Shree: world view and architecture

 

 

260622: Shree: world view and architecture

A few years back concepts or data or stories about demons or Gods or damsels or Yakshas or anything having spirits used to sound quite funny. Nowadays I think they represent a world view of people about cosmos and their place in the world of existence.

This world view is different from the logical world view we seem to follow – hard pressed on causal links and competition and judgment and overtly materialistic.

The point about world view is our belief in existence. What does world view consists of? Previously it seems that all life forms and the spirit within them were an integral part of mindscape – something that is very real and equal partners for making a fruitful life. When I hear tales of some Rishi going to Lord Vishnu to seek guidance the question is: is it a physical place or a mental place? It is a mental place I believe and it is in the self. So going to the Lord means to go deep within yourself and if the problem appears in that space, it means it has entered deep within sub consciousness level.

Therefore all forms and values and mental spaces are valid. By being restrained only to the visible and logical, are we restricting our access to other worlds and what that can offer us?

This is a huge territory to explore – in terms of space and time, representations of idea diagrams and their effects on the tangible world. In a nutshell – the visible is a product of the invisible and in between many things are relevant. Are we aware of those and how they affect the visible world of manifestation?

Architecturally, space already exists. Then based on the mind, it assumes some significance (even before architectonic expression) – say a sacred space. Sacredness is defined by orientation, social order, terrain setting, proximity to some geographical features, concepts of world views, recitation, construction process involving everyone, and who does what and why, seasons, demarcation of site, purification rituals and so on. The physical basis of existence is seen as an opportunity to express the sacred dimension. The entire process then becomes a way of expressing a sacred dimension in physical existential or manifested space and time – as architecture. The various scales and proportions, elements of architecture, ordering principles, serve this purpose.

This connection of mindscape to architectural space and time is default – their relationship has changed over the period of time. Whereas the above may be true for a lot of pre-industrial cultures, nowadays the challenge is to tap consciousness again when the architect has a client, a site and a form of technology to manifest things. What are therefore the timeless factors which he/she has to tap and express in today’s times?

Hari Om.