Religious architecture
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Religious architecture is concerned with the design and construction of places of worship, such as churches, mosques, stupas, synagogues, and temples. Many cultures devoted considerable resources to their religious architecture, and their places of worship are among the most impressive and permanent buildings created by humanity. For that reason, the history of architecture itself closely follows the history of religious architecture from ancient times until the baroque period, at least.
Religious structures often evolved over centuries and were the largest buildings in the world, prior to the modern skyscraper. While the various styles employed in religious architecture sometimes reflected trends in other structures, these styles also remained unique from the contemporary architecture used in other structures. With the rise of monotheism, religious buildings increasingly became centers of worship and meditation.
[edit] Spiritual aspects of religious architecture
Religious architecture is sometimes called sacred space. Architect Norman L. Koonce has suggested that the goal of religious architecture is to make "transparent the boundary between matter and mind, flesh and the spirit." In discussing religious architecture, protestant minister Robert Schuller, has suggested that "to be psychologically healthy, human beings need to experience their natural setting—the setting we were designed for, which is the garden." Meanwhile, Richard Kieckhefer suggests that entering into a religious building is a metaphor for entering into spiritual relationship. Kieckhefer suggests that sacred space can be analyzed by three factors affecting spiritual process: longitudinal space emphasizes the procession and return of sacramental acts, auditorium space is suggestive of proclamation and response, and new forms of communal space designed for gathering and return depend to a great degree on minimized scale to enhance intimacy and participation in worship.
[edit] Ancient architecture
[edit] Classical architecture
- See also: Classical architecture, Architecture of Ancient Greece, and Roman architecture
Around 600 B.C the wooden columns of the Temple of Hera at Olympia were replaced by stone columns. With the spread of this process to other sanctuary structures a few stone buildings have survived throught the ages. Greek architecture preceded Hellenistic and Roman periods (Roman architecture heavily copied Greek). Since temples are the only buildings which survive in numbers, most of our concept of classical architecture is based on religious structures. The Parthenon which served as a treasury building as well as a place for veneration of deity, is widely regarded as the greatest example of classical architecture.
[edit] Buddhism
- See also: Buddhist architecture
Originally, Viharas were temporary shelters used by wandering monks during the rainy season, but these structures later developed to accommodate the growing and increasingly formalized Buddhist monasticism. An existing example is at Nalanda (Bihar).
The initial function of the stupa was the veneration and safe-guarding of the relics of the Buddha. The earliest existing example of a stupa is in Sanchi (Madhya Pradesh). In accordance with changes in religious practice, stupas were gradually incorporated into chaitya-grihas (stupa halls). These reached their highpoint in the first century BC, exemplified by the cave complexes of Ajanta and Ellora (Maharashtra).
The pagoda is an evolution of the Indian stupa that is marked by a tiered tower with multiple eaves common in China, Japan, Korea, Nepal and other parts of Asia. Buddhist temples were developed rather later and outside South Asia, where Buddhism gradually declined from the early centuries AD onwards, though an early example is that of the Mahabodhi temple at Bodh Gaya in Bihar. The architectural structure of the stupa spread across Asia, taking on many diverse forms as details specific to different regions were incorporated into the overall design. It was spread to China and the Asian region by Araniko, a Nepali architect in the early 13th century for Kublai Khan.
[edit] Hinduism
A basic Hindu temple consists of an inner sanctum, the garbha griha or womb-chamber, a congregation hall, and possibly an antechamber and porch. The sanctum is crowned by a tower-like shikara.
The two primary styles that have developed are the Nagara style of Northern India and the Dravida style of Southern India. A prominent difference between the two styles are the elaborate gateways employed in the South. They are also easily distinguishable by the shape and decoration of their shikharas. The Nagara style is beehive shaped while the Dravida style is pyramid shaped.
[edit] Byzantine architecture
- See also: byzantine architecture
Byzantine architecture evolved from Roman architecture. Eventually, a style emerged incorporating Near East influences and the Greek cross plan for church design. In addition, brick replaced stone, classical order was less stirctly observed, mosaics replaced carved decoration, and complex domes were erected. One of the great breakthroughs in the history of Western architecture occurred when Justinian's architects invented a complex system providing for a smooth transition from a square plan of the church to a circular dome (or domes) by means of squinches or pendentives. The prime example of early Byzantine religious architecture is the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.
[edit] Islam
- See also: Islamic architecture
Byzantine architecture had a great influence on early Islamic architecture with its characteristic round arches, vaults and domes. Many forms of mosques have evolved in different regions of the Islamic world. Notable mosque types include the early Abbasid mosques, T-type mosques, and the central-dome mosques of Anatolia.
The earliest styles in Islamic architecture produced Arab-plan or hypostyle mosques during the Umayyad Dynasty. These mosques follow a square or rectangular plan with enclosed courtyard and covered prayer hall. Most early hypostyle mosques had flat prayer hall roofs, which required numerous columns and supports.<ref name="Masdjid1"/> The Mezquita in Córdoba, Spain is a hypostyle mosque supported by over 850 columns.<ref name="mit-handout">Religious Architecture and Islamic Cultures. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved on 2006-04-09.</ref> Arab-plan mosques continued under the Abbasid dynasty.
The Ottomans introduced central dome mosques in the 15th century that have a large dome centered over the prayer hall. In addition to having one large dome at the center, there are oftentimes smaller domes that exist off-center over the prayer hall or throughout the rest of the mosque, in areas where prayer is not performed.<ref name="mit-vocab">Vocabulary of Islamic Architecture. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved on 2006-04-09.</ref> The Dome of the Rock mosque in Jerusalem is perhaps the best known example of a central dome mosque.
