1. Religious architecture dominates urban space
Religious symbolism is all around us. Most cultural landscapes around the world are dominated by the symbols of towers, spires and domes that occupy the heart of settlements from villages to cities. These architectural structures are dominant because they are often on a grand scale, but also occupy the social heart of settlements, often on high-ground or proximal to water both of which provide innate symbolic reaction. This is true across all faiths, whether it be a stupa of a temple in Thailand, the domes of a church in Florence or a mosque in Istanbul.
Historically, these places have been of utmost importance in our social evolution through providing a centre for: moral leadership; spirituality and worship; life-event celebration; learning and story-telling; sanctuary or refuge; solace and comfort; justice through forgiveness; and political control. Unfortunately this functional core is slowly disintegrating.
2. Fewer people follow religion and attend church
2000: In “C of E: The State It’s in” (2002), Monica Furlong stated that in the twenty years between 1980 and 2000 “the Church of England suffered a 27 per cent decline in church membership. The Roman Catholic Church suffered a similar decline in the same period in mass attendance. Methodists, Baptists and others suffered decline too”.
2001: According to the UK 2001 census, less than half of UK people believe in a God. Yet about 72% told said they were Christian .
2005: A poll by British Social Attitudes found that 38% of the population did not belong to a religion.
2006: Research by Tearfund found 66% of the UK population had no actual connection to any religion or church. By autumn of that year, a poll by the National Secular Society of year 9 and 10 children in Cornwall, found that only 19% said they had a religious faith. Only 22% said they believe in God.
2007: A wider Mori poll, commissioned by the British Library, found that nearly half of teenagers in Britain are atheists.
Religious affiliation is on the decline.
3. Is there a vacuum growing in our urban heart?
Declining revenues mean that many churches are struggling for solvency. We have all seen examples of closed places of worship turned into bingo halls, night-clubs or personal Grand Design projects. So what will happen to the remaining historical landmarks of our cultural landscape? Will more close?
Perhaps some will simply become museums. Individuals may pay to have a non-Religious, yet spiritual or educational experience. Perhaps they will look up in awe the verticality of the walls? They may gasp at the fan vaults that seem to defy gravity and keep tonnes of masonry from crashing to the floor. They may scale the heights of the tower and gaze out over the landscape from that privileged vantage point. They may experience the sensual constant cool inner environment. Their internal organs might get shaken to disintegration by the impact of vibrating bass pipes of an impromptu organ recital? Perhaps they will admire the religious art and the architecture for its aesthetic merit? Perhaps they will enjoy reading the history of the settlement and its people through the memorials, paper records and tombstones? Perhaps they will just sit and think in an aura of respect and calm and quiet.
Museums, however, are often not self-supporting and subsidy will not always keep the doors open. So life-events may still be held there to raise revenue. Numbers of christenings may drop off, but even some atheists like a white wedding and a decent funeral with a plot ready in the cemetery. Perhaps churches will become the new art galleries, coffee shops, indoor-markets and night-clubs and evolve and regenerate and exist in an increasingly secular society. I am sure these fine buildings will evolve and survive!
4. Are there places designed to fill the void?
But what about the other core functions of religious place? Where do these now occur? Some urban outdoor space is designed specifically around exercise and play. Other space is greened over to encourage feelings of general health and well-being. We are certainly surrounded by memorials, typically of war and suffering. Much urban spaces are designed simply as flexible space. One could argue that this means designed for no function at all. One can get safely from A to B, or sit for a rest or eat or chat. If people are in that space, they are deemed to be using it and therefore it is successful. But aren’t these very limited objectives? Does this laissez-faire attitude mean that the clues of how to turn space into important social place are not there?
Where do individuals of a secular society go for solace and comfort? Belief in natural selection can leave one in a cold, dark place. Where can neo-Darwinists go for sanctuary? Are there spaces in a city designed for an atheist to find peace and solitude, or has that space recently been “in-filled”? Where are the urban spaces designed for expressing evangelical joy and hope? Where can we feel we are able to sing with our fellow man at the top of our voices? Where are the outdoor places an ordinary person go to listen to a ripping yarn with a moral? What is the place where one who does not fear God can go for moral guidance or to express regret or seek forgiveness?
Are those places schools and universities? Are they business locations? Are they elsewhere on the High Street, say in a shopping mall? Or do people have to stay indoors to meet these innate needs through TV soap operas or books? Maybe they fly through cyber-space to virtual communities through the click of a mouse? How well do these places do the job? Can anonymity ever replace the sense of community in the flesh that a church setting traditionally offered?
5. Understanding religious place
There is an opportunity to design space in the urban landscape that all members of society – secular or otherwise - can make spiritual place. But how would one design and create this? Looking at religious buildings seems to be an obvious place to start.
Function
The symbolism of the architecture of religious buildings makes it clear to all what functions are on offer there. An Anglican, for example, knows that worship, life events (christenings, marriages, funerals,) harvest festivals and carol concerts are some of the activities he can do there. Similar types of function are performed in various religious buildings through the world.
