musician and a great musician is the ability to produce a resonance in the listener bonding him/her with a music that is instantly recognized as a living field of emancipatory energy.10
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Is there room for a spiritual dimension in architecture that is not for religious purposes?
I do not think it is the geometry, material beauty, or grandeur of the Taj Mahal that has made it so special to people‌ rather it is the building’s story, mystery, fifth dimension in the space beyond length, width, height, and movement; it is a dimension of inherent relation in the essence of things, the realities of things. ‌This relation is so delicate, so special. And this is what makes it sacred. Faroborz Sahba
Religious rules shape religious buildings and they are mostly dedicated to a god. All religious buildings are spiritual architecture but spiritual architecture does not have to be a religious building. Spiritual architecture, addresses our spirit. It calls to something in our soul. Architecture becomes spiritual when it offers a conduit between the measurable and the immeasurable. This involves manipulation of light, form, material, space, color, and structure, to create a mystical, sensuous aura to architecture. The architecture serves as a frame to experience the spirituality on a more personal and intimate level.
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Culture, Spirituality and Architecture A mundane act of sustenance, the drinking of tea was developed into an art form and ethical practice in Japan and has become a healthy culture and popularly known as a divine medicine. The term wabi implies ‘imperfection’. A Japanese poet Sen no Rikyu synthesized webi tea into ethics and aesthetics by applying it to every aspect of the tea ceremony, like tea setting, setting of physical environment, and the manner of making and drinking tea also the way of interacting with the environment. To begin with, Rikyu had designed the largest possible limit of the ideal tearoom to have only 4-5 mats and with such a restricted space as an expression of imperfection and he believed that the discomfort would put the participants in a state of acute sensibility, making them attentive to the tea rituals. Rikyu further took the imperfectionism into designing of an irregular arrangements of windows to the difference in sizes of the windows. As a result, Rikyu’s design features strongly related to nature as it looked like they had been found in nature rather than heavy-handed. Rikyu believed that the imperfect setting would induce the participants’ contemplation. Rice paper covering the windows create a subdued space that helps the guests rid themselves of their earthly desires and willfulness, and to concentrate their minds and siprits on the experience of tea. However, one can see the shadows of the window mullions changing by the amount of sunlight and can hear the birds or the leaves in the wind. With this subtle relationship to the outer world, once again, the guest is drawn into the imagined outside world, which may not exist beyond the walls.
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The host offers the tea by placing the cup on the floor with its ‘front,’ or the side combining superior features, facing the guest. The guest then picks up the cup from the floor in both hands, with the left palm supporting its weight and the right palm rounded to feel its curvature and texture. The guest then turns the cup in the hands, caressing the irregular surface, such that its ‘front’ faces back to the host, before drinking the tea. The guest’s interactions with the cup therefore involve not only the eyes but also the entire body as the guest bends over the floor, the palms as he/she feels the weight of the cup as well as its form and texture, and the mind as he/she is careful to take care of the ‘front’ of the cup.11
With the production of artifacts and environments that precisely showcased the imperfect nature of their physical aspects, Rikyu guided the tea participants to the ontological contemplation of their imperfect and transient existence successfully. The state of imperfection is desirable because it allows the pursuit of the mind’s eye, or beyond simply seeing a perfect object. Rikyu’s philosophy of tea focused not on an artifact for its own sake but on the ways, it enticed participants into imaginary interpretations.
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Connections between human and architecture Inter-Human (Its implications for architectural design)
‘According to Martin Buber, human experiencing occurs not in vacuum, but through one of two possible relationships to other entities in the world. These he named I-You, and I-It.’12 In I-It relationships, one person relates to another person or an inanimate object as a means to an end whereas in I-You relationships one cannot see the other objectively. ‘To look into the eyes of another is to look through the night of their pupils into a sort of infinity.’13 I-You relationships are more able to get past superficial appearance, and are able to ride swells of emotion. They involve the whole of our beings and they block out the world, if only for a moment. Rare? Not at all. In I-You relationships we regard each other, we are in dialogue. In I-It, people deal with each other. In I-You, they meet.17
Can I-You be anthropomorphizing?
