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• 1 media/Temple_of_Stone_and_Light_(5).jpeg 2021-04-15T14:57:35-07:00 Temple of Stone and Light 26 plain 2021-04-29T15:44:14-07:00

  Temple of Stone and Light is SpaceMatters’s response to the client’s brief to construct a temple within the premises of their power plant in the village of Barmer, Rajasthan, for their employees and for the local community. (1) Rooted in tradition with a contemporary interpretations, the temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva who dwells in paradoxes and apparent dualities. (2) In Hindu scriptures, Shiva is both the Preserver and the Destroyer and transcends the duality of masculine and feminine in unison with goddess Shakti (3). The theological basis informs the architectural design which combines the heavy materiality of the Jaisalmer stone with the lightness of the form which lets in air, light, and peaks of the sky behind it. The temple is materialized in local stone giving the illusion of a divine apparition in the desert dunes and the life sustaining water which runs through it juxtaposes the surrounding environ (4). The grand scale asserts its presence in a flatland and symmetry captivates the eye. The temple takes the traditional outline and shape of a Shiv temple, but as visitors near the temple, the abstract reinterpretation of traditional geometry becomes apparent. Rather than a solid block, the interlocking components of the shikhara, or temple spire, are offset from each other, raining light into garbhagriha, or inner sanctum, of the temple. Looking up, the fractional geometry of the vedika eludes to mathematical perfection and mystical wonder. In addition, LED lights were discreetly placed in the spire to transform the structure in the night-time. As the night dawns, the solid looking stone exterior dissolves and evolves into a glimmering lantern in the dunes. This thoughtful manipulation of light draws on the transparency of the structure and enhances the form, turning it inside out from day to night. The artificial yellow light at night serves to deepen the natural Jasialmer stone of the temple, and fills in the gaps to create the illusion of a solid lantern. The mystical and evoking duality is emphasized by SpaceMatters (5):

  “At different times of the day, from different directions, the temple is heavy and light, solid and translucent, valid and void, past and present.”

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  1. Hill, Kay. “Hallowed Ground.” FX, December 2018, 26. http://libproxy.usc.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/trade-journals/hallowed-ground/docview/2159927175/se-2?accountid=14749.
  2. Andhare, Aparna. “Merging Abstractions.” Domus India. Rozzano, Italy, June 2016. http://www.domusindia.in/16-06.html.
  3. Hill, Kay. “Hallowed Ground.” FX, December 2018, 26. http://libproxy.usc.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/trade-journals/hallowed-ground/docview/2159927175/se-2?accountid=14749.
  4. Ibid.
  5. Ibid.