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The Thing About Religion

Beth Sholom Synagogue Interior

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Let There Be Light 13 visual_path 2021-04-30T19:58:53-07:00
by Nhat Ngo
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Throughout the centuries, we have seen a constant re-imagination, interrogation, and re-designs of sacred spaces of all religions. During the 21st century, the contemporary sacred buildings which depart from traditionalist designs have no singular, fixed form which relates them all. The novel designs are a direct reflection of the historical accumulation of man’s ever-changing interpretations of the divine and address the current social, spiritual, and cultural state of the present-day man. From the beginning, light has been conscientiously used by architects to create, narrate, and facilitate sacred spaces. Often understood as an “ambiguous materiality”—neither tangible nor distinctly immaterial—light offers itself readily as both “matter and metaphor for the divine.” (1) As many contemporary designs advance towards abstraction which reduces already abstract religious ideals to its essential characteristics light is heavily relied on to convey religious symbolism and to bridge the physical and spiritual. (2)
In the broader gallery, I have curated a selection of active religious buildings constructed during the 21st century and have excluded explicitly traditionalist designs. This exhibition aims to analyze the symbolic use of light in main world religions of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. I have selected one building from the five major religions to discern light as a medium of architectural space that is dependent on its perception in the context of the phenomenology of symbols and its foundation in the religious ontology. Featuring buildings with innovative, experimental designs, I would like to examine the ways in which light promotes the contemporary architect’s design and how they work simultaneously to make sacred spaces in a postmodern world.
In order to explore the multifaceted uses of light in sacred spaces, we will draw on the purpose of sacred spaces with excerpts from both religious and architectural fields. According to comparative religion scholar, Mircea Eliade, sacred space is a form of hierophany, or manifestation of the sacred, and is considered "efficacious in the measure in which it reproduces the work of the gods''. (4) The “work” refers to Gods’ creations such as nature, the heavens, and man himself. Thus, it is critical for architecture to facilitate situations which allow man to define his place in the cosmos. From the artist’s view, modernist architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe orients the task of architecture as one of truth. Mies van der Rohe draws on St. Thomas Aquinas, “Adaequatio intellectus et rei,” or alternatively ”truth is the significance of the fact,” as the authoritative mantra guiding the task of architecture. (5) Likewise, colleague and contemporary Frank Lloyd Wright’s theory of architecture is elucidated as the process which the “whole [is] made more sensible and liveable” through the reciprocal relationship between humanity, God, and architecture. (6) Lastly, theologian Rudolf Otto defined the term “numinous” to describe the “wholly other” or the sacred as being extraordinary or mysterium tremendum (awe inspiring mystery). (7) Taken altogether, the goal of architects and gods’ work converges at the obligation to convey and deliver worshippers closer to the ultimate Truth. Hence, architecture can be called sacred or religious it mediates the divine mystery or when it materializes the truth. (8) Light being the fundamental beginnings of life is apt to reproduce the work of goods and accentuate the truth. For these reasons, it is crucial to “see the light” in sacred architecture.
Light is a representation present in all religions. The Sanskrit devah, the Greek theos, the Latin deus which we translate as God all come from the root de'o, meaning light. Light is, therefore, “an omnipresent symbolic determinant of God.” (9) In architecture, light can lead to a diverse set of experiences in spaces. A dimly lit area secludes, a beam of light calls attention, while a soft glow entices. Light is the most subtle and emotive of the means of architectural expression as no other medium (e.g. form, geometry, material) can equally elucidate the delicate and deep emotions from joy to ecstasy and melancholy to grief. (10) Architect Juhani Pallasmaa encapsulates the significance of light in the atmosphere: "a building is constructed of matter, but the essence of its space is always determined by illumination." (11) Thus, as the essence, light is the primary medium in creating sacred spaces.