Unless I thought that non sentient things, like this sculpture I am making or building I am designing, had the right to exist in its own way (i.e., had integrity), unless I thought it could answer to my presence or yoVurs as you and I answer to its with the fullness of our beings and memories… I could not design it well. And nor, in the end, would it have the qualities that allow ordinary people to ‘relate to it’ at all.14
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We human beings have natural tendencies of empathetic engagement with inanimate objects especially those made for us. The buildings influence human body and behavior in every possible sense and because of our mirror neurons, they make us feel that way too, merely by looking at them. ‘As soloists or in company, buildings communicate through dance one might say, albeit frozen dance: posture. And one cannot see any of this if a building is merely an-It.’15
Human Anatomy ‘What is missing from our dwellings today are the potential transactions between body, imagination, and environment;…To at least some extent every place can be remembered, partly because it is unique, but partly because it has affected our bodies and generated enough associations The inhumanity of contemporary architecture and cities can be understood as the to hold it in our personal worlds.’16 ‘When experiencing a structure, we unconsciously mimic its configuration and consequence of the neglect of the body and unknowingly, we perform the task of the column or of the senses, and an imbalance in our the vault with our body.’17 ‘The brick wants to become an sensory system.20 arch,’ as Louis Kahn said, and this metamorphosis takes place through the mimetic capacity of the body.’18 We feel pleasure and protection when the body discovers its resonance in space. ‘We behold, touch, listen and measure the world with our entire bodily existence, and the experiential world becomes organized and articulated around the center of the body. Our domicile is the refuge of our body, memory and identity.’19
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Vision Vision separates us from the world whereas the other senses unite us with it. ‘Since the Greeks, philosophical writings of all times have abounded with ocular metaphors to the point that knowledge has become analogues with clear vision and light is regarded as the metaphor for truth’21 The increasing fascination with the ‘fast’, and people trying to keep up the pace we have left so much behind. ‘The only sense that is fast enough to keep pace with the astounding increase of speed in the technological world is sight. But the world of the eye is causing us to live increasingly in a perpetual present, flattened by speed and simultaneity. Visual images have become commodities.’22 The hegemonic eye has weaken our capacity for empathy, compassion and participation with the world. ‘The current industrial mass production of visual imagery tends to alienate vision from emotional involvement and identification, and to turn imagery into a mesmerizing flow without focus or participation.’23 The world has become a meaningless visual journey. ‘Greek architecture prove; the eye invites and stimulates muscular and tactile sensations…the unconscious tactile ingredient in vision is particularly important and strongly present in historical architecture, but badly neglected in the architecture of our time’24 ‘A tension between conscious intentions and unconscious drives is necessary for a work in order to open up the emotional participation of the observer.’25 Peripheral Vision We have tendencies to focus only on the precise delineations of form that our central focused vision picks up, and forget about the gradations of scale, light, and texture on which our peripheral vision depends. When we equally prioritize our peripheral vision and effectively designed, an aura in the architecture is achieved. ‘Perspective privileges a specific kind of vision: central focused vision, which implies a distance between spectator and object. In contrast, peripheral vision encloses us within space.’26
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Acoustic Sight isolates, whereas sound incorporates; vision is directional, whereas sound is omni-directional. The sense of sight implies exteriority, but sound creates an experience of inferiority. I regard an object, but sound approaches me; the eye reaches, but the ear receives. Buildings do not react to our gaze, but they do return our sounds back to our ears. Juhani Pallasmaa
‘Hearing structures and articulates the experience and understanding of space.’27 ‘We stare alone at the suspense of a circus, but the burst of applause after the relaxation of suspense unites us with the crowd.’28 We stroke the boundaries of the space with our ears and the sound help us measure space and make its scale comprehensible. The sound of the birds, water and wind has a function of communication to the sublime. Scent ‘The most persistent memory of any space is often its smell.’29 A particular smell makes us unknowingly re-enter a space completely forgotten by the retinal memory; the nostrils awaken a forgotten image, and we are enticed to enter a vivid daydream.’30
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Touch ‘Hands have histories; they even have their own culture and their own particular beauty.’31 ‘The door handle is the handshake of the building.’32 ‘The tactile sense connects us with time and tradition: through impressions of touch we shake the hands of countless generations.’33 Detail Detail is the scale at which the body first engages with space: it relates to the range of human scale, from the height of the body to the reach of an arm, to the width of the palm or fingertip. It is the level where the intimate senses of touch and smell are most acute. I like to see how far architecture can pursue function and then, after the pursuit has been made, to see how far architecture can be removed from function. The significance of architecture is found in the distance between it and function.
