Introduction

The rise of minimalism initially began as a phenomenon during the twentieth and twenty-first century, however traits of minimalism have been present for centuries (Classen, 1990: 101). Minimalism at first, arose as a rebuke and response against the consumption of material possessions, which soon developed into a lifestyle where living as a ‘minimalist’ became desirable (Vasilski & Nikolic, 2017: 343). The notion of living with less soon developed within sacred interiors as a product of this phenomenon as an attempt for humans to bring themselves closer to a higher ethereal presence (Humphrey & Vitebsky, 1997: 08). This dissertation will discuss how the evolution of minimalism within sacred interiors can be attributed to historical and contemporary influences, which have ultimately shaped this development.

The first chapter of this dissertation will establish a contextual framework of how historical influences have informed the evolution of minimalism within sacred interiors. The chapter begins by providing a brief overview of monasticism to highlight how characteristics of minimalism can be seen to have parallels with living a monastic life, which emphasises that the development of minimalism can be interpreted as a manifestation of living a monastic life and denies the rise of minimalism as a contemporary art movement. This is explored further through influential monks who were amongst the first to renounce wealth and daily life to live an ascetic life, highlighting similarities between minimalism traits. The discussion will then shift to iconoclasm to demonstrate how the rebuke of

religious symbols can also be synthesised to have parallels to minimalism. This will be further substantiated as the discussion is then directed to exploring aspects of aestheticism and asceticism to demonstrate how the shift from extreme ornamentation to a rejection of this decoration can be seen as an interpretation of the development of minimalism. The first chapter ultimately aims to explore how historical influences seen within the Christian church can be observed to have parallels with minimalism. This is particularly notable as these influences acted as a catalyst that steered contemporary sacred interiors into the realm of minimalism, which will be substantiated in the following chapter, and further reinforced through a series of contemporary case studies in the final chapter of this dissertation.

The second chapter will provide a framework of the contemporary influences which serves to prove that these contemporary influences, when merged with historical influences outlined in chapter one, have shaped the evolution of minimalism within sacred interiors. This chapter also analyses a series of case studies which aim to support the framework provided earlier in this chapter. Firstly, this chapter explores minimalism and analyses the trajectory it has taken within sacred interiors. Minimalism, within the architectural realm, can be defined as perfection that is achieved when it is no longer possible to improve the outcome through subtraction (Pawson, 1996: 07). The impact of post-war modernism

within the realm of interiors as well as more specifically, within sacred interiors, will be analysed to discuss how this influenced the interpretation of minimalism within the twentieth century. FrenchSwiss architect and a known pioneer of post-modern architecture Le Corbusier (1887-1965) incorporates minimalist conventions within his work, which will be analysed through Villa Savoye, France (1929). This analysis serves to provide a framework to emphasise how minimalism can be recognised to have risen as a result of post-war modernism and as a rebuke against the accumulation of materialistic objects from the rise of mass-consumption. The Grundtvig Church, Denmark (1940), designed by Peder Vilhelm Jensen Klint (1853-1930) and Kaare Klint (1888-1954), will also be analysed to illustrate how these architects implemented architectural conventions that define a minimalist interior, such as scale, repetition and materiality, prior to the conception of minimalism, thus eradicating the notion of minimalism as an art movement and emphasising that these contemporary influences have shaped the development of minimalism within interiors and sacred interiors. A brief history of Japanese culture and Zen Buddhism will also be discussed to highlight how minimalism, and more specifically minimalism within sacred interiors, can be interpreted as a manifestation of Japanese culture and traditions. The interpretation of Japanese culture and Zen Buddhism will be explored through the lens of the Schindler House, West Hollywood, (1922), designed by Rudolph Schindler, to emphasise how Japanese culture has been interpreted as a design aesthetic in an attempt to replicate notions of Zen Buddhism into western architecture. This chapter ultimately seeks to provide a framework to demonstrate how minimalism has evolved within the architectural realm of sacred

interiors and to emphasise that contemporary influences, as outlined in this chapter, together with the historical influences, as outlined in chapter one, have morphed the progression and interpretation of minimalism within contemporary sacred interiors.

The final chapter of this dissertation focuses on the analysis of three contemporary case studies that act as evidence to the theoretical framework that will be provided in chapters one and two, which seek to prove the hypothesis that historical and contemporary influences have shaped the evolution of minimalism within sacred interiors. The case studies chosen in this chapter explores three contemporary minimalist sacred interiors, each within unique contexts and designed by different architects. The first case study will focus on the Saint Moritz Church (2007) by John Pawson. This monastery is situated within Augsburg Germany. The second case study examines the Ibaraki Kasugaoka Church, most commonly known as Church of the Light (1999) by Tadao Ando, which is located in Ibaraki, Japan. The third and final case concerns Peter Zumthor’s Bruder Klaus Field Chapel (2007) which is located in Mechernich, Germany. All three of these examples will illustrate how contemporary minimalism has been developed as an interpretation of the theoretical research that will be explored further within chapters one and two. By considering both the historical footprints of these spaces, a greater understanding of monasticism, iconoclasm, asceticism, together with contemporary influences such as

Japanese culture and Zen Buddhism, can be recognised to have influenced these spaces. The spatial analysis of these case studies will explore the lighting strategies, materiality decisions and the implementation of scale. Through a spatial analysis of these three precedents, informed by the historical and contemporary influences researched within this dissertation, the case studies demonstrate how historical and contemporary influences have shaped the evolution of minimalism within sacred interiors.