In devising a sacred design, the architect pursues inspiration in the truth within theological doctrines. Architects of sacred spaces have made use of these texts in order to tell stories of the faith and impart the mystic and numinous qualities of their deities. (12) Using both natural and artificial lights, metaphors can be built into the visual orchestration of ecclesiastical spaces not just representing the divine symbolically, but also making the qualities of the divine present to the visitor through the manipulation atmosphere. (13) Such interplay between the natural and artificial lights is prevalent in all five structures and age old texts were reinterpreted with light in refreshing ways. In particular, the design of the Sancaklar Mosque was inspired by the Cave of Hira, where prophet Muhammad received his first vision and the word of God (in the form of the Quran) (14). To recall the fundamental beginnings of Islam, a cave-like prayer hall was built underground was dramatized by the use of artificial and natural light. The artificial light served to light the path to Allah and Mecca, which was marked by the natural light. In sacred spaces, the foundational theological understanding of light symbolism grants it the range to reveal the existence of the realm beyond the ordinary.
Light is used in postmodern architecture to create corporeal experiences. According to Jean-Francois Lyotard, postmodern culture “disrupts the modern rationalist meta-narratives” of science stemming from the Enlightenment and it emerges through into a form of post-rationalism “more akin to a religious sublime”. (15) The renewed interest in the numinous and skeptic’s emphasis on experiencing the sacred for yourself is what makes postmodern architecture so rich with insight on the current religious imagination. Mark C. Taylor characterizes the postmodern man as “suspended between the loss of old certainties and the discovery of new beliefs, these people constantly live on the border that joins and separates belief and unbelief”. (16) Embarking on this new century, the framework for sacred spaces created by Eliade, Mies van der Rohe, and Wright is affirmed by contemporary architects' objective to sway the skeptical postmodern man into experiences of belief in the sacred truth. Em McAvan concludes this overview of the postmodern by iterating “the postmodern sacred is, above all, a corporeal experience... packed with spectacle”. (17)
Further, the corporeal experience can be staged by the use of light. In the wondrous spectacle of the San Josemaría Escrivá Church, a clear passageway to the altar is marked by the lights spilling in from the above skylight. Essentially, the nave is an outline of an ichthus that is completely open to light from the tail end and above. The curvature of the walls are designed so that the sunlight above fixates on the altar, where the Eucharist takes place, and a large crucifix is upheld. Not only does the San Josemaría Escrivá Church utilize light in order to bring attention to classic symbolic structures of the church, the bright light strongly affirms a straight axis which leads followers directly to Christ. Similarly, the courtyard of the Sancaklar Mosque uses LED lights to illuminate the descending steps to the prayer hall. During descent, visitors are physically humbled as the scale of the cave heightens as they walk down to kneel and pray in front of the mihrab. This clear passageway towards the truth is again seen in the White Temple which leads visitors upwards to the caring gaze of the Buddha structure that is backlit in a diffused halo. Finally, this lineation can also be seen in the narrow skylights at the Congregation Beth Sholom Synagogue wherein light accentuates the most important parts of the sanctuary needed to conduct rituals--the truth held in the Ark and the sacred community under the bimah.
The common theme of using skylights or ample lighting from above entices visitors to look up towards heavens and contemplate their position in the cosmos and the other realms of being. It is a modern take on an archaic hierophany that Eliade calls hypaethral (open to the sky), “symbolising a breakthrough from plane to plane and communication with the transcendent” (18). The ceilings and skylight frames the natural light so that all other distractions of the outside world are blocked from view and they can solely focus on the divine. In addition, worshippers all sitting underneath one sun--the universal hourglass--which unites us all is a subtle reminder of the larger community of humankind. As the sun moves from East to West everyday, so does the space and appearance of these buildings which rely so heavily on sunlight for illumination. This incredible transformation can be seen most clearly in the Temple of Light and Stone. In the daytime, the temple is a monumental marker and a heavy presence in the desertscape, but at night it turns into a light, shimmering lantern. The geometric and fractal qualities of the building also add to such dynamism which plays on the exemplifies the ever-changing essence of life. This is also seen in the Sancaklar Mosque’s geometric ceiling that adds depth and movement to the space as light swells and shrinks throughout the day. The animation of a space through the natural cyclical passages of time convey life in these buildings. In fact, the White Temple was designed to accommodate and use natural light to convey breathing. As seen in the Sancaklar Mosque and Congregation Beth Sholom Synagogue, the White Temple diffuses light in conjunction with formidable form to envelope and cradle worshippers in “womb-like” structure directly evoking the life-giving qualities of the divine and light.