Tadao Ando
‘The ‘elements’ of architecture are not visual units or Gestalt; they are encounters, confrontations that interact with memory.’34 ‘In such memory, the past is embodied in actions. Rather than being, it is actively an ingredient in the very bodily movements that accomplish a particular action.’35
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Material and Form The material finds expression through form; materials enable the form to take on physical presence. Neither form nor material can evolve to fruition without the other. Form and material interrogate one another from the beginning and nurture one another into being. Light and Shadow Visual perception of space is synonymous to the visual perception of light; one could not exist without the other. Light has both an aesthetic and technical role in the experience and perception of the spatial world around us. Light allows us to define what is around us, by day and night: the changing perception of the things or the bodies on which it impacts, and the space that contains them. Light, or absence of light, can also transform this space in each season, each day of the year, each hour of the day, each moment.36 ‘Deep shadows and darkness are essential, because they dim the sharpness of vision, make depth and distance ambiguous, and invite unconscious peripheral vision and tactile fantasy.’37 The shadow gives shape and life to the object in light providing the realm from which fantasies and dreams arise. ‘An efficient method of mental torture is the use of a constantly high level of illumination that leaves no space for mental withdrawal or privacy; even the dark interiority of self is exposed and violated.’38
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Aura What do we mean by ‘aura’? How do we create it in a manner that ‘entices and emancipates’ the inhabitant without requiring the architect’s voice? ‘In the experience of art, a peculiar exchange takes place; I lend my emotions and associations to a space and the space lends me its aura, which entices and emancipates my perceptions and thoughts.’39 The term ‘aura’ implies an architecture that can speak for itself. It compels a space emanate an aura that a visitor intuitively recognizes without the architect. According to Prem, aura is a distinct and tangible presence that emanates from and is entwined with the work of architecture, possesses a holistic quality where the whole is more than the mere sum of its parts, is subtle and evades precise definition, and is known pre-cognitively through an embodied consciousness. Architects cannot define or control the visitors with any degree of determinism, but the aura of architecture is more within their control. Aura creates a sense of space that doesn’t just connect with the visitor but communicates in a two-way dialogue. ‘The person we look at, or who feels he is being looked at, looks at us in turn. To perceive the aura of an object we look at means to invest it with the ability to look at us in return.’40
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LITERATURE REVIEW SUMMARY
The task of architecture is to create embodied and lived existential metaphors that concretize and structure our being in the world. Architecture reflects, materializes and eternalizes ideas and images of ideal life. Buildings and towns enable us to structure, understand and remember the shapeless flow of reality and, ultimately, to recognize and remember who we are. Architecture enables us to perceive and understand the dialectics of permanence and change, to settle ourselves in the world, and to place ourselves in the continuum of culture and time. Juhani Pallasmaa
Architecture is the art of reconciliation between the world and ourselves, and this mediation takes place through the senses. Spiritual experiences of architecture is achieved when the composition of light, form, space, structure, material, color and details find a resonance with our body. And focusing on, for instance, the act of entering rather than the visual design of the door; of looking through a window, rather than the window itself as a material object. When the focus shifts from creating an eye candy to the essence of the composition, an aura is achieved, which creates a sense of space that doesn’t just connect with the user but communicates in a two-way dialogue.
