Wassily Kandinsky; Yellow, Red, Blue (1925)
An interfaith community brings peoples of different faiths, from Christianity, to Muslim, Judaism, even Pagans, together to share their spiritual lives. It is a union of disparate parts, a community of souls seeking love and truth. Like Kandinsky's piece, an interfaith community could be seen as a chaotic mix of random, nonsensical elements- but when read together (correctly), the community begins to make perfect sense as a harmony of spirits, as the painting becomes a composition of visual music.
The challenge architecturally is to create a divine space without icon, symbol, or reference; to create a sanctuary in the city accessible and inviting to all people of faith.
So we must ask: What is the architecture of the divine? How do we express a purity of spirit?
For me, it is a meal shared with friends, sunshine on my cheek, a small quiet place, a livingroom and a small group, a tall narrow cavern and a haunting melody, sitting among trees at sunset, listening to a waterfall on a clear day...
These are my elements. The site is my canvas. I am painting a collection of souls.
well then you should leave chicago, because there's no sunshine there. haha. but i love this kandinsky parallel but what's the purpose? i still want to know, what's the purpose of a center that cannot be found in an individual's meeting place?
ReplyDelete"i'm painting a collection of souls."
ReplyDeleteon a totally non-related topic, have you ever heard of a "god complex" ? hahaha. just kidding sounds great :)
Haha Mike... let me have my own little piece of total control! Jeeeez.
ReplyDeleteThe Kandinsky painting is one of the pieces I looked at for our first short design project this semester. I'm trying to find the parallels between what we did the first week and where I want the project to go... hopefully to help me create some parameters, or general rules, for how I work out the spaces.