A study of differences in the physical embodiment of place-making patterns between the sacred and secular in architecture

Abstract

The World Health Organization, a growing number of health professionals and the public, currently equate good health not simply to the absence of disease, but also to the presence of positive well-being. The traditional biomedical model of health has given way to the biopsychosocial model, which advocates a more holistic approach to health, taking into account not only the biological, but also our social, psychological, physiological and spiritual health.
The places we inhabit have the potential to contribute significantly to our health. The desecration of the place, however, has made it increasingly difficult for modern societies to rediscover the existential dimensions of the sacred that were once easily accessible to man from archaic societies in everyday places. When the specific characteristics are high in the project (as seen in the sacred architecture), the resulting place can go from being merely secular to becoming sacred. How, then, could contemporary architecture be addressed, so that everyday places support our spiritual health? What are the contributing factors? Can they be objectified? The purpose of this paper is to explore the phenomenological differences between the sacred and the secular in architecture.
The Rothko Chapel (sacred building) and the Museum of Contemporary Art (secular building) were selected as case studies for research. The two case studies are located in Houston, Texas. The qualitative data were collected through discussion groups according to two parameters. The group discussion panel consisted of six participants: three architects and three spiritual mentors from Houston. The analyzed data was synthesized to, in the first place, explore the meaning of the sacred and the secular based on the responses of the participants; second, to examine whether the selected buildings had been experienced as sacred or not; Third, explore the differences in experiences brought about in sacred and secular buildings; and fourth, to explore how and in what way the architecture suggests sacredness (or nothingness) in the selected buildings.
From the data collected and analyzed, a series of design guidelines for the sacred place were generated, and a matrix-model for decision-making was developed. The design guidelines are intended to help architects in the creation of everyday architecture that is extraordinary and sacred.