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CASE STUDY SELECTON CRITERIA
The case studies should atleast meet one or more of these criteria. Adresses spiritual quality in typologies other than religious buildings: communication with the soul. Meticulous attention to materials and to their visual, tactile and even olfactory attributes. Healing through nature. Use of history, culture and traditions to create a bond with human. Emotionally expressive.
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Bruder Klaus Field Chapel Location: Germany Architect: Peter Zumthor The concrete chapel is dedicated to Swiss Saint Nicholas (1417 – 1487), known as Brother Klaus and it was commissioned by a farmer Hermann and his wife Trudel. Darkened with the burn, the space is enclosed with the memories of the tree trunks that create a mystical atmosphere. One’s eyes are drawn up by the light shining through the oculus.
Site: The building stands quiet and dignified. Form: Rigid outer form makes us aware of the gravity and earth. Organic cave like form connects back to the nature.
Light: Light is respected hence it becomes inspirational when it reveals the nature of the
materials. The light in the space is peaceful yet provocative because of the high contrast.
Materials: Raw materials are expressed sincerely in its truest version. Space: Light revels the secret of the material creating an ambience atmosphere. Organic flow of the space wraps you in making a part of the setting.
Colors: Contrast in light and dark evokes appreciation for both. Structure: The building is the structure. It stands on its own with pride without any hidden additional structure to support it.
Touch: The roughness of the walls makes one be present in the moment. Smell: the oculus that invites every weather inside makes the space breathe alive. Vision: The natural patterns on the wall gives ones vision a bright hope. (Image 1-4) Archdaiy,. Bruder Klaus Field Chapel / Peter Zumthor. 2016. Print.
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Salk Institute
Location: California Architect: Louis Kahn Kahn was commissioned to design the Salk Institute in 1959 by Dr. Jonas Salk. Salk’s vision included a facility with an inspiring environment for scientific research, and Kahn’s design decisions created a functional institutional building that also became an architectural masterpiece. Before designing, Kahn referenced and studied monasteries in order to build his concept of an “intellectual retreat.” With a prime location in California and bordering the Pacific Ocean, Kahn took advantage of the site’s tranquil surroundings and abundant natural light. His scheme became a symmetrical plan, two structures mirroring each other separated by an open plaza.
Site: Volume of Silence. Space: The open plaza is made of travertine marble, and a single narrow strip of water runs down
the center, linking the buildings to the vast Pacific Ocean. A person’s view is then directed towards nature, reminding people of their scale compared to that of the ocean. “Nature is the maker of all that is made.41 Material: Concrete and wood, often conceived as materials of opposite character, complemented each other at the Salk Institute. Both were provocatively detailed in a way that moved back and forth between abstraction and structural description; neither was allowed to stand in the background.42 Form: The hard-surfaced courtyard was a general statement about the essential distance an artist had to establish between his work and nature.
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Light & Structure: “Structure is the giver of light. When I choose an order of structure that calls for column alongside of column, it presents s rhythm of no light, light, no light, light, no light, light. A vault, a dome, is also a choice of a character of light.” Louis Kahn Order: Kahn designed the Salk Institute as a mandala. In Oriental art, the mandala represents natural order and hierarchy through the use of a series of concentric geometric shapes…the mandala is seen as a means of reunifying the various aspects of the self. Anthropomorphic: Kahn’s building radiates inward from the exterior utility spaces containing stairs and toilets (body); through the laboratory spaces – where the biological research takes place – which are hermetically sealed, monitored by computer, and served by great spaces for ducts and equipment (mind); through the walkways, which are places of meeting (society); through the private teak screened offices of the scientists with their ocean views, which are placed of contemplation; to the central court with a simple band of water running through it, which is a place of stillness, a façade to the sky, a roofless cathedral (spirit). Thus, the progression is body, mind, society, spirit: the attributes of the whole human being.43
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(Image 1-4) Archdaily,. Ad Classics: Salk Institute / Louis Kahn. 2016. Print.