To conclude, I will impart a quote from Pallasmaa that "light is simultaneously the messenger of life and of the transcendent dimension beyond" (19). Contemporary religious design is a rare opportunity for architects due to the freedom from traditional form and the sacred obligation to create an atmosphere propitious to encounter the divine (20). The humane task of architecture to frame and focus human perceptions on truth and provide a distinct horizon to reveal the domain of the sacred. (21) Through light, we are able get a glimpse of unity with the sublime grandeur of the universe. Architecture is not merely an illustration of the faith doctrine, but has the capacity to facilitate transcendence through timeless, ethereal light.

Bibliography
1. Bille, Mikkel, and Tim Flohr Sørensen. “The Role of Light in Shaping Religious Atmospheres.” In The Oxford Handbook of Light in Archaeology, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198788218.013.13.
2. Ibid, 6.
3. Taylor, Sue Ann. “Ritual, Belief, and Meaning in the Production of Sacred Space.” In Transcending Architecture: Contemporary Views on Sacred Space, 162. Catholic University of America Press, 2015. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt130h9f6.16.
4. Barth, Christiane. “‘In Illo Tempore, at the Center of the World’: Mircea Eliade and Religious Studies’ Concepts of Sacred Time and Space.” Historical Social Research 38, no. 3 (2016): 63. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23644525.
5. Hejduk, Renata, and Jim Williamson. The Religious Imagination in Modern and Contemporary Architecture: A Reader, 212. Journal of Design History. Vol. 25, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1093/jdh/epr049.
6. Meyers, Debra. "Frank Lloyd Wright: The Architect As Preacher." Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies 6, no. 1/2 (1994): 24. https://doi.org/10.5840/jis199461/22
7. Taylor, Sue Ann. “Ritual, Belief, and Meaning in the Production of Sacred Space.” In Transcending Architecture: Contemporary Views on Sacred Space, 160–69. Catholic University of America Press, 2015. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt130h9f6.16.
8. Daelemans, Bert. Spiritus Loci: A Theological Method for Contemporary Church Architecture. Studies in Religion and the Arts, Volume 9. Leiden, the Netherlands ; Brill, 2015.
9. Ibid, 131.
10. Pallasmaa, Juhani. “Light, Silence, and Spirituality in Architecture and Art.” In Transcending Architecture: Contemporary Views on Sacred Space, edited by Julio Bermudez, 21. Catholic University of America Press, 2015. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt130h9f6.7.
11. Pallasmaa, Juhani. “The Aura of the Sacred: Art, Architecture, and Existential Sacredness.” In The Religious Imagination in Modern and Contemporary Architecture: A Reader, 238, 2011.
12. Daelemans, Bert. Spiritus Loci: A Theological Method for Contemporary Church Architecture. Studies in Religion and the Arts, Volume 9. Leiden, the Netherlands ; Brill, 2015.
13. Bille, Mikkel, and Tim Flohr Sørensen. “The Role of Light in Shaping Religious Atmospheres.” In The Oxford Handbook of Light in Archaeology, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198788218.013.13.
14. Emre Arolat Architects. “Sancaklar Mosque | EAA-Emre Arolat Architecture,” 2013. https://emrearolat.com/project/sancaklar-mosque/.
15. McAvan, Em. “The Postmodern Sacred.” The Journal of Religion and Popular Culture 22, no. 1 (2010): 4. https://doi.org/10.3138/jrpc.22.1.007.
16. Ibid.
17. Ibid, 6.
18. Clausén, Marie. “Perspectives on Sacred Architecture.” In Sacred Architecture in a Secular Age, 142–69, 2020. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315647388-10.
19. Pallasmaa, Juhani. “The Aura of the Sacred: Art, Architecture, and Existential Sacredness.” In The Religious Imagination in Modern and Contemporary Architecture: A Reader, 238, 2011.
20. Daelemans, Bert. Spiritus Loci: A Theological Method for Contemporary Church Architecture. Studies in Religion and the Arts, Volume 9. Leiden, the Netherlands ; Brill, 2015
21. Pallasmaa, Juhani. “Light, Silence, and Spirituality in Architecture and Art.” In Transcending Architecture: Contemporary Views on Sacred Space, edited by Julio Bermudez, 32. Catholic University of America Press, 2015. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt130h9f6.7.