Iwan mosques are most notable for their domed chambers and iwans, which are vaulted spaces open out on one end. In iwan mosques, one or more iwans face a central courtyard that serves as the prayer hall. The style represents a borrowing from pre-Islamic Iranian architecture and has been used almost exclusively for mosques in Iran. Many iwan mosques are converted Zoroastrian fire temples where the courtyard was used to house the sacred fire.<ref name="Masdjid1"/> Today, iwan mosques are no longer built.<ref name="mit-vocab" /> The Shah Mosque in Isfahan, Iran is a classic example of an iwan mosque.
A common feature in mosques is the minaret, the tall, slender tower that usually is situated at one of the corners of the mosque structure. The top of the minaret is always the highest point in mosques that have one, and often the highest point in the immediate area. The first mosques had no minarets, and even nowadays the most conservative Islamic movements, like Wahhabis, avoid building minarets, seeing them as ostentatious and unnecessary. The first minaret was constructed in 665 in Basra during the reign of the Umayyad caliph Muawiyah I. Muawiyah encouraged the construction of minarets, as they were supposed to bring mosques on par with Christian churches with their bell towers. Consequently, mosque architects borrowed the shape of the bell tower for their minarets, which were used for essentially the same purpose — calling the faithful to prayer.<ref name="Manara">Hillenbrand, R. "Manara, Manar". Encyclopaedia of Islam Online. Ed. P.J. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill Academic Publishers. ISSN 1573-3912.</ref>
Domes have been a hallmark of Islamic architecture since the 7th century. As time progressed, the sizes of mosque domes grew, from occupying only a small part of the roof near the mihrab to encompassing all of the roof above the prayer hall. Although domes normally took on the shape of a hemisphere, the Mughals in India popularized onion-shaped domes in South Asia and Persia.<ref>Asher, Catherine B. (1992-09-24). “Aurangzeb and the Islamization of the Mughal style”, Architecture of Mughal India. Cambridge University Press, 256. ISBN 0-521-26728-5.</ref>The prayer hall, also known as the musalla, has no furniture; chairs and pews are absent from the prayer hall.<ref name="unitulsa">Mosque FAQ. The University of Tulsa. Retrieved on 2006-04-09.</ref> Prayer halls contain no images of people, animals, and spiritual figures although they may be decorated with Arabic calligraphy and verses from the Qur'an on the walls.
Usually opposite the entrance to the prayer hall is the qibla wall, which is the visually emphasized area inside the prayer hall. The qibla wall is normally set perpendicular to a line leading to Mecca.<ref>Bierman, Irene A. (1998-12-16). Writing Signs: Fatimid Public Text. University of California Press, 150. ISBN 0-520-20802-1.</ref> Congregants pray in rows parallel to the qibla wall and thus arrange themselves so they face Mecca. In the qibla wall, usually at its center, is the mihrab, a niche or depression indicating the qibla wall. Usually the mihrab is not occupied by furniture either. Sometimes, especially during Friday prayers, a raised minbar or pulpit is located to the side of the mihrab for a khatib or some other speaker to offer a sermon (khutbah). The mihrab serves as the location where the imam leads the five daily prayers on a regular basis.<ref>Terms 1: Mosque. University of Tokyo Institute of Oriental Culture. Retrieved on 2006-04-09.</ref>
Mosques often have ablution fountains or other facilities for washing in their entryways or courtyards. However, worshippers at much smaller mosques often have to use restrooms to perform their ablutions. In traditional mosques, this function is often elaborated into a freestanding building in the center of a courtyard.<ref name="mit-handout">Religious Architecture and Islamic Cultures. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved on 2006-04-09.</ref> Modern mosques may have a variety of amenities available to their congregants and the community, such as health clinics, libraries and gymnasiums.
[edit] Medieval architecture
- See also: medieval architecture
[edit] Gothic architecture
- See also: Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture was particularly associated with cathedrals and other churches, which flourished in Europe during the high and late medieval period. Beginning in 12th century France, it was known as "the French Style" during the period. The style originated at the abbey church of Saint-Denis in Saint-Denis, near Paris. Other notable gothic religious structures include Notre Dame de Paris, the Abbey Church of St Denis, and the Chartres Cathedral.
[edit] Renaissance architecture
- See also: Renaissance architecture
[edit] Baroque architecture
- See also: baroque architecture
[edit] Modern and post-modern architectures
- See also: Modern architecture and Postmodern architecture
[edit] References
[edit] General
- Jeanne Halgren Kilde, When Church Became Theatre: The Transformation of Evangelical Church Architecture and Worship in Nineteenth-Century America. (Oxford University Press:2002). ISBN 0-1951-4341-8
- Michael E. DeSanctis, Building from Belief: Advance, Retreat, and Compromise in the Remaking of Catholic Church Architecture.. (Liturgical Press:2002). ISBN 0-8146-2755-2
- Richard Kieckhefer, Theology in Stone: Church Architecture from Byzantium to Berkeley. (Oxford University Press, USA: 2004). ISBN 0-1951-5466-5
- Anne C. Loveland and Otis B. Wheeler, From Meetinghouse to Megachurch: A Material and Cultural History. (University of Missouri Press:2003). ISBN 0-8262-1480-0
- Michael S. Rose, Ugly as Sin: Why They Changed Our Churches from Sacred Places to Meeting Spaces -- and How We Can Change Them Back Again. (Sophia Institute Press: 2001). ISBN 1-9288-3236-9
- R. Kevin Seasoltz, A Sense Of The Sacred: Theological Foundations Of Christian Architecture And Art . (Continuum International Publishing Group: 2005) ISBN 0-8264-1701-9