Jewish Museum
Location: Berlin Architect: Daniel Libeskind The Berlin government organized an anonymous competition for an expansion to the original Jewish Museum in Berlin. The program wished to bring a Jewish presence back to Berlin after WWII. Libeskind wanted to express feelings of absence, emptiness, and invisibility – expressions of disappearance of the Jewish Culture. It was the act of using architecture as a means of narrative and emotion providing visitors with an experience of the effects of the Holocaust on both the Jewish culture and the city of Berlin.
Site: “The physical trace of Berlin is not the only trace, however. There is an invisible matrix or
anamnesis of connections in relationship. I found this connection between figures of Germans and Jews.” Daniel Libeskind Form: “So I found this connection and plotted an irrational matrix in the form of a system of intertwining triangles that would yield some reference to the emblem of a compressed and distorted star: the yellow star which was so frequently worn on this very site...I was quite surprised that it was not so difficult to hear and plot the impact these people made: they formed a particular urban and cultural constellation of Universal History.” Daniel Libeskind Volume: “I received from Bonn two very large volumes called Gedenkbuch. They are incredibly impressive because all they contain are names, just names, dates of birth, dates of deportation and presumed places where these people were murdered.” Only through acknowledging and incorporating this erasure and void of Berlin’s Jewish life can the history of Berlin and Europe have a human future.”Daniel Libeskind
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Materials: The interior is composed of reinforced concrete which reinforces the moments of the
empty spaces and dead ends where only a sliver of light is entering the space. The concrete walls add a cold, overwhelming atmosphere to the space. Light: In the darkest moments where you feel like you will never escape, a small trace of light restores hope. Structure: The invisible, the void, makes itself apparent as such. The void and the invisible are the structural features that have been gathered in the space and exposed in an architecture where the unnamed remains in the names which keeps silent.44
I believe this scheme joins architecture to questions which are now relevant to all humanity. What I’ve tried to say is that the Jewish history of Berlins is not separable from the history of Modernity, from the density of this incarnation of history; they are bound together. But not bound by means of any obvious forms, rather through faith; through an absence of artefacts. Absence therefore serves as a way of binding in depth, and in a totally different manner, the shared hopes of people. This is a conception which does not reduce the museum or architecture to a detached memorial or memorable detachment. It is, instead, a conception which re-integrates Jewish/ Berlin history through the unhealable wound of faith, which in the words of Hebrews 11:2 is the ‘substance of things hoped-for; proof of things invisible. Daniel Libeskind
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Image (1-5) Archdaily,. Ad Classics: Jewish Museum, Berlin / Daniel Libeskind. 2016. Web. 23 Nov. 2016.
Therme Vals
Location: Switzerland Architect: Peter Zumthor The Therme Vals is a hotel and spa in one which combines a complete sensory experience. The idea was to create a form of cave or quarry like structure. Working with the natural surroundings the bath rooms lay below a grass roof structure half buried into the hillside. The Therme Vals is built from layer upon layer of locally quarried Valser Quarzite slabs. This stone became the driving inspiration for the design, and is used with great dignity and respect.
Color: The blue bold add some cold and mysterious tone to the sunlight. Material & Light: “And the water loves the stone – more than any other material. Because the stone
holds the water. Light penetrates in selected places, and the stone lights up, the water begins to sparkle and there is already this iridescent atmosphere there. We were interested in the stone roofs, their structure reminiscent of reflexes on water.�Peter Zumthor Site: Therme Vals sits in the hillside as a natural rock outcropping, balanced between the existing buildings on the site. Volume & Space: achieves is a seamless visual continuity of surfaces in which spaces seem to recede into one another, maintaining the appearance that each protruding volume or recess has been carved out of the same block of stone Acoustic: In the shadow of the lateral rooms, we seemed to hear sound of water which rings differently with the echo of the room. The serenity, peace and permittivity made people prostrate to it.
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Archdaily,. The Therme Vals/ Peter Zumthor. 2016. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.
Archdaily,. The Therme Vals/ Peter Zumthor. 2016. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.
Archdaily,. The Therme Vals/ Peter Zumthor. 2016. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.