Congregation Beth Sholom Synagogue 11 plain 2021-04-29T15:34:12-07:00
“A mitzvah is a candle, and Torah is the light.” (Proverbs 6:23)
Historically, light has played a crucial part in synagogue architecture as it recalls the story of light in the Temple of Jerusalem. Light, symbolizing God's presence, appeared in the form of a menorah which stood in front of the Holy of Holies and illuminated the darkness (1). Accordingly, Orthodox Congregation of Beth Sholom heavily draws on the symbolic and historic importance of light. On the windowless exterior, the zinc sheathed squares evokes the Western Wall in Jerusalem through its beige color (2). During its conception, Beth Sholom’s then-rabbi asked for a rounded sanctuary referring to the traditional form of synagogues found in Prague and Mumbai (3). Given the dense and limited space of the San Francisco streets, this challenging brief was answered by designing a monumental concrete bowl for the sanctuary. From the outside, the outline of an iconic semicircle balanced on a single story in conjunction with its bright light-tan color suggests an image of the menorah as well.

Inside the sanctuary, the menorah imagery is captured by shadows casted by the beams built into the slice carved out of the ceiling of the eastern wall (4). The shadow menorah animates the wall, tracing the movement of sun through the day, and reiterating the Torah’s teachings on the cyclical nature of life and time. Due to the windowless structure, all light comes from the slices of sky in the roof. In continuity with the historic models, the lighting in modern synagogues is most often diffused with a stronger emphasis on two major interior features, the Torah Ark or Aron Kodesh and the bimah, the space from which services are conducted (5). Like the traditional floor plan of Sephardiac Temples, Torah Ark is located at the end of the longer axis of the sanctuary at the lowest point. The bimah is also located on the same axis. The seating of the sanctuary sweeps up in an arc to the north and south of the bimah so that congregants face one another as well as the service leaders, thereby bringing the entire community together in song and prayer. The women are no longer separated by a balcony as in Orthodox tradition, rather women and men are sitting across from each other and are separated by the slice of light shining on the bimah (6). The room is a vessel focussing all worshipers in a single community centered on the Bimah without visual distractions of the bustling city. The sanctuary’s seating arrangement cradles the worshipers and sustains the intimacy of space (7). For Rabbi Micah Hyman, this design strategy has a strong spiritual impact commenting, “The real story is light,” and then immediately quoting the biblical text, “I’ll dwell among you once you build me a place.” For him, these skylights not only provide glimpses of light, but of God’s presence in the world, while still allowing for a quiet, inwardly-focused space (8).
1. Hollenstein, Roman. “Synagogue Architecture in the Recent Past and Present.” In Sacred Buildings, 40. De Gruyter, 2008. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7643-8276-6_2.
2. Congregation Beth Sholom. “Our Building — Congregation Beth Sholom San Francisco.” Accessed April 21, 2021. https://www.bethsholomsf.org/our-building.
3. Mirsky, Maya. “Let There Be Light! Synagogue Architecture Embraces New Ethos.” The Jewish News of Northern California, February 8, 2019. https://www.jweekly.com/2019/02/08/let-there-be-light-synagogue-architecture-embraces-new-ethos/.
4. Natoma Architects. “Beth Sholom Synagogue.” Accessed April 23, 2021. http://www.saitowitz.com/work/congregation-beth-sholom-synasgogue/.
5. Hollenstein, Roman. “Synagogue Architecture in the Recent Past and Present.” In Sacred Buildings, 41. De Gruyter, 2008. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7643-8276-6_2.
6. Sarah Amelar. 2008. “Congregation Beth Sholom Synagogue.” Architectural Record, August 19, 2008. https://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/8118-congregation-beth-sholom-synagogue.
7. Saitowitz, Stanley, Mason Walters, and Stephen Marusich. “A Circular Journey.” In Solid States: Concrete in Transition, edited by Michael Bell and Craig Buckley, 124–29. Princeton Architectural Press, 2010.
8. TelRav, Julie I. “Set in Stone: The Influence of Architecture on the Progressive American Jewish Community.” ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, 118. The New School for Social Research, 2013. https://search.proquest.com/docview/1417070078?accountid=9645.