I tend to be a bit skeptical of organized religions, especially global entities such as Christianity. I respect and tolerate the belief of others (to an extent) but I do not wish to call myself a believer in God. I don't feel particularly comfortable in churches and cathedrals. I find them intimidating and oppressive. But perhaps that is the point.
Medieval churches and cathedrals seem to have been designed to impress and awe their patrons. Their design and construction is a testament to the power and glory of God, and consequently they are quite powerful structures. Therefore it's probably intentional that I, as a non-believer, find them intimidating. What better way to control the masses than with an elaborate, beautiful structure built by the grace of God? What better way to show everyone, including your enemies, that your religion is best than a place of worship that is bigger and better than the other guy's?
My skepticism of organized religion leads me to believe in some less-than-positive concepts regarding churches. My apologies for any offense...
Design is powerful. The architects of these places of worship knew this. They also knew that design can be functional. The church is designed to awe the churchgoer at every turn and convince them bit by bit of the power of God. You might think that pulpits are elevated to make it easier for churchgoers to see the priest. It also conveniently places them higher than the constituents of the church, and places them closer to God. Cathedrals are purpose-built.
So let's say I want to design my own worship space. First, I would need to determine my purpose. How do I want patrons to feel? How do I want to engage them? How do I want them to interface with whatever is being presented to them? What is the content they are receiving, and how do I want them to receive it? How do I want them to interface with each other, if at all? Personally, if I were designing my own worship space for my own self-designed religion, I would want to encourage openness and a sense of community. I want "worshippers" to communicate with each other and interact with each other, to share ideas and thoughts and feelings, and hopefully to influence each other and prompt them to search deep for inspirations. Consequently, a large open space where everyone mingles would be important. This is a trait common with most worship spaces, but mine is based on togetherness and forced interaction rather than on delivering a message of worship simultaneously to a mass of people. So no pews. No seats. Only a floor, maybe cushions spread around.
I think I'd be taking a page out of Pixar's book and designing a space similar to their building in Emeryville, CA. The building is designed with a large open atrium at its center. The building's only bathrooms and eating areas are attached to the atrium, and this is intended to create opportunities for spontaneous meet-ups between people from different departments, hopefully occasionally sparking some new element of creativity. This kind of mentality, beyond simply helping Pixar with its creativity, does a lot to make better people. The free-flowing exchange of ideas is something that is very important to me, and perhaps even we could consider that a fundamental tenet of this "religion" for which I'm designing a worship space.
How do I get multiple images to appear in a post, and how do I move them around? I'd rather have had the Pixar image after the paragraph above...
No comments:
Post a Comment