CONCLUSION
Architecture is spiritual if it can evoke a certain emotion in us when confronting the work of art. It is the sincerity of the piece of architecture that speaks to our soul. Spirituality in architecture is achieved through an appropriate combination of the constituents of architecture – Space and form, Structure and form, Space and light, materials and colors, are composed and created to appeal to each of the seven sense that is acoustic, touch, vision, scent, taste, muscle and bone.
Juhani Pallasmaa
* Use of the creative and knowledgeable combination of architectural constituents. (form, light, shadow, space, structure, materials, colors, details) * Carefully establishing a language between human body and the world of things. (Making the user a part of the architecture) * Creative amalgamation of “sensory thinking” with architectural constituents. (touch, vision, scent, touch, muscle, bone, acoustic) * Creative use of history, culture, and tradition to reinforce the relationship between human body the world of things.
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NEPAL Location: Landlocked country situated in South Asia, between China in North and India in South. Population: 25,371,000 Capital: Kathmandu; 741,000 Area: 147,181 square kilometers (56,827 square miles) Language: Nepali, English, many other languages and dialects Religion: Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim Area- comparative: Arkansas Climate: Cool summers and severe winters in north to subtropical summers and mild winters in south. Terrain: Flat river plain of the Ganges in south, central hill region, rugged Himalayas in north. Natural Resources: quartz, water, timber, hydropower, scenic beauty, small deposits of lignite, copper, cobalt, iron ore. Environment – current issues: Deforestation, contaminated water, wildlife conservation and vehicular emissions.
Nepal is a multi-cultural, multi-lingual and multi-ethnic, country.
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BIDUR
Project Site: Bidur, Nuwakot, Nepal Population: 26,750
2hr 30min
Bidur is the capital of Nuwakot District, which is a part of Province No. 3 and one of the 75
DEMOGRAPHICS
KATHMANDU
districts of Nepal. Nuwakot, is a hilly area, Households by type of foundation
SEX
most of the areas are still undeveloped. In last few years, huge changes are observable. The
DEMOGRAPHICS
city areas are provided with schools, colMud Bonded
Households by type of foundation
SEX
leges, hospitals and the road infrastructure is
FEMALE 52.5%
Wooden Pillar
MUD BONDED 62.7%
Cement Bonded
also developed. Two hydro power stations are RCC with Pillar
currently in operation. People are dependent Mud Bonded
Others
on agriculture, teaching, foreign economy, Wooden Pillar
FEMALE 52.5%
MUD BONDED 62.7%
livestock farming, business, hotels, eco- TourCement Bonded RCC with Pillar
ism and Khadya Bank etc. The district con-
DISABILITY
Others
Households by type significance of wall tains places of historical so it’s a Physical Blind/Low Vision
DISABILITY
tourist destination.
Deaf
Mud Bonded PHYSICAL 42.8%
Speech
Households by type of wall
Cement Bonded
Multiple Disabilities
Physical Blind/Low Vision Deaf
PHYSICAL 42.8%
Speech
Mental Disability
MUD BONDED 54.7%
Bamboo Intellectual Deaf and Blind
Mud Bonded Cement Bonded
Multiple Disabilities Mental Disability
Wood Planks
MUD BONDED 54.7%
Wood Planks Bamboo by type of roof Households
Unbacked Brick
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APHICS
SEX
MUD BONDED 54.7%
Wood Planks Bamboo
INFRASTRUCTURE Households by type of foundation
DEMOGRAPHICS
Unbacked Brick
Households by type of foundation
SEXof roof Households by type
Mud Bonded Wooden Pillar
EMALE 2.5%
MUD BONDED 62.7%
Galvanized Iron
Cement Bonded
Thatch
FEMALE Galvanized Iron 69.9% 52.5%
RCC with Pillar
Slate
Others
MUD BONDED 62.7%
Mud & Wood Planks
Mud Bonded Wooden Pillar Cement Bonded RCC with Pillar
Reinforced Concrete
Others
ABILITY
PHYSICAL 42.8%
DISABILITY
Households by type of wall
Physical
Blind/Low Vision
Households by type of wall
