a+u 2025:05 Feature: Sacred Space – International
Content
a+u’s May issue offers a retrospective on sacred spaces from its archives – significant projects that have helped to shape the discourse on fostering transcendent experiences through architecture. Each of the spaces presented not only provides a space for worship, but also conveys innovative architectural approaches to express sacredness. Projects such as Bagsværd Church by Jørn Utzon align humanity with nature, whereas a project such as Seema Malaka by Geoffery Bawa draws on traditional architectural language to create connections to both nature and culture. In addition to the retrospective, this issue contrasts various ways a work of architecture can nurture a relationship with a higher force, from Lina Bo Bardi’s community-oriented Church of the Holy Spirit of Cerrado, to the more introverted and quiet sensibility seen in Christian Kerez’s Oberrealta Chapel. Finally, this issue extends the architectural archive by highlighting new spaces of contemplation, such as Cobar Sound Chapel by Glenn Murcutt and Motorway Chapel by Herzog & de Meuron, projects that reflect the significance of sound as well as vision in the human experience. (a+u)
Dialogue:
In Conversation with Erwin Viray
Herzog & de Meuron
Motorway Chapel
Glenn Murcutt and Georges Lentz
Cobar Sound Chapel
Mario Botta
Church of Our Lady of the Rosary
Hariri Pontarini Architects
Bahá’í Temple of South America
Tadao Ando Architect & Associates
Hill of the Buddha
John Pawson
Saint Moritz Church
K2S Architects
Kamppi Chapel
John Pawson
Abbey of Our Lady of Nový Dv°ur
Mecanoo
Saint Mary of the Angels Chapel
Steven Holl Architects
Chapel of Saint Ignatius
Álvaro Siza Vieira
Santa Maria Church of Canaveses
Mario Botta
Chapel of Saint Mary of the Angels
Oscar Niemeyer
Military Cathedral of Saint Mary Queen of Peace
Ricardo Legorreta
Metropolitan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of Mary
Christian Kerez
Oberrealta Chapel
Lina Bo Bardi
Church of the Holy Spirit of Cerrado
Geoffery Bawa
Seema Malaka Temple
Jørn Utzon
Bagsværd Church
Gottfriend Böhm
The Pilgrimage Church
Gio Ponti
Church of San Francesco
Church of San Carlo Hospital