Legibility
Churches, mosques and temples are often landmark buildings. They have been built on traditional plans that provide very strong legibility. A man entering an Anglican church, for example, understands to enter via a porch. He knows to sit facing east in the nave with rest of the congregation. He expects a priest to give a sermon from the raised pulpit, often reading from a bible resting on a lectern. He knows that hymn numbers will be displayed on a board not far from the pulpit. He knows that the choir are sitting in the chancel ahead. If he wants a place to go for private reflection, he knows to use there may be chapels in the transept. He knows that at weddings the bride will walk down the aisle. Similar legibility would exist for a Muslim entering a mosque or a Buddhist entering a temple.
Ritual
The Anglican also understands the ritual of the place. He knows that he can worship at least every Sunday morning. When he hears organ music from the chancel, he knows he is expected to stand, sing and rejoice from the hymn book in his hand. When the priest says, “let us pray”, he knows to kneel on a cushion, lower his head and close his eyes. He understands the cue to go to the altar to receive communion. He knows that the stone structure of water is not a bird bath, but a place for baptism. There are similar cues and responses in all faiths once one has learned them.
To create a successful spiritual place in the urban landscape, therefore, one should:
a) Make the spaces function specific (not a homage to flexibility)
b) Design the overall space with clear structure and legibility
c) Encourage the adoption of regular events that would almost become new social ritual.
A cursory analysis of three typical religious building (see table 1) suggests that the space should be structured around the following ten functions:
1. Landmark and calling
2. Ablution
3. Orientation & congregation
4. Procession
5. Leading ritual
6. Leadership & Teaching morals
7. Making music
8. Private contemplation
9. Studying & learning
10. Remembrance & icon reverence
6. Blueprint for an innate spiritual urban landscape
The location should be on the highest ground available.
The space would need a landmark structure, probably a dome that serves to shelter the collected people during all states of weather. This must be a marvellous feat of architecture to inspire awe and spirituality through verticality and defiance of gravity.
The whole space will be surrounded by a large body of water. The water in itself raises innate spirituality. The water will run inside and be diverted for further ritual, be it baptism or ablution. It may simply represent a well – children cannot resist throwing in coins and making wishes.
The bridge crosses the water and so brings innate feelings of hope and opportunity. It leads to a porch and this relatively confined space will create innate sense of entrance and refuge from danger. There may be a hazard placed under the bridge or outside the porch increase the sense of reaching safety. Perhaps a ritual of pinning a picture of one’s nemesis outside the porch could be encouraged.
The main hall under the dome will be circular and will take the image of a huge compass for orientation towards the east, Mecca or anywhere else felt to be of significance by local people. The floor will be a work of art.
Somewhere in the floor will be a hearth for fire for warmth or cooking.
People should be able to ascend safely to the dome roof for fine prospect over the surrounding and inner landscape. But this ascent will be exhilarating or threatening through use of transparent walls, steps and floors showing the drop to earth.
The hall will have “green-walls” where possible representing the widest local native biodiversity. This will symbolise sustenance. Fruits will be edible and the flowers will be beautiful.
The furniture must have flexibility so that the hall can be used for sitting, kneeling, singing and dancing, where people sometimes face away or towards each other.
At the edge of the hall, there will be a small raised platform for speaking, teaching or conducting events. There will be a larger one nearby for playing music.
From the porch, the hall will be crossed by a path representing procession and raising innate feelings of prospect. The path will be a geological and biological timeline showing the evolutionary family tree and the insignificant time that homo-sapiens has been on the planet. The path will lead opposite to ramp leading down into a small green outdoor room of evergreens such as yew and cypress. These trees bring innate associations of eternal life.
In turn this will lead up to a large outdoor area functioning as a green cemetery and crematorium (and possibly allotments). There will be no urns or headstones – there is not the space, but bio-degradable icons can be brought in as an aid to grief or remembrance. The planting will also accentuate spiritual feelings of regeneration through decomposition, assimilation and succession.
To one side of the hall, there will be small rooms dedicated to private contemplation. These will have convertible walls depending upon the weather. They will overlook the water. The scale, colour and textures will be designed for intimacy, solace and comfort.
On the opposite side there will be a large deflected vista raising innate curiosity as to what is around the corner. On turning the corner, one enters a large area of learning. Local schools, universities and other teaching institutions will be free to use the teaching facilities. This will have convertible walls. This is an area of complexity again to simulate innate curiosity and interaction. It will be dedicated to freethinking, especially the science of evolution through natural selection.
The learning area will in turn lead outside to an area dedicated to natural play. It will comprise a wide variety or native succession species. It will not be horticultural and will be left largely untended, so it will look untidy. There will be: trees to climb; leaves to kick; mud and sand to mould; and water to splash in and dam. Children will be able to take risks.
People will want to spend time in this new spiritual landscape because it celebrates life.
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