Deaf Physical Speech Multiple Disabilities Mental Disability PHYSICAL 42.8% Intellectual Deaf and Blind
Blind/Low Vision Deaf
MUD BONDED 54.7%
Speech
Mud Bonded Cement Bonded Wood Planks
Mud Bonded
Bamboo
Cement Bonded
Unbacked Brick MUD BONDED 54.7%
Wood Planks
Multiple Disabilities Mental Disability
Bamboo Intellectual Deaf and Blind
Households by type of roof
Unbacked Brick
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DISABILITY Physical
Blind/Low Visio
Thousands of buildings including schools were damaged in western, central and eastern districts in the temblors that killed over 9,000 people and damaged property worth over US$ 7bil. Over the years, Nepal has made significant educational gains, including the nearly 100% primary enrolment rate, which are at a risk today, especially with massive damage to schools and classrooms during the Nepal earthquakes. A structural assessment of all schools in the 14 most affected districts found that over 34,500 classrooms were damaged or destroyed beyond use, affecting the education of one million children. Educational opportunity in these villages and communities is extremely basic or non-existent. Although school buildings do often exist, they are typically built by the community, and are extremely poorly resourced, often in very basic condition and rarely fit for purpose. Very few children in the region are receiving a full course of primary education. There is only one Government based school in Bidur and the school have achieved a great success in the field of education. After increasing the extend of class up to 10th standard, the school achieved 100% result in SLC Board Exam.
Deaf
Speech
PHYSICAL 42.8%
Multiple Disabil
Mental Disabilit
Intellectual Deaf and Blind
EDUCATION 30%
29%
18%
FEMALE
MALE
PRIMARY
FEMALE
18%
MALE
LOWER SECONDARY
12.3%
12.2%
FEMALE
MALE
SECONDARY
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SITE ANALYSIS
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The site of choice for the school is located in a suitable proximity between the residential zone in the North and commercial zone in the south. Currently the site is an under-developed children’s park. On the east is a green zone and there is a river view on the west, that can act as a generator of natural sounds. The site is completely surrounded by pristine nature. Main highway that connect the two zones is near by the site. Several tourist hotels can be seen in the area, and the architecture can become one of the attractions in Bidur. Bidur is two and half hour drive from the capital Kathmandu. It is located in the center to several districts that has seen huge earthquake damages like Gorkha, Kathmandu and Dolakha. This location would make it easier for the children from these districts to come to the school.
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Rationale
As a way to test the idea of the ‘spiritual’ in architecture and create an architecture that can appropriately encompass research findings, the program for this architectural investigation is a Boarding High School in Nepal. Huge numbers of children in earthquake-hit Nepal are still living in a state of chaos and fear - and many are worried they won’t complete their education. Six months after the disaster, in which almost 9000 people died and more than 50,000 classrooms were destroyed or damaged, there are still tens of thousands of girls and boys out of school. A boarding school will provide these children a permanent shelter, eliminating the everyday travel from home to school and back, which is for many children a risky task with damaged infrastructure. A school is chosen as a context in which to explore spirituality in architecture because of the normalized repetition of spaces. A school where learning takes place should be inspiring and not normalized. School is a place where an individual is shaped mentally, physically and emotionally for better hence the birthplace of the citizen ideal. The challenge will be for the architecture to evoke a heightened sense (spirituality) of space that inspires learning, thinking, healing, and a better hope for future for every children.
