1st Edition
The Religious Imagination in Modern and Contemporary Architecture A Reader
This anthology collects, substaniates, and demonstrates the importance of the religious imagination within Western modern and contemporary architecture.
The essays written expressly for the anthology take a critical look at the relationship between religion and architecture in the twentieth century, as well as giving a brief look at the pre-history of the modern movement and its relationship to religion and architecture. These are grounded by and help to explicate the reprinted essays that are culled from the last one hundred years.
This is an important introduction to the religious imagination in architectural thought of the last one hundred years, and to the interdisciplinary discourse that examines how different disciplines express abstract concepts such as faith, spirit, God and knowledge. It makes essential reading for any architect, aspiring or practising, delving deeper into the meaning of architectural practice.
Forward David Shapiro Preface 1. Introduction: The Apocryphal Project of Modern and Contemporary Architecture Renata Hejduk and Jim Williamson 2. Religion and Myth from the Official Address, 1980 Pritzker Prize for Architecture Luis Barragan 3. When the Sacred Journey Ends: Protestant Thought and Meaning of Puritanical Modern Architecture Thomas Beeby 4. Excerpt from Modernity Gustavo Benavides 5. Shiva, Luria, Khan Michael Benedikt 6. The Architecture of Hope: Daniel Libeskind’s Jewish Museum Andrew Benjamin 7. Excerpt from Kunst en Maatschappy Hendrik Berlage 8. Revolution and Revelation: Luis Barragan’s Divergent Modernism Jose Bernardi 9. Notes from Volume Zero: Louis Kahn and the Language of God Joseph Burton 10. Ecclesia Massimo Cacciari 11. The Goddess Temple, Organon of the Infinite Peter Carl 12. Excerpts from The Woodland Cemetry: Toward a Spiritual Lanscape, Erik Gunnar Asplund and Sigurd Lewerentz 1915-1961 Caroline Constant 13. Excerpt from The Public, The Private and the Sacred Charles Correa 14. A Dwelling for Man within the Harmony of the Cosmos Maria Antoinetta Crippa 15. Excerpt from Excellence: the Culture of Mies as Seen in his Notes and Books Francesco Dal Co 16. Excerpt from The Sacred and the Modern Artist Mircea Eliade 17. Interview: A Mighty Fortress: Quinlan Terry and the Reformation of Architecture Martin Filler and Quinlan Terry 18. Excerpts from Transcendental Renaissance in the Arts: 1980-1920 Raymond H Geselbracht 19. Explorations of Jewish Space: 1978-present David Gissen 20. Spiritual Basis of Creativity Paul Goesch 21. Excerpt from Architecture’s Destiny from Sanctuaries: The last Works of John Hejduk K. Michael Hays 22. Wallpaper and the Sweet Juice Bled John Hejduk 23. Step into Liquid: Rites, Transcendence, and Transgression in the Modern Construction of Sacred Space Renata Hejduk 24. JLM Lauweriks and KPC de Bazel: Architecture and Theosophy Susan Henderson 25. Excerpt from The Architectural Metaphor Denis Hollier 26. Excerpt from Rudolf Scwarz: Modern Churches in Modern Culture Richard Kieckhefer 27. Interview: Leon Krier’s Theology of Traditionalism Leon Krier and Peter Eisenmann 28. Formal, Informal and The Jewish Question Sanford Kwinter 29. Claude Bragdon and American Theosophy Jonathan Massey 30. Excerpt from Frank Lloyd Wright: the Architect as Preacher Debra A. Meyers 31. The Chapel of the Savior at IIT Mies van der Rohe 32. Excerpt from Mies van der Rohe: An Appreciation on the Occasion of his 75th Birthday Mies van der Rohe 33. Excerpt from a Speech 1938 Mies van der Rohe 34. Alchemical Themes in the Poem of the Right Angle Richard Moore 35. The Aura of the Sacred: Art, Architecture and Existential Sacredness Juhanni Pallasamaa 36. Abstraction in Modern Architecture: The Gnostic Dimension Alberto Perez-Gomez 37. Eschatology Colin Rowe 38. The Dark Side of Bauhaus Joseph Rykwert 39. The Foundation from The Church Incarnate: The Sacred Function of Christian Architecture Rudolf Schwarz 40. Prayer for a House David Shapiro 41. Excerpt from Mein Weltbild Bruno Taut 42. Nuclear Architecture or Fabulous Architecture, or Tragic Architecture or… Mark C. Taylor 43. Purity Mark C. Taylor 44. Architecture and Theology Quinlan Terry 45. Construction (De)Construction (Re)Construction: Architectural Antinomies and a (Re)newed Beginning Stanley Tigerman 46. Excerpt from The Ideal of Holy Emptiness The Reverend Paul Tillich 47. Excerpt from the Polarities of Paradise in the Works of Frank Lloyd Wright Richard Wesley 48. The Crystal Chain Letters Ian Boyd Whyte 49. Cosmopolitan Architectures: Notes on Drawing Jim Williamson Glossary of Terms
Biography
Renata Hejduk is an Associate Professor in The Design School at the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts at Arizona State University. Her research is focused on European and American avant-garde architecture and urbanism from around 1960 to the present and its development relative to the culture and philosophy of that period. Her work was most recently published in the interdisciplinary journal Culture and Religion, the Journal of Architecture, and Transportable Environments 3 (Routledge, 2006).
Jim Williamson is a Visiting Associate Professor in Architecture at Cornell University. He previously taught at Harvard University and the Georgia Institute of Technology and has been a Visiting Professor at numerous other institutions including Columbia University and the Cooper Union. He is co-editor and contributor of the forthcoming The Architecture of Disbelief and his work has been published in numerous books and journals including the recent Surrealism and Architecture (Routledge, 2005).
“The Religious Imagination in Modern and Contemporary Architecture comes as a welcome contribution to the scholarship of modern architecture.” – Journal of Design History
"An essential part of an architect’s education is to help the student form a worldview that might inform one’s architecture. This collection is a worthwhile contribution to that process." – Faith & Form: The Interfaith Journal on Religion, Art and Architecture