The House of One: Sacred Space as Collaborative Process

Anna Naumann

doi:10.17979/aarc.2024.11.11192

Authors

Anna Naumann The Architectural Association https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5444-0026

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17979/aarc.2024.11.11192

Keywords:

multi-confessional, religious architecture, collaboration, spatial practice

Abstract

This paper explores the potential of the client-architect relationship to be part of a design methodology conducive to conceiving sacred space as collaborative, dialogical practice. The case study for this investigation is the multi-confessional project ‘House of One’ by Kuehn Malvezzi, currently on site in Berlin, Germany. The client for this project is not one cleric or religious community but a foundation initiated by a local Protestant, Jewish and Muslim congregation. The fact that the client is not one homogenous entity has shaped the conception of the project and consequently the building’s final appearance: all design decisions have been taken conjointly by the three clerics. In this project, the correlation between theological considerations and material realisation has been recognised as a reciprocal two-way process: theological doctrines are materialised through constructed space – equally, architectural questions can act as a catalyst for theological debate between the three clerics and their respective communities.

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Author Biography

Anna Naumann, The Architectural Association

Anna Naumann (1977, Frankfurt/ Main) is a PhD candidate at the Architectural Association, London. Her thesis, titled ‘Places of Ritual and Encounter – a Spatial Exploration of Pluralism’, is supervised by Pier Vittorio Aureli and Maria Shéhérazade Giudici. Prior to joining the AA, Anna was a project architect at David Chipperfield Architects (London) and Kuehn Malvezzi (Berlin), where she is currently responsible for the office’s publications. At Kuehn Malvezzi, Anna was the project architect for the multi-confessional project House of One throughout all phases of design development between 2012 and 2019. As the lead architect she coordinated the project’s technical design as well as its content development and client relations. Parallel to her work in practice she has delivered lectures at the Technical University Vienna, Wesley Theological Seminary (Washington D.C.), Hafen City University Hamburg and various conferences.

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