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Primary Design Programs Education
Administration Staff Room Library Lecture Hall Meeting Room Activity Area Laboratory Gym Community Spaces Playgrounds Classrooms: Art Classroom Computer room Dancing Room Music Room Reading/ writing Rooms Restrooms Mechanical Room
Housing Student Quarter Dormitories Lounge Lobby Patio Hygiene Services Shared Kitchen Staff Quarter 1 Bedroom Units 2 Bedroom Units Food Dining Hall Kitchen CafĂŠ Circulation
Circulation
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RESOURCES
Pallasmaa, Juhani. The Eyes Of The Skin. Chichester, West Sussex [U.K.]: Wiley, 2012. Print. Barrie, Thomas, Julio Cesar Bermú dez, and Phillip Tabb. Architecture, Culture, And Spirituality. Print. Kandinsky, Wassily and Michael Sadleir. Concerning The Spiritual In Art. New York: Dover Publications, 1977. Print. Day, Christopher. Places Of The Soul. Oxford [England]: Architectural Press, 2004. Print. Rasmussen, Steen Eiler. Experiencing Architecture. Cambridge [Mass.]: M.I.T. Press, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1962. Print. Lobell, John and Louis I Kahn. Between Silence And Light. 1st ed. Boulder: Shambhala, 1979. Print. Brownlee, David Bruce and David Gilson De Long. Louis I. Kahn. 1st ed. New York, NY: Universe Pub., 1997. Print. Büttiker, Urs and Louis I Kahn. Louis I. Kahn. 1st ed. New York: Whitney Library of Design, 1994. Print. Libeskind, Daniel and Hélène Binet. Jewish Museum, Berlin. 1st ed. [Amsterdam?]: G + B Arts International, 1999. Print. Libeskind, Daniel and Andrea P. A Belloli. Daniel Libeskind, Radix-Matrix. 1st ed. Munich: Prestel, 1997. Print.
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REFERENCES Day, Christopher. Places Of The Soul. Oxford [England]: Architectural Press, 2004. Print. Pallasmaa, Juhani. The Eyes Of The Skin. Chichester, West Sussex [U.K.]: Wiley, 2012. Print.553 3 Ibid, p.422. 4 Barrie, Thomas, Julio Cesar Bermú dez, and Phillip Tabb. Architecture, Culture, And Spirituality. Print. 5 Pallasmaa, Juhani. The Eyes Of The Skin. Chichester, West Sussex [U.K.]: Wiley, 2012. Print. 343. 6 Day, Christopher. Places Of The Soul. Oxford [England]: Architectural Press, 2004. Print. 7 Rasmussen, Steen Eiler. Experiencing Architecture. Cambridge [Mass.]: M.I.T. Press. 61. 8 Barrie, Thomas, Julio Cesar Bermú dez, and Phillip Tabb. Architecture, Culture, And Spirituality. Print. 9 Ibid, p. 354 10 Ibid, p. 445 11 Ibid, p. 210 12 Ibid, p. 107 13 Ibid, p. 333 14 Ibid, p.17. 15 Ibid, p. 30 16 Pallasmaa, Juhani. The Eyes Of The Skin. Chichester, West Sussex [U.K.]: Wiley, 2012. Print. 17 Ibid, p. 1348 18 Ibid, p. 1351 19 Ibid, p.1350. 20 Ibid, p.343 21 Ibid, p. 290 22 Ibid, p. 233 23 Ibid, p. 330 1 2
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Ibid, p. 278 Ibid, p. 534 26 Ibid, p. 454 27 Ibid, p.1047 28 Ibid, p.1072 29 Ibid, p. 1120 30 Ibid, p.1130 31 Ibid, p.1158 32 Ibid, p. 1134 33 Ibid, p. 1182 34 Ibid, p. 1285 35 Ibid, p. 1285 36 Ibid, p.111. 37 Ibid, p.998. 38 Ibid, p.1010. 39 Ibid, p. 1123 40 Barrie, Thomas, Julio Cesar Bermú dez, and Phillip Tabb. Architecture, Culture, And Spirituality. Print. 41 Lobell, John and Louis I Kahn. Between Silence And Light. 1st ed. Boulder: Shambhala, 1979. Print.8. 42 Lobell, John and Louis I Kahn. Between Silence And Light. 1st ed. Boulder: Shambhala, 1979. Print. 43 Ibid, p. 76. 44 Libeskind, Daniel and Hélène Binet. Jewish Museum, Berlin. 1st ed. [Amsterdam?]: G + B Arts International, 1999. Print 24 25
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