What I want to present is not a self-promotion. Instead it’s a result of concern and care for my fellow brothers and sisters, whom I don’t want to be caught up in a trap weaved around selfish gain. It’s a great shame if what we spend so much of our time and wealth has no eternal value. Please listen with an open mind, whether it’s current or to think about in the future.
House of Worship is a new frame of mind of pursuing architecture, and hopefully I can communicate how Christians should approach architectural living, whether it is where you are living now, or whether in property development. Just to be clear does not have to require any form of designing a physical building. You can take away from today’s ideas without ever building anything and still find it rewarding.
Architecture could be a focus of man building to separate himself from his own environment. It can be a refuge of peace to him, yet also a wall that intimidates and drives away others. It can be a physical display of strength, status and wealth. With this in mind, I started asking a series of questions, the first being:
The desire to design something unprecedented changed my perspective on the potential of architecture. With the intention to seek God’s own heart rather than man’s, I asked my second and perhaps most important question yet:
We talk about worshipping God and praying every day of the week. Can worshipping God be a lifestyle? How much of it can be directed by the way we live?
To even begin answering these tough questions, it was necessary to research what the Bible had to say about architecture. There’s no use in isolating one example and formulating an opinion on it, like how God seemed to condemn the tower of Babel and therefore all skyscrapers are bad.
There’s lessons to be learnt, and sometimes going across translations help understand it better.
So I set out a task of collecting information, trying to answer:
From Heavenly symbolic mentions, to Earthly physical references; architecture against God’s commands, and Architecture as God commanded. This isn’t an exhaustive list, but it’s a start.
I desire to understand better what God commands of us. Certainly a house of worship can be used to worship God, but what about one’s home? And analysing the collected passages, ask myself:
This is not about direct representation so as to make an idol. The house’s character is a reflection of the soul, and with a focus on worshipping God, it becomes less about Earthly possessions.
Drawing from studying the Bible, there can be different ways to approach this question. The house can be incorporated with reminders or experiences that evoke references from the Bible.
Story telling becomes a part of habitation. Numbers of significance can remind us of God’s grace. There might be verses that inspire personally, and the architecture can evoke pictures. These are just the initial thoughts that might be brought into a house to become an inspiration of worship.
I have been blessed in learning many the practicalities of design in my practice, developing understanding in the fields of architecture, engineering, and even surveying. But now I am trying to find ways of incorporating harmoniously worship into design. Ultimately, I desire to use it all as a way bringing people to God. In light of that, it may not always be the cheapest way, but it would certainly be the most God-centred approach.
But if we were to think of the act of worship in architecture, we must draw from how we ourselves participate in worship. Personally, I learn from church, from our community, song leading, music, and even having a place to meet for worship all relates to worship which can lend itself to architecture.
I also like to draw from my visits of historical places of worship in Europe, Turkey, & Israel.
In that regard, there’s a plethora of ways people use their skills to worship the Lord, especially when it came to building cathedrals. However, I need to emphasise that a normal resident is not living in a church building.
The idea is to extend the applications of what we learn from the church into everyday life. So I ask another important question that will no doubt carry into my designs for the future:
As a communal or shared space, what should the focus be? In a typical house, all the layouts and furniture seem focused on the TV. Is that possibly why so much of how we live is influenced by what we see from the media?
Does it matter if the most comfortable place to rest and relax is where we absorb or interact with society’s values? How much do we emphasise on entertainment that it might unconsciously be the priority for a child growing up?
In taking these matters into consideration, I find it’s about time I made a decision on the type of architect I want to be. I’ve been in the privileged position of learning from different sides of the field, and under different pressures. So I want this presentation to be the beginning in realising the potential of answering these questions.
I want to take my time slowly to discover how designing for God can really bring glory to Him. No doubt, I see it will be an extremely difficult task to reach the future market with this mindset. As I said, building one’s own house is potentially one of the most selfish acts.
But I trust in the Lord that over time He will open up the hearts and minds of His people, that we need to look into this. It might be as ambitious as creating a new market, one that people may not know they need. Knowing all this, I know it’s the ultimate direction God wants to take me. How long it takes, I do not know. I just desire to design a house of worship for God. I now ask you the question: